NJ gets best deal on solar power systems

by: Jason Springer

Fri Sep 18, 2009 at 11:15:00 AM EDT

The news agency Reuters reports that, while California may be the Golden State, it's New Jersey where U.S. residents get the best deal on their solar power systems.

A new survey by Global Solar Center , which endeavored to provide an "apples to apples" comparison for the cost of solar power in all 50 states, found that New Jersey had the fastest payback - 1.5 years - for residential solar systems, followed by New York and Delaware with paybacks of three and six years, respectively.

"To put this all in context, five years ago you couldn't find a state with less than a 10 or 15 year payback," said Hidary, who also is a board member of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He said the steep fall in solar panel prices and more government incentives have helped speed up the return on investing in a solar power system.

Going from a 15 year payback to 1.5 years is amazing progress.