2023 Solar Incentives Guide for York, IL - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives are meant to encourage people to make the switch to renewable energy by offering financial incentives meant to lower the burden of solar panel installation and use. Various kinds of incentives, such as discounts, cash back or credit towards your monthly utility bill, may be available to you. Certain incentives may be provided via the state of Illinois, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while other incentives are federal. Some solar incentives you might qualify for are:

• Net Metering: Net metering becomes relevant once your solar system is up and running. If you've signed a net metering agreement with your York 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 places, this is a dollar-for-dollar credit, while in other areas you might get refunded a percentage of the value.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions (not deductions) in how much income tax you owe the federal government.
• Rebates: Solar rebates may be provided by your local utility company, or by your county or state. These rebates are essentially cash back that is applied after your purchase of solar panels and before tax credits are calculated.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): In general, solar systems that produce over a specific (generally small) amount of electricity will qualify for SRECs or other similar performance-based incentives. SRECs and performance-based incentives in general are typically offered at the state level. When you receive an SREC, you can sell it to your utility company or another buyer, and this is usually considered part of your taxable income.
• Tax Exemptions: These could come in the form of property tax exemptions, which allow you to ignore the value of your solar system when calculating the taxes you pay on your house. You could also look for exemptions on sales tax at the time of purchase.

Federal Solar Incentives

When people think of solar incentives, federal incentives might be the first thing that comes to mind. The solar incentive that you're most familiar with is probably the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which provides a credit on your taxes equal to a specified percentage of your solar system's cost.

The ITC is applied to the total cost of installing a solar system, including the panels themselves as well as labor, equipment and accessories. You can claim this credit for panels installed after January 1, 2006 on a primary or secondary residence that you own, as long as it is located in the United States. The tax credit ranges from 26-30% of total costs depending on when your project was completed. There is no maximum claim amount.

To understand exactly how much the ITC could save you, talk to your local York solar panel installation expert.

The ITC has been renewed and expanded following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022. It's also now called the Clean Energy Credit. The Clean Energy Credit is valid until 2035. Any solar installation project that is completed between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2032 may qualify for a 30% tax credit; this amount will be decreased slightly on a yearly basis until the current program ends. Starting in 2023, the expansion to the program will also make credits for energy storage systems even easier to claim.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. To understand how the new Clean Energy Credit applies to you, speak with your local York solar installation company.

State & Local Solar Incentives

In addition to those provided at the federal level, there are often also state solar incentives. Tax credits, rebates and more might be available at a more local level. These solar incentives — which may be provided by your county or municipality, or by the state of Illinois — might be offered for only a limited time, or on an ongoing basis.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in York

You can receive solar incentives from the Illinois government and the federal government, as well as from your local utility company. The growing availability of solar initiatives over the last 15 years has helped greatly increase nationwide adoption of solar energy. When you're prepared to switch over to solar energy, talking to your local York solar panel installation expert is an excellent place to start.