2025 Solar Incentives Guide for Denville, NJ - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives are meant to help mitigate the cost of installing a solar panel system on your home. Financial incentives like these are in place to encourage more homeowners to switch their home over to renewable energy. Different types of incentives, such as discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits, may be available to you. Certain incentives may be handled by the state of New Jersey, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while others are federal. Some solar incentives you might qualify for are:

• Rebates: Solar companies may help you claim a rebate, or partial refund after purchase, for your solar system. Counties or states will also sometimes offer limited-time rebates. If you receive a rebate, that amount will usually be deducted from your total price before tax credits are calculated.
• Net Metering: You may be able to sign a net metering agreement with your Denville utility company, that may apply to all or a percentage of the excess electricity your solar panels generate. They will then deduct this value from your utility bill each month.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and other similar performance-based incentives are typically handled by your state government. Once your solar system meets a certain threshold (normally a small amount of energy production), you can receive SRECs that can then be sold to your utility company or other buyers. The money you make is usually considered part of your taxable income.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions that lower the amount of income tax you owe the government. (A tax credit is different from a tax deduction.)
• Tax Exemptions: Tax exemptions may come in one of two forms. The first is sales tax exemption, applied at the time you purchase your solar panels. The second is property tax exemption, which allows you to ignore the value added by your solar system when calculating property tax for your house.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal solar incentives are probably the first thing that you think of when you think about solar incentives. You may have heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. This incentive is a tax credit equal to a certain percentage of the money you spend installing solar panels.

The ITC initially applied to 30% of the cost of installing solar panels, although it has fluctuated slightly over the last few 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 labor, accessories 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 best understand how the ITC could apply to you, get in touch with your local Denville solar panel installation expert and ask for more information.

In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act made revisions to the ITC, now titled 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; the amount will decrease slightly each year until the end of the current program. The expansion to the program also makes it easier to get credit for energy storage systems, beginning in 2023.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. Your local Denville solar panel installation expert is the best person to answer your questions regarding the new Clean Energy Credit and how it may apply to you.

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 might only be available for a limited time. They may be given by your county or municipality, or by the New Jersey government.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Denville

The variety of solar incentives available has helped tremendously increase the nationwide adoption of solar energy over the past 15 years. You might qualify for solar incentives from the New Jersey government, the federal government or your local utility company. Getting in touch with your local Denville solar panel installation expert is the right first step towards getting the most money possible when you switch to solar energy.