AUGUSTA (AP) – Saying he hopes to make Maine more energy independent as Independence Day approaches, Gov. John Baldacci signed legislation Wednesday to encourage the use of solar energy by offering rebates on installations of solar hot water and power systems.

“This takes us in the direction the rest of the country ought to follow,” Baldacci said during a bill-signing ceremony under hazy conditions in a courtyard behind the State House, where a collection of solar panels awaited installation on the roof of the nearby State Museum.

The new law gives Maine one of the nation’s most aggressive state programs to encourage the use of solar energy, according to Beth Nagusky, director of the Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security.

The new law will provide rebates of about a quarter of the cost of a new solar hot water or photovoltaic system.

For a solar water heating system with an estimated cost of $5,000, the rebate would be $1,250, which is also the maximum rebate allowed for those systems. For a $24,000 solar electric system that has installed capacity of 2,400 watts, the rebate would be $6,400.

Qualified installers must set up the systems.

No new money is raised for the solar rebate fund, which is capped at $500,000 per year. Nagusky said the money comes from an existing conservation surcharge on electric utility bills.

“We hope to jump-start a market and hope to use all of that on rebates” for the solar systems, Nagusky said. The administration hopes to create jobs by promoting the solar energy industry. It says the photovoltaic industry alone is worth $6 billion a year and growing at 40 percent annually.

Baldacci, noting that oil prices reached $60 per barrel earlier this week and could go much higher, said the time is right to reduce a reliance on oil and natural gas.

“Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource on the planet,” said Baldacci. “Each minute enough sunlight reaches the Earth to meet the world’s energy demand for an entire year.”

Solar power also promotes cleaner air by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, say the bill’s supporters.

Sponsored by Rep. John Brautigam, D-Falmouth, the bill passed unanimously in the House and Senate. A separate measure to encourage wind energy projects in Maine by offering tax credits was carried over to the next legislative session.

Brautigam’s solar bill was signed a day after the U.S. Senate approved energy legislation that would include $18 billion in energy tax breaks, an expansion of ethanol use and measures aimed at increasing natural gas imports to meet growing demand.

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