2023 Solar Incentives Guide for Logan, NJ - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives mitigate the cost of installing a solar panel system on your home. These financial incentives are in place to encourage more homeowners to make the switch to renewable energy. These incentives can include cash back, upfront discounts or credit towards your monthly utility bill. Some incentives are given by the federal government, some by the New Jersey government and some by your specific utility company, county or municipality. Types of solar incentives might include:

• Net Metering: Don't forget to talk with your Logan 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 may receive either a dollar-for-dollar credit or a percentage of the value.
• Tax Credits: Unlike tax deductions, tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions in the amount of income tax that you owe the government.
• Rebates: Rebates, or cash back after a purchase, are normally given prior to any solar tax credits being calculated. These rebates may be provided by your local utility company, by your state or by your county.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and similar performance-based incentives might be available to you if you have a solar system that produces over a specified (generally small) amount of electricity. This category of incentives is typically handled at the state level. You can sell the SRECs you receive to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you receive in return is generally considered part of your taxable income.
• 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 ignore the value that solar panels add when you are calculating property taxes on your house.

Federal Solar Incentives

When you think about solar incentives, you probably think of federal incentives first. You've likely heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. This is a tax credit that reduces your taxes by a specified percentage of the money you spend installing solar panels.

The ITC can be applied to the total cost of installing solar panels, including the panels themselves as well as labor, accessories and equipment. This credit can be claimed for panels installed after January 1, 2006 on a primary or secondary residence that you own and that is located in the United States. From its original value of 30% of the total cost, the credit has fluctuated slightly between 26-30%, and you may qualify for varying percentages depending on when your project was completed. There is no maximum amount you can claim.

Your local Logan solar panel installer can offer more information about the ITC and how it applies to your situation.

In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act made revisions to the ITC, now referred to as the Clean Energy Credit. The new Clean Energy Credit now runs until 2035. American homeowners can now receive a 30% credit for solar systems that began installation on or after January 1, 2022 and will be done by December 31, 2032. This new credit will then decrease annually until it expires. The expansion also makes claiming credit for energy storage systems easier than ever before, starting in 2023.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. Your local Logan solar panel installation experts can answer any questions you have and explain how the new Clean Energy Credit applies to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Not all solar incentives are federal; tax credits, rebates and more might also be offered at the local or state level. These incentives — which might be handled by your county or municipality, or by the state of New Jersey — may be offered for only a limited time, or on an ongoing basis.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Logan

There are a variety of solar incentives: those given by local utility companies, those given by the New Jersey government and those given by the federal government, to name a few. The use of solar energy has increased tremendously in the last 15 years, partially due to these incentives. Your local Logan solar panel installation company can give you more information about which incentives you might qualify for, and get you feeling good about making the change to renewable energy today.