2025 Solar Incentives Guide for Garner, NC - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

The term "solar incentives" covers a wide range of financial incentives implemented to make installing and using solar panels more affordable. This is done to encourage people to switch to renewable energy. You might qualify for different kinds of incentives, including cash back, discounts or monthly utility bill credits, depending on your situation. Some incentives come from your specific utility company, county or municipality, some from the North Carolina government and others from the federal government. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions (not deductions) in how much income tax you owe the federal government.
• Tax Exemptions: Tax exemptions may come in one of two forms. First, there is sales tax exemption, which is applied when you purchase solar panels. The second is property tax exemption, which allows you to exclude the value added by your solar system when calculating property tax for your home.
• Rebates: Rebates, or cash back after a purchase, are typically applied prior to any solar tax credits being calculated. Solar rebates might be provided by your local utility company, by your county or by your state.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and similar other performance-based incentives might be available to you if the solar system on your home produces more than a specified (generally small) amount of electricity. Performance-based incentives are generally handled at the state level. You can sell SRECs to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you receive in return is normally considered part of your taxable income.
• Net Metering: Don't forget to speak to your Garner utility company about signing a net metering contract. This allows you to get a credit towards your monthly utility bill for the value of excess energy your solar panels generate. You could receive either a dollar-for-dollar credit or 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. The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC, is the best-known federal solar incentive. The ITC provides a tax credit for a set percentage of the cost of your solar system.

The ITC applies to a solar system installed on your primary or secondary residence in the United States. The solar system must have been installed after January 1, 2006, on a property owned by you for you to be eligible for the credit. The ITC originally paid out 30% of all costs (panels, equipment, labor and accessories), although the amount has fluctuated over time between 26-30%. The amount you qualify for will depend on when your solar system was installed. There is no cap on the claim amount.

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

In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act made revisions to the ITC, now dubbed the Clean Energy Credit. The Clean Energy Credit bolsters the current credit, increasing it up to 30% for solar installations undertaken between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2032. After 2032, the percentage will see a slight decrease annually until the program expires in 2035. Starting in 2023, it will also be easier to get credits for energy storage systems under the new laws.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. Your local Garner solar panel installers are the best people to answer your questions about the new Clean Energy Credit and how it may apply to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Rebates, tax credits and more can be claimed at multiple levels. Along with federal solar incentives, there are often state and local ones as well. These incentives — which may be given by the state of North Carolina, or by your county or municipality — could be offered for only a limited time, or on an ongoing basis.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Garner

There are a variety of solar incentives: those provided by the federal government, those given by the North Carolina government and those offered by local utility companies, to name a few. The use of solar energy has grown enormously in the last 15 years, partially due to these incentives. Getting in touch with your local Garner solar panel installer is an excellent first step towards getting all the incentives you qualify for when you switch to solar energy.