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TUCSON - The number of people moving to solar power, has exploded in the last few years, especially in Tucson. But now, the rebate TEP offers for switching to solar power is being cut from $3 to $2 per watt.

Niranjan Vescio watched with pride Tuesday morning, as his solar panels finally went up. It is a decision he says he made a long a long time ago, with his heart and his pocket book.

"Even environmental engineers can't just do it because they want to, it always has to come down to a cost benefit analysis," Vescio said.

That analysis eventually came to the perfect conclusion for Vescio.

"When did I decide? When I heard that TEP was offering a wonderful three dollar a watt incentive, that really brought my payback for the investment from 20 years plus, down to seven years," Vescio said.

Vescio is not the only person in town taking advantage of the abundant Tucson sun. TEP says there have been more solar installations this year than in the last eight years combined, which is why the $3 incentive is now stuck at two.

"These systems are getting a lot less expensive than these days, they're a lot cheaper than they were maybe 3, 4 years ago and so the incentive levels really do need to be reduced to reflect that reality," TEP Spokesman Joe Salkowski said.

At some point the rebates could disappear.

George Villec is the owner of Geoinnovation, the company installing Vescio's system. He says the incentives were created to give the industry a jump start.

"Ultimately I think lowering the rebates is a good thing for the market place and the customer, ultimately we should be unsubsidized, and should be able to compete in the market place like other products," owner of Geoinnovation George Villec said.

In the meantime Vescio is a satisfied customer.

"The sun is what we count on, this is going to pay back in about seven years, I'm going to feel good every day," Vescio said.