2025 Solar Incentives Guide for Arkansas City, KS - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives are meant to encourage homeowners to switch their home over to renewable energy by providing incentives meant to lower the financial burden of solar panel installation and use. Incentives can include things like discounts, cash back or credit on your utility bill each month. Some incentives are offered by the federal government, while others are offered by the state of Kansas or your specific utility company, county or municipality. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Net Metering: Net metering becomes relevant after your solar system is up and running. If you have a net metering agreement with your Arkansas City utility company, it will subtract the value of the excess energy your solar system produces from your monthly utility bill. In some areas, this is a dollar-for-dollar credit, while in other areas you might receive a refund equivalent to a percentage of the value.
• Tax Exemptions: Tax exemptions can come in one of two forms. First, there is sales tax exemption, which is applied at the time you purchase your solar panels. The second is property tax exemption. This allows you to ignore the value added by your solar system when calculating property tax for your home.
• Rebates: Solar rebates may be provided by your county or state, or by your local utility company. These rebates are essentially partial refunds that are applied after your purchase of a solar system and before tax credits are calculated.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits lower, dollar-for-dollar, how much income tax you owe the government. Tax credits are different from tax deductions.

Federal Solar Incentives

When people think of solar incentives, federal incentives are likely the first thing that comes to mind. A federal incentive that most people are probably familiar with is the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC). This is a tax credit for a given percentage of the cost of your solar system.

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

To understand exactly how much money the ITC could save you, speak with your local Arkansas City solar panel installer.

In August 2022, the ITC (now called the Clean Energy Credit) was bolstered by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. Homeowners can now qualify for a credit of 30% of the total solar system installation costs for projects started after January 1, 2022, and completed before the end of 2032. This percentage will then begin to decrease on a yearly basis until the Clean Energy Credit expires in 2035. Beginning in 2023, it will also be easier to qualify for credits for energy storage systems under this new program.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. To better understand how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you, speak with your local Arkansas City solar installation expert.

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 may be available at a more local level. These solar incentives — which may be provided by the state of Kansas, or by your county or municipality — might be offered for only a limited time, or on an ongoing basis.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Arkansas City

Solar incentives might come from your local utility company, the Kansas government or the federal government. The variety of available solar incentives has facilitated the nationwide growth of solar energy use in the last 15 years. When you're prepared to switch over to solar energy, talking to your local Arkansas City solar panel installation expert is an excellent place to start.