Longhorn Solar is offering the first 100 customers 50 cents per watt rebates for solar installations to certain markets in Texas.

The company is offering the rebates to Oncor’s electric customers in the deregulated cities of Addison, Azle, Bartlett, Bedford, Belton, Colleyville, Copperas Cove, Dallas, Euless, Flower Mound, Fort Worth, Georgetown, Keller, Killeen, Hutto, Pflugerville, Plano, Richardson, Round Rock and Southlake, Texas.

It’s the first time Longhorn has offered solar rebates in these areas, according to Longhorn Solar Director of Marketing Robert Hoskins.

“We get calls from people all the time saying, ‘We can’t wait. We want to do it now,’” he said.  While Oncor doled out incentives and leasing programs last year, many customers weren’t able to sign up in time.

Oncor, primarily a transmission company as opposed to a generating company, offers the rebates and net-metering because it benefits from them, according to Hoskins.

“They benefit from it the most because of line loss,” he said.

Longhorn is making the offer now, before Oncor rolls out its incentive program for 2012, to help its customers get prepared for the incentives it will offer.

“What we’re trying to do is make people aware now that this program is probably going to fully fund in the next quarter,” Hoskins said. “They haven’t announced the program yet this year. We’re planning on a rebate and their incentives [for the first 100 customers].”

Longhorn will also fill out Oncor solar reservations in an attempt to make sure they’re first in line for Oncor’s incentives.

With the rebate, the cost of a 6-kilowatt (kW) system, which is average for the area, could go down considerably.

“A 6kW system could come in under the $5,000 mark, total out-of-pocket,” Hoskins said.

That’s less than the cost of a jet ski or a hot tub, but adds in savings for homeowners’—some whose electric bills have reached $500 in summer months because of Texas’ intense heat.

A 10-kW system it could save customers $1,400 a year in electric costs, according to the company.