2024 Solar Incentives Guide for Galesburg, IL - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives mitigate the cost of installing a solar panel system on your home. This category of financial incentives is intended to encourage more Americans to convert their home partially or fully to renewable energy. Various kinds of incentives, such as cash back, discounts or credit towards your monthly utility bill, may be available to you. Certain incentives may be offered by the Illinois government, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while others are federal. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Tax Credits: Different from tax deductions, tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax that you owe the federal government.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): In most cases, solar systems that produce over a specific (usually small) amount of electricity qualify for SRECs or similar performance-based incentives. SRECs and performance-based incentives in general are typically provided at the state level. SRECs can be sold to your utility company or another buyer, and generally the money you make is normally considered part of your taxable income.
• Net Metering: You can sign a net metering agreement with your Galesburg utility company that will apply to all or a percentage of the excess electricity your solar panels generate. Your utility company will then subtract this value from your monthly utility bill.
• Rebates: Your solar installer might help you claim a rebate, or partial refund of your purchase, for your solar panels. States or counties will also sometimes offer limited-time rebates. Any rebates you receive will usually come off your total price before any tax credits are calculated.
• Tax Exemptions: Your solar system may qualify for exemptions on both sales and property tax. Sales tax exemptions are applied at the time of purchase. Property tax exemptions allow you to exclude the added value of the solar panels when you are calculating property taxes on your home.

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Federal Solar Incentives

Federal solar incentives are likely to be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about solar incentives. The solar incentive that you're most likely to have heard of is the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which provides a credit on your taxes equal to a certain percentage of your solar system's cost.

The ITC was originally for 30% of the total cost of installing solar panels, although it has fluctuated slightly over time between 26-30%. The installation date of your solar system will determine what percentage you qualify for. The total installation cost includes the panels themselves as well as the cost of equipment, labor and accessories. There is no maximum claim amount. The ITC applies to solar systems installed after January 1, 2006, on your primary or secondary residence. The residence must be owned by you and in the United States.

To best understand how the ITC might apply to your situation, call your local Galesburg solar panel installer and request more information.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, added more provisions to the ITC (as well as retitling it the Clean Energy Credit). Now, solar installation projects that are completed between 2022 and 2032, may be eligible for a 30% tax credit. This percentage will then see a slight annual decrease until the end of the current Clean Energy Credit in 2035. Starting in 2023, the expansion to the program will also make it easier to get credit for energy storage systems.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. The best way to understand how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you is to talk with your local Galesburg solar panel installers.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives are often also offered at the local or state level. Like with federal incentives, these might include rebates, tax credits and more. These incentives might be offered by the Illinois government, or by your county or municipality. Certain incentives are ongoing, while others are available for a limited time.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Galesburg

You can receive solar incentives from the federal government and the Illinois government, as well as from your local utility company. Growing availability of solar initiatives over the last 15 years has helped increase solar adoption nationwide. We recommend talking to your local Galesburg solar installation expert for more information about these incentives and to make sure that you're getting the most money possible for your solar panels.