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

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

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

Solar incentives are designed to make renewable energy usage more affordable via financial incentives for individuals who install solar panels on their homes. These incentives can include cash back, upfront discounts or credit towards your monthly utility bill. Some incentives are handled by the federal government, some by the state of Ohio and some by your specific utility company, county or municipality. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Rebates: Solar rebates might be offered by your local utility company, or by your state or county. These rebates are essentially partial refunds that are applied after your purchase of solar panels and before tax credits are calculated.
• Tax Exemptions: Your solar panels could qualify for both sales tax and property tax exemptions. Sales tax exemptions are effective at the time of purchase. Property tax exemptions allow you to ignore the added value of the solar panels when calculating property taxes on your home.
• Tax Credits: Different from tax deductions, tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax that you owe the federal government.
• Net Metering: Make sure you speak with your Findlay utility company about signing a net metering contract. This allows you to get a credit towards your utility bill every month for the value of excess energy generated by your solar panels. You might receive either a dollar-for-dollar credit or a percentage of the value.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and other similar performance-based incentives are generally handled at the state level. Once your solar panel system meets a certain threshold (generally a small amount of energy production), you can receive SRECs that can then be sold to your utility company or other buyers. The money you make is usually considered part of your taxable income.

Federal Solar Incentives

When you think about solar incentives, you likely think of federal incentives first. A federal incentive many people are likely familiar with is the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC). This is a tax credit for a specified percentage of the cost of your solar system.

The ITC covers solar systems installed after January 1, 2006, and allows you to deduct from your taxes a percentage of the total cost of solar panels, equipment, labor and accessories. This credit can apply towards solar panels installed on a primary or secondary residence in the United States that you own. Originally, you could claim 30% of the total cost, although depending on when the project was completed, your credit may range from 26-30%. There is no maximum amount you can claim.

Your local Findlay solar panel installation expert can provide you with more information about the ITC and how it may apply to your situation.

In August 2022, the ITC (now referred to as the Clean Energy Credit) was expanded and extended by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. For solar systems installed between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2032, homeowners can receive a credit equal to 30% of the total cost. This percentage will decrease annually after 2032 until the Clean Energy Credit expires in 2035. The expansion to the program also makes claiming credit for energy storage systems easier than ever before, beginning in 2023.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. Your local Findlay solar panel installers are the best people to answer your questions regarding the new Clean Energy Credit and how it may apply to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

There are often state solar incentives available in addition to federal ones. Rebates, tax credits and more can be offered at a more local level. These incentives may be distributed by the Ohio government, or by your county or municipality. Certain incentives are ongoing, while others are available for a limited time.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Findlay

Solar incentives might come from your local utility company, the federal government or the Ohio government. The growing number of available solar incentives has contributed to a large increase in solar energy use in the last 15 years. We recommend talking to your local Findlay solar installation expert for more information about these incentives and to make sure that you're getting the largest number possible for your solar panels.