Oregon has new incentives for solar and battery backup systems, and we’re ready to tell you about them in our free webinars! Grab some lunch and kick back learning about how solar energy works and what incentives and financing are available today. We’ll save plenty of time to answer your questions as well. The webinars will be similar, so pick the date that works best for you. If neither date works, just register for one. We’ll send you the recording the next day. Webinar: New incentives for Oregon solar and Tesla Powerwall in 2022 Option 1. Wednesday, February 16th at noon REGISTER NOW>> ..read more

A&R Solar employees have once again named us one of the area’s best places to work in the Puget Sound Business Journal’s 2021 Best Workplaces program. PSBJ surveys employees on different areas such as benefits and culture. Seventy percent of our eligible staff needed to respond for us to qualify. We’re humbled that our employees honored us with this recognition, especially given the challenges of installing solar and during the pandemic when our office staff has been working remotely and our install crews have been following strict state and OSHA safety guidelines. Many of us haven’t seen ..read more

Like the rest of the world, we all faced challenges over the past year. However, we recognize that we are fortunate to have great jobs in a growing and increasingly important industry. Our employees recognize that and have chosen to donate their time and talents to causes in Oregon and Washington that are important to them. Here are some of the ways A&R Solar employees have been giving back in the past few months. Solar trailer The American Solar Energy Society reached out to us to see if we could help Moises Santos create a solar trailer to power his food truck, El Costeño, in Seattle’s C ..read more

We saw an article out of Oregon about a woman who had a visitor at her door trying to sell her solar. The man claimed to be from her utility but couldn’t produce any identification to prove it. We can understand her uneasiness–a stranger at her door, showing up uninvited during a pandemic. And then being cagey about who he works for. When vetting solar companies, here are some questions to ask: —How long has your company been installer solar in Washington or Oregon? —Do you use subcontractors? —What is your company’s safety rating? —What do your warranties cover and for how long? —What is your ..read more

There’s not much more that can be said about 2020 than hasn’t already been said. It was a challenging year. We are grateful for so many things. Our families. Employees. Customers. Communities. Each year, we set aside a portion of our revenue to donate back into our communities. As a B Corporation and Social Purpose Corporation, this is in our DNA. Typically, we allow the employee owners to make those decisions at the end of the year. But with everything that happened in 2020, we changed things up. We implemented a new giving program where all employees can now take advantage of our community g ..read more

Jan. 1, 2021. Great news! The recent federal stimulus package passed by Congress includes an extension of renewable tax credits. The federal solar tax credit (known as the ITC) was extended for an additional two years. This means that you’ll receive a tax credit of 26% of your system’s cost in 2021 and 2022 and 22% in 2023. A tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction of the income tax you owe. If you can’t use the full value in one year, you can roll over the remainder to next year. You should check with a tax adviser to make sure you can claim the entire value. The credits apply to both res ..read more

A&R Solar is following social distancing regulations in both Washington and Oregon, as well as published guidelines from the CDC and OSHA. That means that we’ve had to change the way we operate. As these requirements shift over the next weeks and months, we’ll be adapting and keeping health and safety front of mind. Here’s how we are exercising an abundance of caution to keep our customers and employees healthy. Remote Evaluations Typically, we like to visit your home during an evaluation. There’s something about sitting at a kitchen table and having a face-to-face conversation. We usually ..read more

Have you been thinking about solar but haven’t gotten around to doing the research? We’re offering two free webinars about solar and storage that you can watch while you grab lunch. A&R Solar is licensed to work in Washington and Oregon, but anyone who is interested in a deeper dive into these technologies is welcome! If you have particular questions or topics you’d like us to cover, please include them on the reservation page. Solar for Techies Thursday, March 26th at noon In this live webinar, you’ll learn about the latest in solar technology–where we are now and where we s ..read more

At the end of each year we ask our employee owners and customers to name nonprofit organizations that make a difference in their neighborhoods and cities. Then we write some checks. A lot of them. These donations are on top of the sponsorships to solar and clean energy organizations that we work shoulder to shoulder with during the year. We always receive the best recommendations and stories! One of our employee owners donated to the small pet rescue where he adopted his dog earlier this year. A customer who has a stall at Pike Place Market asked us to donate to the market’s foundation ..read more

The federal solar tax credit will be stepping down over the next few years, and home and business owners should move quickly to take advantage of the savings. For homeowners, this means the system must have passed inspection by December 31 of each year to receive that year’s tax credit. Simply having the panels installed does not qualify the system. The IRS states the system must be fully operational, or “placed in service.” For commercial projects, the project must have commenced construction by December 31 of the year the credits will be taken and must have passed inspection by January ..read more