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

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

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

Solar incentives are designed to encourage people to switch to renewable energy by offering financial incentives meant to lower the burden of solar panel installation and use. Incentives can include things like discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits. Some incentives are offered by the federal government, while others are handled by the Ohio government or your specific utility company, county or municipality. Some solar incentives you might qualify for are:

• Tax Exemptions: Your solar system might 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 that solar panels add when calculating property taxes on your house.
• Rebates: A rebate is a partial refund credited to your account after you've paid for your solar panels. These could be offered by your local utility company, your county or your state. The rebates are usually applied before tax credits are calculated.
• Net Metering: You may be able to sign a net metering contract with your Plain utility company that will apply to all or a percentage of the excess electricity that is generated by your solar panels. They will then deduct this value from your utility bill each month.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and other performance-based incentives may be available to you if you have a solar system that produces more than a specified (generally small) amount of electricity. These types of incentives are usually handled by the state government. You can sell the SRECs you receive to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you make is usually considered part of your taxable income.
• Tax Credits: Unlike tax deductions, tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax that you owe the government.

Federal Solar Incentives

When you think about solar incentives, you probably think of federal incentives first. The solar incentive that you may be most familiar with is the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which gives you a credit on your taxes equal to a predetermined percentage of your solar system's cost.

The ITC applies to solar panels installed after January 1, 2006, on a primary or secondary residence in the United States that you own. The credit initially covered 30% of the total cost – for panels, equipment, accessories and labor – although the percentage may range from 26-30%, depending on when your solar system was installed. There is no cap on the amount you can claim.

Speaking with your local Plain solar panel installation expert is the best way to understand how the ITC may apply to your situation.

In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act expanded and extended the ITC, now referred to as the Clean Energy Credit. Homeowners can now qualify for a credit equal to 30% of the total solar system installation costs for projects started after January 1, 2022, and completed before the end of 2032. The percentage will then decrease yearly until the Clean Energy Credit expires in 2035. The expansion to the program also makes it easier to get credit for energy storage systems, beginning in 2023.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. Your local Plain solar panel installation expert is the best person to answer your questions regarding the new Clean Energy Credit and how it applies to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Not all solar incentives are federal; tax credits, rebates and more may be offered at the state and local level. Some incentives are offered for only a limited time, while others are ongoing. Local solar incentives may come from your county or municipality, or from the Ohio government.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Plain

The variety of solar incentives available has helped tremendously increase the use of solar power nationwide over the past 15 years. You can get solar incentives from the federal government, the Ohio government or from your local utility company. If you're ready to make the change to solar energy, reaching out to your local Plain solar panel installation expert is an excellent place to start.