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

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

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

The term "solar incentives" includes a range of financial incentives put in place to make installing and using solar panels more affordable. This is done to encourage people to switch to renewable energy. Incentives may include things like discounts, cash back or monthly utility bill credits. Some incentives are offered federally, while others are handled by the state of Ohio or your utility company, county or municipality. Categories of solar incentives include:

• Rebates: A rebate is a partial refund credited to your account after you've paid for your solar panels. These may be offered by your local utility company, your county or your state. The cash back that you get from the rebates is normally applied before calculating tax credits.
• Tax Exemptions: Your solar panel system could qualify for both sales tax and property tax exemptions. Sales tax exemptions come into effect at the time of purchase. Property tax exemptions allow you to ignore the value that solar panels add when you are calculating property taxes on your home.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs are credits that can be sold to your utility company (or other buyers) for cash that normally counts as part of your taxable income. Typically, you must meet a certain (small) threshold of energy production before your solar system can earn SRECs or other performance-based incentives. Incentives like these are normally handled at the state level.
• Net Metering: Net metering is an incentive you can get once your solar panels are up and running. If you've signed a net metering agreement with your Wickliffe utility company, they will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your utility bill each month. In some locations, this is a dollar-for-dollar credit, while in other places you might be refunded a percentage of the value.
• Tax Credits: Unlike tax deductions, tax credits reduce, dollar-for-dollar, the amount of income tax that you owe the federal government.

Federal Solar Incentives

Federal incentives are the kind of incentives that you are most likely to have heard of. The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, or ITC, is probably the most well-known federal solar incentive. The ITC provides you with a tax credit for a predetermined percentage of your solar system's cost.

The ITC can be applied 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 that amount may range from 26-30%, depending on when your solar project was undertaken. There is no cap on the amount you can claim.

To better understand how the ITC will apply to you, speak to your local Wickliffe solar panel installation expert and ask for more information.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, made some changes to the ITC (as well as retitling it the Clean Energy Credit). 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. The percentage will then begin to decrease annually until the Clean Energy Credit ends in 2035. Starting in 2023, it will also be easier to claim credits for energy storage systems with the new act.

More information about the new Inflation Reduction Act can be found here. The best way to fully understand how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you is to reach out to your local Wickliffe solar panel company with your questions.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives are often also provided by state and local governments. Like with federal incentives, these could include tax credits, rebates and more. Incentives may be handled by the state of Ohio, or by your county or municipality. Certain incentives may be available for only a limited time, while others are ongoing.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Wickliffe

There are a number of different solar incentives: those given by local utility companies, those provided by the Ohio government and those offered by the federal government, to name a few. Solar energy use has grown enormously in the last 15 years, partially thanks to these incentives. Reach out to your local solar panel installer today to find out more information and to save as much money as possible on a solar system for your Wickliffe home.