2023 Solar Incentives Guide for Gardner, MA - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives help mitigate the cost of installing solar panels on your home. This category of financial incentives is intended to encourage more Americans to switch their home over to renewable energy. Incentives might include things like discounts, cash back or credit towards your monthly utility bill. Some incentives are offered federally, while others are offered by the Massachusetts government or by your utility company, county or municipality. Types of solar incentives might include:

• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions in the amount of income tax that you owe the government. (This is different from a tax deduction.)
• Tax Exemptions: These could come in the form of property tax exemptions, which let you exclude the value added by your solar panels when paying taxes on your house. You could also look for exemptions on sales tax at the time of purchase.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and similar performance-based incentives may be available to you if you have a solar system that produces more than a specified (generally small) amount of electricity. Performance-based incentives are generally handled by the state government. You can sell the SRECs you receive to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you receive in return is usually considered part of your taxable income.
• Net Metering: Net metering is an incentive you can get after your solar panels are up and running. If you have a net metering agreement with your Gardner utility company, the company will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your monthly utility bill. In some areas, this is a dollar-for-dollar credit, while in other places you might be refunded a percentage of the value.
• Rebates: Solar rebates might be provided by your county or state, or by your local utility company. These rebates are essentially partial refunds that are applied after you purchase a solar system and before tax credits are calculated.

Federal Solar Incentives

When you think about solar incentives, you likely think of federal incentives first. It's likely that you've heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. The ITC is a tax credit that reduces your taxes by a certain percentage of the money you spend on solar panels for your home.

The ITC covers 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, accessories and equipment. This credit can be claimed on a solar panel system installed on a primary or secondary residence that you own in the United States. Originally, you could claim 30% of the total cost, although the amount you can claim may range between 26-30%. There is no maximum amount you can claim.

Curious how the ITC might apply to your specific situation? Reach out to your local Gardner solar panel installation expert to get more information.

In August 2022, the ITC (now titled the Clean Energy Credit) was expanded and extended by the passage 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 installed between 2022 and 2032. The total credit will then see a slight annual decrease until it expires. Beginning in 2023, it will also be easier to obtain credits for energy storage systems with the new act.

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 Gardner solar installation company.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Tax credits, rebates and more can be claimed at multiple levels. On top of federal solar incentives, there are often state and local ones as well. These solar incentives — which might be handled by your county or municipality, or by the state of Massachusetts — might be offered for only a limited time, or on an ongoing basis.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Gardner

You can apply for solar incentives from the Massachusetts government and the federal government, as well as from your local utility company. The increased availability of solar initiatives over the last 15 years has helped greatly increase nationwide adoption of solar energy. If you're ready to make the switch to solar energy, reaching out to your local Gardner solar panel installation expert is an excellent place to start.