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

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

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

Solar incentives are designed to encourage people to switch to renewable energy by offering incentives meant to lower the financial burden of solar panel installation and use. 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. Types of solar incentives might include:

• Rebates: Rebates, or partial refunds after a purchase, are usually given before any solar tax credits are calculated. Rebates can be given by your local utility company, by your state or by your county.
• Tax Credits: Different from tax deductions, tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax that you owe the government.
• Tax Exemptions: Tax exemptions can come in one of two forms. First, there is sales tax exemption, which is applied when you purchase solar panels. The second is property tax exemption. This allows you to ignore the added value of your solar system when calculating property tax for your home.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and similar other performance-based incentives may be available to you if your solar system produces over a specified (usually small) amount of electricity. This category of incentives is usually handled at the state level. You can sell the SRECs you receive to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you receive in return is generally considered part of your taxable income.
• Net Metering: Net metering becomes relevant after your solar panels are up and running. If you have a net metering agreement in place with your Yorkville utility company, they will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your monthly utility bill. In some areas, this credit is dollar-for-dollar, while in others you may make back a percentage of the value.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal incentives are the type of incentives that you are most likely to have some familiarity with. The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC, is the best-known federal solar incentive. The ITC allows you to claim a tax credit for a set percentage of your solar system's cost.

The ITC applies to the total cost of installing solar panels, including the panels themselves as well as equipment, accessories and labor. You can claim this credit for panels installed after January 1, 2006 on a primary or secondary residence that you own and that 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.

Your local Yorkville solar panel installer can offer more information about the ITC and how it might apply to your situation.

The ITC was renewed and increased in scope after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022. It's also now called the Clean Energy Credit. The Clean Energy Credit re-raises the credit up to 30% for solar systems installed between 2022 and 2032. After 2032, the credit percentage will be reduced slightly each year until the end of the program in 2035. 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. The best way to understand how the new Clean Energy Credit might apply to you is to speak with your local Yorkville solar panel installers directly.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives may be offered at the local or state level. As with federal incentives, these may include rebates, tax credits and more. These incentives — which may be given by your county or municipality, or by the state of Illinois — may be offered on an ongoing basis, or for only a limited time.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Yorkville

You can apply for and receive solar incentives from the federal government and the Illinois government, as well as from your local utility company. The growing availability of solar initiatives in the past 15 years has helped greatly increase nationwide adoption of solar energy. Reaching out to your local Yorkville solar panel installation company is a great first step towards getting the most money possible when you switch to solar energy.