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

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

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

Solar incentives are designed to mitigate the cost of installing a solar panel system on your home. This category of financial incentives is in place to encourage more Americans to switch to renewable energy. Incentives may include things like discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits. Some incentives are handled federally, while others are handled by the state of Ohio or by your specific utility company, county or municipality. Types of solar incentives might include:

• Rebates: A solar rebate is a partial refund credited to your account after you've paid for your solar system. Rebates might be offered by your local utility company, your state or your county. The rebates are usually applied before tax credits are calculated.
• Tax Exemptions: These may come in the form of property tax exemptions, which let you ignore the value of your solar system when calculating the taxes you pay on your house. You could also look for exemptions on sales tax at the time of purchase.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits lower, dollar-for-dollar, the total amount of tax you owe the government. Tax credits differ from tax deductions.
• Net Metering: Net metering is an incentive you can get once your solar system is up and running. If you have in place a net metering agreement with your Lyndhurst utility company, it will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your utility bill each month. In some locations, this credit is dollar-for-dollar, while in other areas you might receive a refund equivalent to a percentage of the value.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs can be sold to your utility company (or other buyers) for cash that typically becomes part of your taxable income. Generally, there is a small threshold of energy production to meet before your solar system is eligible for SRECs or other performance-based incentives. Incentives like these are generally handled by your state government.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal incentives are the kind of incentives that you are most likely to have some knowledge of. You've likely heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. The ITC is a tax credit that reduces your taxes by a specified percentage of the money you spend installing solar panels.

The ITC can be credited towards the value of a solar system installed on your primary or secondary residence in the United States. The solar system must have been installed after January 1, 2006, on a property you own for you to claim the credit. Initially, the ITC applied to 30% of all costs (panels, labor, equipment and accessories), although the total amount has fluctuated over time between 26-30%. The amount you qualify for will depend on when your solar system was installed. There is no cap on the amount you can claim.

To more fully understand how the ITC may apply to your situation, get in touch with your local Lyndhurst solar panel installer and request more information.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, added more provisions to the ITC (as well as renaming it to the Clean Energy Credit). Homeowners can now qualify for a credit equal to 30% of the total costs of solar system installation for projects that began after January 1, 2022, and will be finished by the end of 2032. This percentage will then decrease annually until the Clean Energy Credit expires in 2035. The program expansion also makes claiming credit for energy storage systems easier than ever before, starting in 2023.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. To best understand how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you, reach out to your local Lyndhurst solar installation company.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives may be provided at the state and local level. Like with federal incentives, these can include rebates, tax credits and more. These incentives may be distributed by the Ohio government, or by your county or municipality. Some are ongoing, while others are available for a limited time.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Lyndhurst

Solar incentives can be provided by the Ohio government, the federal government or your local utility company. The large number of available incentives has facilitated the nationwide growth of solar energy use in the last 15 years. Talking to your local Lyndhurst solar panel installation company is an excellent first step towards making sure you get all the incentives you qualify for when you switch to solar energy.