2023 Solar Incentives Guide for Mack, OH - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives are intended to make renewable energy usage more affordable via financial incentives for individuals who install solar panels on their homes. The incentives may include upfront discounts, cash back or monthly credits towards your utility bill. Some incentives are offered 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: A rebate is a partial refund after the purchase of your solar panels. Rebates could be offered by your local utility company, your county or your state. The discount that rebates offer is normally applied to the price of solar panels before tax credits are calculated.
• Net Metering: Net metering factors in after your solar panels are up and running. If you have a net metering agreement with your Mack utility company, it will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your monthly utility bill. In some locations, this is a dollar-for-dollar credit, while in other places you may receive a refund equivalent to a percentage of the value.
• Tax Exemptions: Your solar system may 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 calculating property taxes on your house.
• Tax Credits: These credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions (not deductions) in how much income tax you owe the federal government.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and other performance-based incentives may be available to you if your solar system produces over a specified (generally small) amount of electricity. This category of incentives is normally handled at the state level. You can sell your SRECs to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you receive in return is usually considered part of your taxable income.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal incentives are the kind of incentives that you are most likely to have some knowledge of. The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC, is likely the best-known federal solar incentive. The ITC offers a tax credit for a specific percentage of the cost of your solar system.

The ITC is applied to the total cost of solar panel installation, including the panels themselves as well as accessories, labor and equipment. This credit can be claimed for panels installed after January 1, 2006 on a primary or secondary residence that you own, as long as it is located in the United States. Originally set at 30% of total costs, the credit has fluctuated over time, and you may qualify for different amounts depending on when your project was completed. There is no maximum claim amount.

Have questions about how the ITC applies to your specific situation? Get in touch with your local Mack solar panel installer to get more information.

The ITC was both renewed and expanded by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022. It's also now called the Clean Energy Credit. Homeowners can now receive a credit equal to 30% of the total solar system installation costs for projects that began after January 1, 2022 and will be finished by the end of 2032. The credit percentage will then begin to decrease yearly until the Clean Energy Credit ends in 2035. Starting in 2023, the program expansion will also make credits for energy storage systems even easier to claim.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. The easiest way to understand how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you is to get in touch with your local Mack solar panel installation expert.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives are often also offered at the local or state level. Like with federal incentives, these can include rebates, tax credits and more. Certain incentives are offered for only a limited time, while others are ongoing. Your local incentives could come from the Ohio government, or from your specific county or municipality.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Mack

There are a number of different solar incentives: those given by local utility companies, those given by the federal government and those given by the Ohio government, to name a few. Solar energy utilization has grown tremendously in the last 15 years, thanks to these incentives. Reaching out to your local Mack solar panel installation company is an excellent first step towards getting all the incentives you qualify for when you switch to solar energy.