2023 Solar Incentives Guide for Alamogordo, NM - Tax Credits & Rebates
In this guide, we'll cover the latest solar incentives and rebates available in Alamogordo.
You'll learn about:
- Local & State Solar Incentives
- Federal Tax Credits (Updated for 2023 and beyond)
- Ways to optimize your solar investment
Solar installers are experts in maximizing your solar tax credits and rebates.
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Updated September 15, 2023
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What Solar Tax Credits, Incentives, and Rebates are Available in Alamogordo?
Property Tax Exemption for Residential Solar Systems
Solar Energy Gross Receipts Tax Deduction
Geothermal Heat Pump Tax Credit (Personal)
Geothermal Heat Pump Tax Credit (Corporate)
PNM - Performance-Based Solar Program
Local Option - Renewable Energy Financing District/Solar Energy Improvement Special Assessments
Federal Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit
Source: https://www.dsireusa.org/
Solar incentives are designed to mitigate the cost of installing solar panels on your home. Financial incentives like these are in place to encourage more homeowners to make the switch to renewable energy. Various kinds of incentives, such as discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits, may be available to you. Certain incentives may be offered by the state of New Mexico, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while other incentives are federal. Categories of solar incentives include:
- Rebates: Solar rebates can be offered by your county or state, or by your local utility company. These rebates are essentially partial refunds that are applied after you pay for a solar system and before tax credits are calculated.
- Tax Credits: Unlike tax deductions, tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions in the amount of income tax that you owe the government.
- Tax Exemptions: Sales tax exemptions are effective at the point of sale for your solar panels. Property tax exemptions let you ignore the value that your solar panels add when you calculate how much property tax you need to pay.
- Net Metering: Be sure to talk with your Alamogordo utility company about signing a net metering contract. This will allow you to get a credit towards your utility bill every month 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.
Federal Solar Incentives
Federal solar incentives are likely to be the first thing that you think of when thinking about solar incentives. You might have 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 solar systems installed after January 1, 2006 on a primary or secondary residence that you own in the United States. Originally, the tax credit was for 30% of the total cost — for panels, accessories, labor and equipment — although that amount may range from 26-30%, depending on when your solar system was installed. There is no cap on the amount you can claim.
To better understand exactly how much money the ITC could save you, get in touch with your local Alamogordo solar panel installer.
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, expanded and extended the ITC (as well as retitling it the Clean Energy Credit). Now, solar installation projects begun after January 1, 2022 and finished by December 31, 2032 may be eligible for a 30% tax credit. This percentage will then decrease slightly each year until the current Clean Energy Credit expires in 2035. The expansion also makes credits for energy storage systems even easier to claim, beginning in 2023.
Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. Your local Alamogordo solar panel installation expert is the best person to answer your questions about the new Clean Energy Credit and how it will apply to you.
State & Local Solar Incentives
Rebates, tax credits and more might be provided at multiple levels. On top of federal solar incentives, there are often state and local ones as well. These solar incentives — which might be given by the state of New Mexico, or by your county or municipality — could be offered for only a limited time, or on an ongoing basis.
Next Steps for Installing Solar in Alamogordo
There are a number of different solar incentives: those offered by local utility companies, those offered by the federal government and those offered by the New Mexico government, to name a few. The use of solar energy has increased tremendously in the last 15 years, thanks to these incentives. Speak with your local solar panel installer today to learn more and to save as much money as possible on solar panels for your Alamogordo home.
EcoWatch's Alamogordo, NM Solar Incentives FAQs
I already have solar panels. Does my system qualify for any incentives?
If your solar panels were installed after January 1, 2022, you may qualify for the recently increased 30% tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act. If you had your system installed between 2006 and 2021, you might qualify for a tax credit between 26% and 30%, depending on the year it was installed. Reaching out to the company that installed your system, or any local Alamogordo solar installer, can help you learn what incentives you can apply for.
How much can I save annually on my electric bill if I install solar panels on my Alamogordo home?
After adding solar panels to your home in Alamogordo, you can anticipate savings of around $1,558.15 per year, or around $29,604.85 over the next 20 years.
What are some of the environmental benefits of switching to solar?
You can reduce your carbon footprint by 500 pounds of CO2 annually by installing solar panels. This adds up to around 10,000 pounds in 20 years. Solar is also a renewable energy source, meaning that switching your home over reduces the drain on our planet's resources.
If I trade in my appliances for ones that use solar energy, are there benefits that I can claim?
Under the new Inflation Reduction Act, there are several new financial incentives for making eco-friendly improvements to your home. More details on these incentives, including information about incentives for purchasing new appliances, can be found here.
Can I claim incentives both towards the initial cost of solar panels, and later as reimbursement?
The order your incentives will be applied in may vary depending on which incentives you are claiming but typically yes, you can claim multiple types of incentives for your solar project. Talk with your solar installer or a local tax professional to ensure you are claiming all of the incentives you qualify for and applying them in the correct order.
Our goal is to reach as many people as we can with sensible solutions like solar energy. Our team of full-time local researchers collects solar price and installation data for every city in America then compiles it to create these digestible city guides. If you want to read our solar expert's opinion on the top solar companies featured here, follow this link.
Solar incentive research was conducted by Melissa Smith and Karsten Neumeister. Local data analysis was conducted by James Savino. See something we missed or could do better? Email the editor.