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

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

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

Solar incentives mitigate the cost of installing solar panels on your home. This category of financial incentives is in place to encourage more people to switch to renewable energy. Different types of incentives, like discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits, may be available to you. Some incentives may be handled by the state of New Jersey, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while other incentives are federal. Categories of solar incentives include:

• Net Metering: Net metering factors in once your solar system is up and running. If you have a net metering agreement in place with your Gloucester utility company, they will subtract the value of the excess energy your solar system produces from your monthly utility bill. In some places, this is a dollar-for-dollar credit, while in other places you might receive a refund equivalent to a percentage of the value.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax you owe the government. These are different from tax deductions.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and similar performance-based incentives might be available to you if your solar system produces more than a specified (generally small) amount of electricity. This category of incentives is normally handled by the state government. You can sell your SRECs to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you make is usually considered part of your taxable income.
• Rebates: Rebates, or cash back after a purchase, are normally applied before any solar tax credits are calculated. Solar rebates can be provided by your local utility company, by your county or by your state.
• Tax Exemptions: These may come in the form of property tax exemptions, which would allow you to exclude the value of your solar system when calculating the taxes you pay on your home. They may also include exemptions on sales tax at the time of purchase.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal solar incentives are likely the first thing that comes to mind when you think about solar incentives. 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 certain percentage of the money you spend on your solar system.

The ITC can be applied to solar systems installed after January 1, 2006, and under this program you can deduct from your taxes a percentage of the total cost of solar panels, accessories, equipment and labor. You can receive this credit for a solar panel system installed on a primary or secondary residence that you own in the United States. Originally, you could claim 30% of the total cost, although certain projects may qualify for only 26%, depending on the details. There is no maximum claim amount.

To find out exactly how much money the ITC could save you, get in touch with your local Gloucester solar panel installation expert.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, made some changes to the ITC (as well as retitling it the Clean Energy Credit). The Clean Energy Credit re-raises the credit up to 30% for solar installation projects started after January 1, 2022, and completed by the end of 2032. At this point, the credit percentage will be reduced slightly each year until the end of the program 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. The easiest way to fully understand how the new Clean Energy Credit might apply to you is to reach out to your local Gloucester solar panel installation expert with your questions.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives may be provided at the state and local level. Similar to federal incentives, these may include rebates, tax credits and more. Some incentives are ongoing, while others are offered for only a limited time. Local solar incentives might come from the New Jersey government, or from your specific county or municipality.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Gloucester

You can qualify for solar incentives from the New Jersey government and the federal government, as well as from your local utility company. This increase in availability of solar initiatives in the past 15 years has helped increase solar adoption nationwide. We suggest talking to your local Gloucester solar installer to learn more about these incentives and to be sure that you're getting the most money possible for your solar panels.