2025 Solar Incentives Guide for Copley, OH - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives are meant to encourage people to make the switch to renewable energy by offering financial incentives meant to lower the burden of solar panel installation and use. You may be eligible for various kinds of incentives, including cash back, discounts or credit towards your monthly utility bill, depending on your situation. Some incentives come from your specific utility company, county or municipality, some from the Ohio government and others from the federal government. Categories of solar incentives include:

• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and similar other performance-based incentives might be available to you if the solar system on your home produces over a specified (typically small) amount of electricity. This category of incentives is generally handled by the state government. 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 Credits: Unlike tax deductions, tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions in the amount of income tax that you owe the government.
• Tax Exemptions: Your solar system could qualify for exemptions on both sales and property tax. Sales tax exemptions are applied at the time of purchase. Property tax exemptions let you ignore the value added by your solar panels when you are calculating property taxes on your home.
• Rebates: Solar rebates may be offered by your local utility company, or by your county or state. These rebates are essentially partial refunds that are applied after your purchase of a solar system and before tax credits are calculated.
• Net Metering: Net metering becomes relevant once your solar panels are up and running. If you have in place a net metering agreement with your Copley utility company, it will subtract the value of the excess energy your solar system produces from your utility bill each month. In some locations, this credit is dollar-for-dollar, while in other places you may get refunded a percentage of the value.

Federal Solar Incentives

When thinking about solar incentives, you likely think of federal incentives first. The solar incentive that you're most likely to have heard of is the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which provides a credit on your taxes equal to a certain percentage of your solar system's cost.

The ITC applies to the value of a solar system installed on your primary or secondary residence in the United States. The solar panels must have been installed on a property you own after January 1, 2006, for you to claim the credit. Initially, the ITC applied to 30% of all installation costs (panels, equipment, labor and accessories), although the covered amount has fluctuated slightly over the last few years between 26-30%. The installation date of your solar system will determine what percentage you are eligible for. There is no cap on the amount you can claim.

Speaking with your local Copley solar panel installation expert is the best way to learn more about how the ITC could apply to you.

In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act expanded and extended the ITC, now titled 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. After this, the credit percentage will be reduced slightly each year until the program expires in 2035. Starting in 2023, it will also be easier to qualify for credits for energy storage systems under the new laws.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. Your local Copley solar panel company can answer your questions and explain how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives may be offered at the local or state level. As with federal incentives, these may include tax credits, rebates and more. Incentives might be offered by the state of Ohio, or by your county or municipality. Some incentives may be available for only a limited time, while others are ongoing.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Copley

There are a variety of solar incentives: those provided by local utility companies, those offered by the federal government and those given by the Ohio government, to name a few. The use of solar energy has grown tremendously in the last 15 years, partially thanks to these incentives. We suggest talking to your local Copley solar installation expert for more information about these incentives and to be sure that you're getting the largest number possible for your solar system.