Ohio Solar Rebates And Incentives

    Many in government feel solar arrays located at your home or business is a good idea. In order to prompt more people to install them, government entities have offered various rebates and incentives to consumers who install one. These programs change frequently, but we have attempted to explain the ones currently offered in Ohio. We would be happy to explain how these will effect the cost of your solar power system. Contact us or better yet, request a Free Site Analysis.

30% Federal Tax Credit - Taxpayers can claim a tax credit of 30% of the total cost of their solar array installation on their federal income tax return. To be eligible for this credit, your system must be completed by December 31, 2019. The credit reduces to 26% for systems completed after 12/31/2019 and before 01/01/2021 and 22% for systems completed after 12/31/2020 and before 01/01/2022.
Energy.gov Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit

Net Metering - Basically, net metering avoids you having to add battery storage to your system. Power generated from your solar power system will feed directly into your home to supply your electric needs. But many times your solar array will be generating more power than your home is currently using. What do we do with this extra electricity? We could divert it to a battery bank for later use, but this adds to the expense of your system. Net metering pushes this extra electricity out to the electric grid for others to use. Your electric meter will essentially run backwards while it's feeding electricity to the grid. Later, when you need more electricity than your solar array is providing, you will pull this electricity back off the grid ( you meter will run forward ). The result is net metering allows you to store your excess electricity on the grid for later use. If you generate more electricity than your net usage, your electric company may even buy back the overage.

Utility companies in Ohio are currently required by Ohio law to provide net metering to their customers. Unfortunately, utility companies interpret these laws differently. If we haven't already worked with your electric provider, we will contact them, ask the right questions and find out the intricacies of net metering at your location.
The Public Utilities Commission Of Ohio ( PUCO ) Net Metering FAQ

Ohio Treasury, Department of Economic Development ECO-Link Program - The ECO-Link program provides reduced interest rate loans for your solar power system. You can receive up to a 3% interest rate reduction on a local bank loans for five or seven years. Ask us which banks offer the best terms.
Ohio Treasury, Department of Economic Development ECO-Link program

Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) - Various state governments have enacted a 'renewable energy portfolio standard' for their utility companies. These laws state that a certain percentage of their power generation must come from renewable sources and sometimes specifically solar. If they don't meet this percentage on their own, they can buy 'Renewable Energy Certificates' from others who don't need them. Each megawatt hour of electricity generated by solar is awarded one 'Solar Renewable Energy Certificate' ( sometimes also called 'Solar Renewable Energy Credit' )` . So, in addition to your solar power system generating electricity, it is also creating 'Solar Renewable Energy Certificates' that can be sold. A typical residential roof top solar array might generate 5,000 to 10,000 kilowatt hours of electricity or 5 - 10 megawatt hours per year. That translates to five to ten Solar Renewable Energy Certificates that can be sold each year.

So, how much is a Solar Renewable Energy Certificate worth? The value fluctuates widely, mainly based on a state's 'renewable energy portfolio standard'. Many of these portfolio standards require that some of the required renewable energy be generated in that state. So, if there are a limited number of SRECs being created in that state and the 'renewable energy portfolio standard' requirement is high, they can be very valuable. At the moment, Ohio's legislature has frozen Ohio's 'renewable energy portfolio standard' percentages and done away with the requirement that some of the renewable energy must be generated in Ohio. These changes have made Ohio SRECs much less valuable. At this moment ( and values can change quickly ), our Ohio SRECs are worth about $15 each. The system mentioned above generating 10 SRECs per year would generate about $150 per year in SREC revenue.

Be careful researching Ohio SRECs on the Internet. Much of the information is very outdated. The information above was last updated in February 2016. If you are interested talking to us about installing a solar power system at your location, we will bring you up to speed on the latest changes.
Office Of The Ohio Consumer Counsel Renewable Energy Credits Consumers' Fact Sheet

    We are happy to explain how these will effect the cost of your solar power installation. Contact us or better yet, request a Free Site Analysis.