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

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

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

The phrase "solar incentives" covers a wide range of financial incentives designed to make installing and using solar panels more affordable. This is done to encourage people to switch to renewable energy. Solar incentives could include cash back, upfront discounts or monthly credits towards your utility bill. Some incentives are handled by the federal government, some by the New Jersey government and some by your utility company, county or municipality. Categories of solar incentives include:

• Tax Credits: Unlike tax deductions, tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax that you owe the government.
• Tax Exemptions: Sales tax exemptions are effective at the time of purchase for your solar panels. Property tax exemptions let you exclude the value added by your solar system when you're calculating how much property tax you need to pay.
• Net Metering: Make sure you speak with your Verona utility company about signing a net metering agreement. This allows you to get a credit towards your monthly utility bill for the value of excess energy your solar panels generate. You might receive either a dollar-for-dollar credit or a percentage of the value.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs can be sold to your utility company (or other buyers) for cash that is generally considered part of your taxable income. Generally, you must meet a certain (small) threshold of energy production before your solar system is eligible for SRECs or other performance-based incentives. These kinds of incentives are typically handled at the state level.
• Rebates: Solar rebates may be provided by your state or county, or by your local utility company. These rebates are essentially cash back that is applied after you pay for a solar system and before tax credits are calculated.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal solar incentives are likely the first thing that you think of when you think about solar incentives. The solar incentive that you're most familiar with is probably the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which provides a credit on your taxes equal to a percentage of the cost of your solar system.

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

To understand exactly how much the ITC could save you, talk to your local Verona solar panel installation expert.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, made some changes to the ITC (as well as renaming it to the Clean Energy Credit). The Clean Energy Credit has increased the current credit up to 30% for solar installation projects started after January 1, 2022, and completed by the end of 2032. After 2032, the credit percentage will see a slight decrease annually until the program expires in 2035. Starting in 2023, the expansion to the program will also make claiming credit for energy storage systems easier than ever before.

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

State & Local Solar Incentives

In addition to federal solar incentives, there are often also state ones. Rebates, tax credits and more may be available at a more local level. These incentives — which might be handled by your county or municipality, or by the state of New Jersey — might be offered on an ongoing basis, or for only a limited time.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Verona

Solar energy use nationwide has significantly increased in the last 15 years, in part thanks to the growth in the number of solar incentives. You might receive these incentives from your local utility company, the New Jersey government or the federal government. It is a good idea to talk to your local Verona solar installation expert to learn more about these incentives and to make sure that you're getting all the money you can for your solar system.