2023 Solar Incentives Guide for Omaha, NE - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives are designed to make renewable energy usage more affordable via financial incentives for individuals who install solar panels on their homes. Different types of incentives, including discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits, may be available to you. Some incentives may be handled by the Nebraska government, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while others are federal. Some solar incentives you might qualify for are:

• Net Metering: You can sign a net metering contract with your Omaha utility company, that may apply to all or a percentage of the excess electricity your solar panels generate. Your utility company will then deduct this value from your utility bill each month.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions (not deductions) in the amount of tax that you owe the government.
• Tax Exemptions: Tax exemptions may come in two forms. The first is sales tax exemption, applied when you purchase solar panels. The second is property tax exemption. This allows you to ignore the value added by your solar system when calculating property tax for your home.
• Rebates: Rebates, or cash back after a purchase, are normally applied before any solar tax credits are calculated. Rebates might be provided by your local utility company, by your state or by your county.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal incentives are the kind of incentives that you are most likely to have heard of. You've likely heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. This incentive is a tax credit that reduces your taxes by a predetermined percentage of the money you spend on your solar system.

The ITC originally covered 30% of the cost of installing a solar system, 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, labor and equipment. There is no maximum amount you can claim. The ITC applies to solar systems installed after January 1, 2006 on your primary or secondary residence. The residence must be owned by you and in the United States.

To more fully understand how the ITC will apply to you, contact your local Omaha solar panel installation expert and request more information.

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 runs until 2035. Any solar installation project that is completed between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2032 may qualify for a 30% tax credit. This amount will then decrease slightly each year until the current program ends. The expansion also makes claiming credit for energy storage systems easier than ever before, starting in 2023.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. To better understand how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you, talk to your local Omaha solar installers.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Tax credits, rebates and more might be claimed at multiple levels. In addition to federal solar incentives, there are often state and local ones, too. These solar incentives — which might be handled by your county or municipality, or by the state of Nebraska — might be offered on an ongoing basis, or for only a limited time.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Omaha

The nationwide use of solar energy has gone up tremendously in the past 15 years, in part due to the proliferation of solar incentives. You can obtain these incentives from the federal government, the Nebraska government or your local utility company. It is a good idea to talk to your local Omaha solar installer to learn more about these incentives and to make sure that you're getting all of the money you can for your solar system.