Summary:
SB 51 of 2009 made various changes to Colorado’s net metering rules and Colorado’s renewable energy standard law as it pertains to customer-sited solar systems. These amendments necessitated changes in Xcel’s Solar*Rewards program. The information presented here is in effect as of September 1, 2009. Historical information about the program is presented at the bottom of this summary.  
 
Effective September 1, 2009, third party developers who own and maintain a PV system on an Xcel customer’s property can receive incentive payments directly from Xcel.  
 
Xcel Energy's Solar*Rewards Program provides two separate incentives for customers who install grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems sized up to 120% of the average annual load of their homes and facilities. Customers will receive an upfront rebate payment, plus a separate payment for the renewable-energy credits (RECs) produced by their system. For systems between 0.5 kW and 500.0 kW DC, Xcel will provide a rebate at the time of installation of $2 per Watt (W). Systems larger than 500 kW can participate through a request for proposals (RFP) process.  
 
All REC purchases are for a period of 20 years unless other legal provision supersedes. The size of the REC payment depends on the size of the system and the owner of the system as shown below.

• Customer owned systems 0.5 kW – 10.0 kW DC: $.55/W (upfront payment)
• Third party owned systems 0.5 kW – 10 kW DC: $0.11 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of actual production (paid monthly)
• Customer owned or third party owned systems 10.1 kW – 100.0 kW DC: $0.115/kWh of actual production (paid monthly)
• Customer owned or third party owned systems 100.1 kW – 500.0 kW: $0.125/kWh of actual production (paid monthly)
• Customer owned or third party owned systems > 500.1 kW: determined through competitive bid process.

For customer owned systems up to 10.0 kW the REC payment may be adjusted, either up or down, based on the calculation of a system's expected electricity output, compared with an optimally oriented, fixed (i.e., non-tracking) system at the customer’s location, but only if the calculated system output differs from the optimally oriented system output by more than 10%. Battery storage is not covered by the rebate.  
 
To qualify for a solar rebate, participants must submit an application and receive approval from Xcel Energy prior to installing the system. A list of PV modules and inverters eligible for the rebate is available on the California Energy Commission’s.website. All PV systems must carry a five-year warranty from both the manufacturer and the installer, including parts and labor.  
 
Net metering is available for Xcel Energy's customers, with net excess generation (NEG) at the end of a monthly billing period credited to the next month’s bill. If a customer has NEG at the end of a calendar year, the customer will be paid for the credit at a rate comparable to the utility's avoided-cost rate, or the customer may make a one-time election to have the NEG carried forward from month to month indefinitely.