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

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

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

Solar incentives are designed to encourage homeowners to make the switch to renewable energy by providing financial incentives meant to lower the burden of solar panel installation and use. You may be eligible for several kinds of incentives, such as cash back, discounts or monthly utility bill credits, 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:

• Net Metering: You can sign a net metering contract with your Kettering 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.
• Tax Exemptions: Your solar system may 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 exclude the value added by your solar panels when calculating property taxes on your house.
• Rebates: Solar rebates may be provided by your state or county, or by your local utility company. These rebates are essentially partial refunds that are applied after you purchase solar panels and before tax credits are calculated.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): In most cases, solar systems that produce over a specific (generally small) amount of electricity can qualify for SRECs or other performance-based incentives. SRECs and the like are typically given at the state level. When you receive an SREC, you can sell it to your utility company or another buyer, and this is usually considered part of your taxable income.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions that lower the amount of income tax you owe the government. (This is different from a tax deduction.)

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal incentives are the kind of incentives that you are most likely to have some knowledge of. A federal incentive that most people are likely familiar with is the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC). This incentive is a tax credit for a specific percentage of your solar system's cost.

The ITC originally covered 30% of the cost of solar panel installation, and has fluctuated slightly over time between 26-30%. The percentage you qualify for will depend on when your solar system was installed. The total cost of installation includes the panels themselves as well as the cost of labor, equipment and accessories. There is no maximum amount you can claim. The ITC can be applied to solar panels installed after January 1, 2006, on your primary or secondary residence. The residence must be owned by you and in the United States.

Talking to your local Kettering solar panel installation expert is the best way to understand how the ITC applies to your situation.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, added more provisions to the ITC (as well as retitling it the Clean Energy Credit). For solar systems installed between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2032, homeowners may be eligible for a credit for 30% of the total cost. This percentage will decrease annually after 2032 until the Clean Energy Credit expires in 2035. Starting 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. The easiest way to fully understand how the new Clean Energy Credit might apply to you is to speak with your local Kettering solar panel installation expert directly.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives are often also offered at the local or state level. Like with federal incentives, these might include rebates, tax credits and more. The incentives — which may be given by the state of Ohio, or by your county or municipality — might be offered on an ongoing basis, or for only a limited time.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Kettering

There are many kinds of solar incentives: those offered by local utility companies, those provided by the federal government and those provided by the Ohio government, to name a few. The use of solar energy has grown tremendously in the last 15 years, thanks to these incentives. Speaking with your local Kettering solar panel installer is the best first step towards getting all the incentives you qualify for when you switch to solar energy.