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

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

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

Solar incentives encourage people to make the switch to renewable energy by providing incentives that lower the financial burden of solar panel installation and use. You might be eligible for several types of incentives, including discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits, depending on your situation. Some incentives come from your specific utility company, county or municipality, some from the state of Massachusetts and others from the federal government. Categories of solar incentives include:

• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and other performance-based incentives might be available to you if your solar system produces over a specified (typically small) amount of electricity. This category of incentives is generally handled by the state government. You can sell any SRECs you have to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you make is generally considered part of your taxable income.
• Rebates: A rebate is a partial refund after the purchase of your solar system. Rebates might be offered by your local utility company, your state or your county. The cash back that you get from the rebates is normally applied before calculating tax credits.
• Tax Exemptions: Your solar panel system might qualify for exemptions on both sales and property tax. Sales tax exemptions are applied at the time of purchase. Property tax exemptions allow you to ignore the added value of the solar panels when calculating property taxes on your home.
• Net Metering: Net metering is an incentive you can get after your solar panels are up and running. If you've signed a net metering agreement with your Wellesley utility company, it will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your monthly utility bill. In some places, this credit is dollar-for-dollar, while in other places you might get refunded a percentage of the value.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions that lower the amount of income tax you owe the federal government. (A tax credit is different from a tax deduction.)

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal incentives are the type of incentives that you are most likely to have some knowledge of. An incentive that most people are likely to be familiar with is the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The ITC is a tax credit for a predetermined percentage of the cost of your solar system.

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

To best understand how the ITC might apply to you, contact your local Wellesley solar panel installer and ask for more information.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, added more provisions to the ITC (as well as retitling it the Clean Energy Credit). Homeowners can now receive a credit of 30% of the total costs of solar system installation for projects started after January 1, 2022, and completed before the end of 2032. The credit percentage will then decrease annually until the Clean Energy Credit expires in 2035. Starting in 2023, the program expansion will also make claiming credit for energy storage systems easier than ever before.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. The best way to learn more about how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you is to talk with your local Wellesley solar panel installers.

State & Local Solar Incentives

In addition to federal solar incentives, there are often also state ones. Tax credits, rebates and more might be available at a more local level. Certain incentives are ongoing, while others are offered for only a limited time. Your local incentives may come from the Massachusetts government, or from your specific county or municipality.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Wellesley

Solar energy use nationwide has increased enormously in the last 15 years, in part thanks to the growth in the number of solar incentives. You can obtain these incentives from the federal government, the Massachusetts government or your local utility company. We suggest talking to your local Wellesley solar installation expert for more information about these incentives and to ensure that you're getting the largest number possible for your solar system.