2025 Solar Incentives Guide for Central, LA - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives are intended to encourage people to switch their home over to renewable energy by providing financial incentives meant to lower the burden of solar panel installation and use. You might be eligible for various types of incentives, including cash back, discounts or credit towards your monthly utility bill, depending on your situation. Some incentives come from your specific utility company, county or municipality, some from the Louisiana government and others from the federal government. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Tax Exemptions: Your solar system could qualify for both sales tax and property tax exemptions. Sales tax exemptions are effective at the time of purchase. Property tax exemptions allow you to ignore the added value of the solar panels when you are calculating property taxes on your home.
• Net Metering: You can sign a net metering agreement with your Central utility company, that may apply to all or a percentage of the excess electricity your solar panels generate. Your utility company will then subtract this value from your utility bill each month.
• Rebates: Your solar installer might help you claim a rebate, or partial refund of your purchase, for your solar panels. Counties or states will also sometimes offer limited-time rebates. If you receive a rebate, that amount will usually be deducted from your total price before tax credits are calculated.
• Tax Credits: Unlike tax deductions, tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax that you owe the government.

Federal Solar Incentives

When someone says "solar incentives," you probably think of federal incentives first. 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 percentage of your solar system's cost.

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

Wondering how the ITC applies to your specific situation? Reach out to your local Central solar panel installer to get more information.

The ITC was both renewed and expanded by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022. It's also now called the Clean Energy Credit. The Clean Energy Credit has increased the current credit up to 30% for solar systems installed between 2022 and 2032. After this, the credit percentage will be reduced slightly each year until the program expires in 2035. The expansion to the program also makes claiming credit for energy storage systems easier than ever before, starting in 2023.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. To better understand how the new Clean Energy Credit might apply to you, get in touch with your local Central solar installers.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives are often also offered at the local or state level. Similar to federal incentives, these might include rebates, tax credits and more. These solar incentives — which might be provided by the state of Louisiana, 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 Central

Solar incentives might be provided by the federal government, the Louisiana government or your local utility company. The large number of available solar incentives has helped nationwide use of solar energy increase greatly in the last 15 years. Speaking with your local Central solar panel installer is the right first step towards making sure you get all the incentives you qualify for when you switch to solar energy.