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Following approval by the Chilean Congress, the new legislation will allow the government to incentivize the solar industry and promote the installation of thermo solar systems in new residential buildings. It will subsidize between 20 and 100 percent of the installation costs in some cases.
The minister of energy, Marcelo Tokman, said that "this is a great day for renewable energy. The newly approved tax incentive, soon to be published, will provide a much needed boost to the solar industry in Chile. "
He added that "soon, we will see more solar installations in residential buildings, which would represent an important reduction in CO2 emissions. At the same time, it will allow the 43% of Chilean who do not have hot water, to consider an affordable alternative to fossil-fuels."
"This is just one of many initiatives we are implementing to reduce the country's energy dependency, we need to take care of the environment as well as to take full advantage of clean technologies that allow us to reduce costs and improve the quality of life of all Chilean families," said the minister.
The new incentive comes in the form of a fiscal credit created to finance the installation of thermo solar systems in new homes of up to 150,000 dollars. Those residential buildings not exceeding 60,000 dollars, will be eligible to receive the total cost of the installation.
Those buildings between 60,000 and 90,000 dollars, will be able to receive funds for up to 40% of the installation cost. Those between 90,000 and 150,000 dollars, will be eligible to receive up to 20% of the total cost.
The incentive cannot be more than 7% of the cost of the new home. Therefore, in the case of large apartment complexes, there will be a maximum of 0.6% of the total cost of the complex per apartment, as long as the thermo solar system installation does not require more than 100 square meters.
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