Minnesota's expanded $15 million-a-year program to support homegrown solar panel manu­fac­turing will of­fer output-based in­cen­tives for the first time, ac­cord­ing to de­tails re­leased Fri­day.

The program, fund­ed by ratepayers of the state's four investor-owned utilities, will pay homeowners, businesses, nonprofits and governments from 13 cents per kilowatt-hour to 27 cents per kilowatt-hour over 10 years of output from solar arrays built by either of the state's two panel makers.

The retail electricity rate in Minnesota is about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. The payments are on top of what system owners get for selling power back to utilities, a signal that solar energy remains significantly higher priced than other generation.

TenKsolar, which manufactures panels in Bloomington, and Silicon Energy, with a plant in Mountain Iron, Minn., are the two companies that benefit from the program. It was expanded under a 2013 state law that also requires investor-owned utilities to get 1.5 percent of their power from solar energy by 2020.

Customers of Xcel Energy, Minnesota Power, Otter Tail Power Co. and Alliant Energy can apply for incentives starting Jan. 1 at the website of the state Commerce Department, which manages the program.

Craig Tarr, president of Energy Concepts, a Hudson-based solar installer, said the production-based payments eliminate an incentive for installers to inflate prices, a criticism he had raised about an existing Minnesota-made solar program. He said some customers may resist at the longer, 10-year payout period. The current program's payout is five years.

DAVID SHAFFER