PHOENIX --$3.00 a watt.

Need I say more?

The state of Arizona currently gives consumers who buy solar systems a $3.00 a watt subsidy on systems they install. That's nearly twice the $1.55 per watt subsidy that California offers.

Put another way, a consumer that installs a 5-kilowatt system on his or her house can expect to pay only $13,000 for the system, according to Lori Singleton, manager of sustainability initiatives for the Salt River Project, a large publicly-owned utility, at Surviving the Shakeout, a conference taking place today and tomorrow sponsored by Greentech Media. The math works out at follows: The system costs $35,000, but consumers get a collective $22,000 in credits from the federal government, the state of Arizona and the utility.

Developers that build systems of 20 kilowatts or more only qualify for a $2.50 kilowatt credit.

But hurry. In about a month, utilities will start to knock down the consumer rebate to $2.70 and the commercial rebate will likely follow.