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

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

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

Solar incentives are intended to make renewable energy usage more affordable via financial incentives to help people install solar panels on their homes. Various types of incentives, such as discounts, cash back or credit towards your monthly utility bill, may be available to you. Certain incentives may be handled by the state of Ohio, by your utility company or by county or municipality, while other incentives are federal. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Net Metering: Be sure to speak with your Howland utility company about signing a net metering agreement. 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 could receive either a dollar-for-dollar credit or a percentage of the value.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and similar other performance-based incentives might be available to you if your solar system produces more than a specified (usually small) amount of electricity. Performance-based incentives are usually handled by the state government. You can sell SRECs to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you receive in return is usually considered part of your taxable income.
• Tax Exemptions: Your solar panel system might qualify for exemptions on both sales and property tax. Sales tax exemptions are effective at the time of purchase. Property tax exemptions let you ignore the added value of the solar panels when calculating property taxes on your home.
• Rebates: A solar rebate is a partial refund after the purchase of your solar system. Rebates might be offered by your local utility company, your state or your county. The rebates are usually applied before calculating tax credits.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits lower, dollar-for-dollar, how much income tax you owe the federal government. These are different from tax deductions.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal solar incentives are probably the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about solar incentives. The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC, is probably the most commonly known federal solar incentive. The ITC offers a tax credit for a specific 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, accessories and labor. This credit can be claimed on solar panels installed on a primary or secondary residence that you own in the United States. The original amount you could claim was 30% of the total cost, although certain projects may qualify for only 26%, depending on the details. There is no maximum claim amount.

To more fully understand how the ITC might apply to you, reach out to your local Howland solar panel installation expert and ask for more information.

The ITC was renewed and increased in scope after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022. It's also now called the Clean Energy Credit. The Clean Energy Credit runs until 2035. Solar installation projects started after January 1, 2022, and completed by the end of 2032 may qualify for a 30% tax credit; this amount will be decreased slightly on a yearly basis until the end of the current program. Beginning in 2023, it will also be easier to get credits for energy storage systems under this new program.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. Your local Howland solar panel company is the best resource for answering your questions regarding the new Clean Energy Credit and how it will apply to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Tax credits, rebates and more can be provided at multiple levels. Along with federal solar incentives, there are often state and local ones, too. The incentives — which may be given by the state of Ohio, or by your county or municipality — might be offered for only a limited time, or on an ongoing basis.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Howland

Solar energy use nationwide has gone up tremendously in the last 15 years, in part due to the growth in the number of solar incentives. You can obtain these incentives from your local utility company, the federal government or the Ohio government. We recommend talking to your local Howland solar installation expert to learn more about these incentives and to ensure that you're getting the most money possible for your solar system.