2025 Solar Incentives Guide for Brambleton, VA - Tax Credits & Rebates

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

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

The phrase "solar incentives" covers a wide range of financial incentives implemented to make installing and using solar panels more affordable. This is done to encourage people to switch to renewable energy. You may qualify for various kinds of incentives, including discounts, cash back 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 Virginia government and others from the federal government. Some solar incentives you might qualify for are:

• Tax Exemptions: Your solar panels may qualify for both sales tax and property tax exemptions. Sales tax exemptions are effective at the time of purchase. Property tax exemptions let you ignore the value that solar panels add when calculating property taxes on your house.
• Tax Credits: Tax credits decrease, dollar-for-dollar, how much income tax you owe the federal government. Tax credits differ from tax deductions.
• Rebates: Solar companies may help you claim a rebate, or partial refund of your purchase, for your solar panels. States or counties will also offer limited-time rebates at various times. If you receive a rebate, that amount will usually come off your total price before tax credits are calculated.
• Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC): SRECs and other performance-based incentives may be available to you if you have a solar system that produces over a specified (generally small) amount of electricity. These types of incentives are generally handled at the state level. You can sell any SRECs you have to your utility company or other buyers, and the money you make is typically considered part of your taxable income.
• Net Metering: Net metering is an incentive you can get after your solar system is up and running. If you have a net metering agreement with your Brambleton utility company, the company will subtract the value of the excess energy produced by your solar system from your utility bill each month. In some places, this credit is dollar-for-dollar, while in other places you may make back a percentage of the value.

Federal Solar Incentives

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

The ITC can be credited towards the value of solar panels installed on your primary or secondary residence in the United States. The solar panels must have been installed after January 1, 2006, on a property you own for you to claim the credit. The ITC originally paid out 30% of all costs (panels, accessories, labor and equipment), although the total amount has fluctuated over time between 26-30%. The installation date of your solar system will determine what percentage you are eligible for. There is no cap on the amount you can claim.

To understand exactly how much the ITC could save you, talk to your local Brambleton solar panel installation expert.

The ITC has been renewed and expanded following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022. It's also now called the Clean Energy Credit. The Clean Energy Credit re-raises the credit up to 30% for solar systems installed between 2022 and 2032. At this point, the credit percentage will be reduced slightly each year until the program expires in 2035. Starting in 2023, the expansion will also make it easier to get credit for energy storage systems.

Click here to learn more about the new Inflation Reduction Act. Your local Brambleton solar panel installer can answer your questions and explain how the new Clean Energy Credit will apply to you.

State & Local Solar Incentives

Some solar incentives are often also offered at the local or state level. As with federal incentives, these may include rebates, tax credits and more. Incentives might be offered by your county or municipality, or by the state of Virginia. Some incentives might only be available for a limited time, while others are ongoing.

Next Steps for Installing Solar in Brambleton

The expanding number of solar incentives available has contributed greatly to the increase in the nationwide adoption of solar energy over the past 15 years. You can get solar incentives from your local utility company, the Virginia government or the federal government. Reach out to your local solar panel installation company today to discover more about the various programs and to save the most money possible on a solar system for your Brambleton home.