2024 Solar Incentives Guide for Grosse Pointe Farms, MI - Tax Credits & Rebates

What Solar Tax Credits, Incentives, and Rebates are Available in Grosse Pointe Farms?

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

Solar incentives are meant to encourage people to switch their home over to renewable energy by offering financial incentives that lower the burden of solar panel installation and use. Different types of incentives, including discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits, may be available to you. Certain incentives may be handled by the state of Michigan, 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 system might qualify for exemptions on both sales and property tax. Sales tax exemptions are effective at the time of purchase. Property tax exemptions allow you to exclude the value that solar panels add when you are calculating property taxes on your home.
• Rebates: Solar companies may help you claim a rebate, or partial refund of your purchase, for your solar system. Counties or states will also offer limited-time rebates at various times. The value of a rebate will usually be deducted from your total price before any tax credits are calculated.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits decrease, dollar-for-dollar, the total amount of tax you owe the federal government. These differ from tax deductions.
• Net Metering: Net metering is an incentive you can get once your solar system is up and running. If you've signed a net metering agreement with your Grosse Pointe Farms utility company, they will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your monthly utility bill. In some places, this is a dollar-for-dollar credit, while in other places you may be refunded a percentage of the value.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal solar incentives are likely the first thing that you think of when you think about solar incentives. The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC, is probably the most well-known federal solar incentive. The ITC offers a tax credit for a specific percentage of your solar system's cost.

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

To understand exactly how much the ITC could save you, get in touch with your local Grosse Pointe Farms solar panel installer.

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 installation projects started after January 1, 2022, and completed by the end of 2032. At this point, the percentage will be reduced slightly each year until the program expires in 2035. Starting in 2023, the expansion to the program will also make it easier to get credit for energy storage systems.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. Your local Grosse Pointe Farms solar panel installer can answer any questions you have 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 might include rebates, tax credits and more. The incentives — which might be provided by the state of Michigan, or by your county or municipality — may be offered on an ongoing basis, or for only a limited time.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Grosse Pointe Farms

There are a variety of solar incentives: those provided by the federal government, those offered by the Michigan government and those given by local utility companies, to name a few. The use of solar energy has grown tremendously in the last 15 years, thanks to these incentives. We suggest talking to your local Grosse Pointe Farms solar installation company for more information about these incentives and to make sure that you're getting all the money you can for your solar panels.