2024 Solar Incentives Guide for Vandalia, OH - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

Solar incentives mitigate the cost of installing a solar panel system on your home. Financial incentives like these are in place to encourage more homeowners to switch their home over to renewable energy. Incentives may 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 utility company, county or municipality. Some solar incentives you might qualify for are:

• Tax Exemptions: These can come in the form of property tax exemptions, which can let you ignore the value added by your solar panels when calculating the taxes you pay on your home. You could also look for exemptions on sales tax at the time of purchase.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions (not deductions) in the amount of tax that you owe the government.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and other similar performance-based incentives are typically handled by your state government. Once your solar panel system meets a predetermined threshold (generally a small amount of energy production), you can receive SRECs that you can then sell to your utility company or other buyers. The money you make from the sale is generally considered part of your taxable income.
• Net Metering: Be sure to talk with your Vandalia utility company about signing a net metering agreement. This allows you to get a credit towards your utility bill every month for the value of excess energy your solar panels generate. You could receive either a dollar-for-dollar credit or a percentage of the value.
• Rebates: Solar rebates can be offered by your local utility company, or by your county or state. These rebates are essentially partial refunds that are applied after you purchase solar panels and before tax credits are calculated.

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Federal Solar Incentives

Federal solar incentives are probably the first thing that you think of when thinking about solar incentives. You may have heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. The ITC is a tax credit that reduces your taxes by a predetermined percentage of the money you spend installing solar panels.

The ITC was originally for 30% of the total 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 installation cost includes the panels themselves as well as the cost of equipment, accessories and labor. There is no maximum amount you can claim. The ITC applies to solar panels installed after January 1, 2006, on your primary or secondary residence. The residence must be in the United States and owned by you.

Your local Vandalia solar panel installation expert can offer more information about the ITC and how it applies to your situation.

In August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act laid out new provisions for the ITC, now dubbed the Clean Energy Credit. Homeowners can now receive 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 on a yearly basis until the Clean Energy Credit expires in 2035. Beginning in 2023, it will also be easier to get credits for energy storage systems under this new program.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. The easiest way to understand how the new Clean Energy Credit might apply to you is to talk with your local Vandalia solar panel company.

State & Local Solar Incentives

There are more than just federal solar incentives; rebates, tax credits and more are often offered at the state and local level. These incentives — which might be provided by the state of Ohio, or by your county or municipality — might be offered for only a limited time, or on an ongoing basis.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Vandalia

You can apply for and receive solar incentives from the Ohio government and the federal government, as well as from your local utility company. This increase in availability of solar initiatives over the last 15 years has helped greatly increase nationwide adoption of solar energy. We recommend talking to your local Vandalia solar installation company to learn more about these incentives and to make sure that you're getting all the money you can for your solar panels.