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

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

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

Solar incentives help mitigate the cost of installing a solar panel system on your home. Financial incentives like these are designed to encourage more people to convert their home partially or fully to renewable energy. You may qualify for several types of incentives, including cash back, discounts or credit towards your monthly utility bill, depending on your situation. Some incentives come from your specific utility company, county or municipality, some from the Ohio government and others from the federal government. Some broad categories of solar incentives include:

• Tax Credits: Different from tax deductions, tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions in the amount of income tax that you owe the federal government.
• Tax Exemptions: Tax exemptions can come in two forms. The first is sales tax exemption, applied when you purchase solar panels. The second is property tax exemption, which allows you to ignore the added value of your solar system when calculating property tax for your house.
• Rebates: Rebates, or cash back after a purchase, are normally applied prior to any solar tax credits being calculated. Solar rebates may be given by your local utility company, by your county or by your state.
• Net Metering: You can sign a net metering contract with your Violet utility company that will apply to all or a percentage of the excess electricity your solar panels generate. Your utility company will then subtract this value from your utility bill each month.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and other performance-based incentives are typically handled at the state level. Once your solar system meets a certain threshold (normally a small amount of energy production), you can receive SRECs that can then be sold to your utility company or other buyers. The money you make from the sale is generally considered part of your taxable income.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal solar incentives are probably the first thing that you think of when thinking about solar incentives. It's likely that you've heard of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC. The ITC is a tax credit equal to a specified percentage of the money you spend on solar panels for your home.

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

Your local Violet solar panel installer can provide more information about the ITC and how it might apply to your situation.

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. The new Clean Energy Credit extends until 2035. Homeowners are now eligible for a 30% credit for solar systems that began installation on or after January 1, 2022, and will be done by December 31, 2032. This credit will then see a slight annual decrease until its expiration. The expansion also makes credits for energy storage systems even easier to claim, beginning in 2023.

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

State & Local Solar Incentives

There are often also state solar incentives in addition to those provided by the federal government. Rebates, tax credits and more may be available at a more local level. Incentives might be handled by your county or municipality, or by the state of Ohio. Certain incentives may be available for only a limited time, while others are ongoing.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Violet

Solar energy use nationwide has gone up significantly in the last 15 years, in part due to the proliferation of solar incentives. You can obtain these incentives from the Ohio government, the federal government or your local utility company. Speak with your local solar panel installation expert today to learn more and to save the most money possible on a solar system for your Violet home.