2023 Solar Incentives Guide for Barnesville, OH - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives are meant to help mitigate the cost of installing a solar panel system on your home. These financial incentives are intended to encourage more homeowners to switch their home over to renewable energy. Different types of incentives, including discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits, might be available to you. Certain incentives may be provided via the state of Ohio, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while others are federal. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): Typically, solar systems that produce over a specific (generally small) amount of electricity qualify for SRECs or other similar performance-based incentives. SRECs and performance-based incentives in general are typically offered at the state level. You can sell SRECs to your utility company or another buyer, and the money you receive is normally considered part of your taxable income.
• Net Metering: You can sign a net metering agreement with your Barnesville utility company that will apply to all or a percentage of the excess electricity that is generated by your solar panels. Your utility company will then deduct this value from your utility bill each month.
• Rebates: A rebate is a partial refund given after you've purchased your solar panels. These could be offered by your local utility company, your county or your state. The discount that rebates offer is normally applied to the price of solar panels before calculating tax credits.
• Tax Exemptions: Tax exemptions can come in two forms. The first is sales tax exemption, applied when you purchase solar panels. The second is property tax exemption, which allows you to exclude the added value of your solar system when paying property tax on your house.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions in the amount of income tax that you owe the government. (This is different from a tax deduction.)

Federal Solar Incentives

When someone says "solar incentives," you probably think of federal incentives first. An incentive that most people are likely to be familiar with is the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The ITC is a tax credit for a certain percentage of the cost of your solar system.

The ITC can be applied to solar panels installed after January 1, 2006 on a primary or secondary residence that you own in the United States. The credit initially covered 30% of the total cost — for panels, labor, equipment and accessories — although the percentage may range from 26-30%, depending on when your solar system was installed. There is no cap on the claim amount.

Talking to your local Barnesville solar panel installer is the best way to understand how the ITC applies to you.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, added more provisions to the ITC (as well as renaming it to the Clean Energy Credit). The Clean Energy Credit bolsters the current credit, increasing it up to 30% for solar installation projects started after January 1, 2022 and completed by the end of 2032. After this, the percentage will decrease slightly each year until the program expires in 2035. 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 Barnesville solar panel installation experts can answer any questions you have and explain how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives are often also provided by state and local governments. Similar to federal incentives, these could include rebates, tax credits and more. Some incentives are ongoing, while others might only be available for a limited time. Incentives might be provided by the Ohio government, or by your county or municipality.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Barnesville

Solar energy use nationwide has increased enormously in the past 15 years, in part due to the proliferation of solar incentives. You may get these incentives from the Ohio government, the federal government or your local utility company. If you're prepared to switch over to solar energy, talking to your local Barnesville solar panel installation expert is a great first step.