2025 Solar Incentives Guide for Pine Bluff, AR - Tax Credits & Rebates

What Solar Tax Credits, Incentives, and Rebates are Available in Pine Bluff?

Source: https://www.dsireusa.org/

Solar incentives help mitigate the cost of installing solar panels on your home. These financial incentives are intended to encourage more homeowners to switch their home over to renewable energy. Different kinds of incentives, like discounts, cash back or credit towards your monthly utility bill, might be available to you. Some incentives may be offered by the state of Arkansas, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while other incentives are federal. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions that lower the amount of income tax you owe the government. (A tax credit is different from a tax deduction.)
• Tax Exemptions: These can come in the form of property tax exemptions, which would allow you to ignore the value added by your solar panels when calculating the taxes you pay on your home. You may also qualify for an exemption on sales tax at the time of purchase.
• Rebates: Some solar companies will help you claim a rebate, or partial refund of your purchase, for your solar system. States or counties will also sometimes offer limited-time rebates. If you receive a rebate, that amount will usually come off the total price before tax credits are calculated.
• Net Metering: Net metering factors in after your solar system is up and running. If you have a net metering agreement with your Pine Bluff utility company, the company will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your utility bill each month. In some locations, this is a dollar-for-dollar credit, while in others you may make back a percentage of the value.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal solar incentives are probably the first thing that you think of when you think about solar incentives. You've likely heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. The ITC is a tax credit equal to a specified percentage of the money you spend on solar panels for your home.

The ITC can be applied to solar panels installed after January 1, 2006, on a primary or secondary residence in the United States that you own. Initially, the credit applied to 30% of the total cost – for panels, accessories, equipment and labor – although the percentage may range from 26-30%, depending on the installation date of your solar system. There is no cap on the amount you can claim.

To more fully understand how the ITC might apply to you, contact your local Pine Bluff solar panel installation expert and ask for more information.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, made some changes to the ITC (as well as retitling it the Clean Energy Credit). The new Clean Energy Credit extends until 2035. You can now receive a 30% credit for solar systems that began installation after January 1, 2022, and are completed by the end of 2032. The credit will then be decreased by a few percentage points every year until the date of expiration. Starting in 2023, the expansion to the program will also make claiming credit for energy storage systems easier than ever before.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. Your local Pine Bluff solar panel installation experts can answer your questions and explain how the new Clean Energy Credit may apply to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

There are more than just federal solar incentives; tax credits, rebates and more are often offered at the state and local level. Incentives may be offered by your county or municipality, or by the state of Arkansas. Certain incentives may be available for only a limited time, while others are ongoing.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Pine Bluff

There are a number of different solar incentives: those given by the federal government, those given by the Arkansas government and those given by local utility companies, to name a few. The use of solar energy has grown enormously in the last 15 years, thanks to these incentives. Your local Pine Bluff solar panel installation expert can give you more information about which incentives you should apply for, and get you on track to switch to renewable energy today.