2025 Solar Incentives Guide for Brockton, MA - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives are meant to encourage homeowners to switch their home over to renewable energy by offering incentives meant to lower the financial burden of solar panel installation and use. Different types of incentives, including cash back, discounts or monthly utility bill credits, may be available to you. Some incentives may be offered by the state of Massachusetts, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while other incentives are federal. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Tax Exemptions: Your solar panels might qualify for exemptions on both sales and property tax. Sales tax exemptions come into effect 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 house.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): In general, solar systems that produce more than a specified (normally small) amount of electricity qualify for SRECs or other performance-based incentives. SRECs and performance-based incentives in general are typically provided by your state government. You can sell SRECs to your utility company or another buyer, and generally the money you make is normally considered part of your taxable income.
• Net Metering: Net metering factors in after your solar panels are up and running. If you have a net metering agreement with your Brockton 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 get refunded a percentage of the value.
• Tax Credits: Unlike tax deductions, tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax that you owe the federal government.
• Rebates: A solar rebate is a partial refund credited to your account after you've paid for your solar system. Rebates could be offered by your local utility company, your state or your county. The rebates are usually applied before calculating tax credits.

Federal Solar Incentives

When someone says "solar incentives," you likely think of federal incentives first. You've likely heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. This incentive is a tax credit equal to a specified percentage of the money you spend on your solar system.

The ITC can be applied to solar systems installed after January 1, 2006, and allows you to deduct from your taxes a percentage of the total cost of solar panels, labor, equipment and accessories. This credit can be claimed on solar panels installed on a primary or secondary residence that you own in the United States. Originally, you could claim 30% of the total cost, although depending on when the project was completed, your credit may range from 26-30%. There is no maximum amount you can claim.

To better understand exactly how much money the ITC could save you, contact your local Brockton solar panel installer.

In August 2022, the ITC (now titled the Clean Energy Credit) was bolstered by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. The new Clean Energy Credit now runs until 2035. American homeowners can now receive a 30% credit for solar systems that began installation after January 1, 2022, and are completed by the end of 2032. This credit will then see a slight annual decrease until the date of expiration. Starting in 2023, it will also be easier to get credits for energy storage systems with the new act.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. Your local Brockton solar panel installation experts can answer your questions and explain how the new Clean Energy Credit may apply to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

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

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Brockton

There are many kinds of solar incentives: those provided by local utility companies, those offered by the Massachusetts government and those given by the federal government, to name a few. The use of solar energy has increased tremendously in the last 15 years, thanks to these incentives. Speak with your local solar panel installation company today to learn more and to save as much money as possible on solar panels for your Brockton home.