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

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

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

Solar incentives help mitigate the cost of installing a solar panel system on your home. These financial incentives are in place to encourage more homeowners to make the switch to renewable energy. Incentives may include things like discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits. Some incentives are provided by the federal government, while others are offered by the Ohio government or your specific utility company, county or municipality. Some solar incentives you might qualify for are:

• Tax Credits: Tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, how much income tax you owe the government. Tax credits differ from tax deductions.
• Tax Exemptions: These might come in the form of property tax exemptions, which allow you to exclude the value added by your solar panels when paying property tax on your house. You could also look for exemptions on sales tax at the time of purchase.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs are credits that can be sold to your utility company (or other buyers) for money that typically becomes part of your taxable income. Generally, there is a small threshold of energy production to meet before your solar system can earn SRECs or similar performance-based incentives. SRECs and similar incentives are normally handled by your state government.
• Rebates: Solar rebates can be provided by your county or state, or by your local utility company. These rebates are essentially partial refunds that are applied after your purchase of a solar system and 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 Steubenville utility company, it will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your monthly utility bill. In some places, this credit is dollar-for-dollar, while in other areas you might get refunded a percentage of the value.

Federal Solar Incentives

When thinking about solar incentives, you likely think of federal incentives first. You might have heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. This is a tax credit that reduces your taxes by a predetermined percentage of the money you spend on solar panels for your home.

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

Contacting your local Steubenville solar panel installation expert is the best way to understand how the ITC may apply to you.

In August 2022, the ITC (now called the Clean Energy Credit) was expanded and extended by the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act. Homeowners can now receive a credit of 30% of the total costs of solar system installation for projects started after January 1, 2022, and completed before the end of 2032. This percentage will then begin to decrease annually until the Clean Energy Credit ends in 2035. The program expansion also makes it easier to get credit for energy storage systems, starting in 2023.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. Your local Steubenville solar panel company is the best resource for answering your questions regarding the new Clean Energy Credit and how it may apply 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. These incentives may be given out by the Ohio government, or by your county or municipality. Some are available for a limited time, while others are ongoing.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Steubenville

Nationwide solar energy use has significantly increased in the past 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 Ohio government or the federal government. Call your local solar panel installation company today to find out more information and to save the most money possible on a solar system for your Steubenville home.