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

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

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

Solar incentives are meant to help mitigate the cost of installing solar panels on your home. This category of financial incentives is designed to encourage more people to switch their home over to renewable energy. The incentives could include cash back, upfront discounts or credit towards your monthly utility bill. Some incentives are offered by the federal government, some by the state of Massachusetts and some by your utility company, county or municipality. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): Generally, solar systems that produce more than a specified (normally small) amount of electricity qualify for SRECs or similar performance-based incentives. SRECs and similar incentives are typically offered at the state level. You can sell SRECs to your utility company or another buyer, and this is usually considered part of your taxable income.
• Rebates: A rebate is a partial refund after the purchase of your solar system. These could be offered by your local utility company, your county or your state. The discount that rebates offer is normally applied to the price of solar panels before calculating tax credits.
• Tax Credits: Unlike tax deductions, tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax that you owe the government.
• Tax Exemptions: These could come in the form of property tax exemptions, which allow you to exclude the value of your solar system when paying property tax on your home. You may also qualify for an exemption on sales tax at the time of purchase.
• Net Metering: Net metering becomes relevant once your solar panels are up and running. If you have a net metering agreement with your Seekonk utility company, the company will subtract the value of the excess energy your solar system produces from your utility bill each month. In some places, this is a dollar-for-dollar credit, while in others you might 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. 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 predetermined percentage of the money you spend on your solar system.

The ITC covers solar systems installed after January 1, 2006, and under this program you can deduct from your taxes a percentage of the total cost of solar panels, accessories, equipment and labor. 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 claim amount.

Contacting your local Seekonk solar panel installer is the best way to understand how the ITC may apply to you.

In August 2022, the ITC (now referred to as the Clean Energy Credit) was bolstered by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. The Clean Energy Credit is valid until 2035. Your solar installation project undertaken between 2022 and 2032 may qualify for a 30% tax credit. This amount will then decrease slightly each year until the current program ends. Starting in 2023, the expansion to the program will also make claiming credit for energy storage systems easier than ever before.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. Your local Seekonk solar panel company is the best resource for answering your questions regarding the new Clean Energy Credit and how it may apply to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives may be offered at the local or state level. Similar to federal incentives, these might include tax credits, rebates and more. Some incentives are offered for only a limited time, while others are ongoing. Your local incentives may come from the Massachusetts government, or from your specific county or municipality.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Seekonk

The variety of solar incentives available has contributed greatly to the increase in the use of solar power nationwide over the past 15 years. You may receive solar incentives from your local utility company, the Massachusetts government or the federal government. Getting in touch with your local Seekonk solar panel installation company is an excellent first step towards getting the most money possible when you switch to solar energy.