Installing solar panels can save you money by reducing your energy costs. However they’ll make even higher monetary sense should you benefit from tax incentives, rebates and particular financing packages.
In case you’re a home-owner within the state of Ohio, there are a handful of the way you possibly can shave some {dollars} off the tens of thousands of dollars that photo voltaic panels — and doubtlessly batteries — can value.
“The worth proposition has gotten to be superb since vitality prices total have gone up throughout the nation,” mentioned Tristan Rader, Ohio director for Solar United Neighbors. “The extra you are paying for vitality off of the grid, the higher a worth proposition is photo voltaic in your roof. You are avoiding a whole lot of these prices by having a photo voltaic array.”
On this information, we’ll stroll you thru photo voltaic panel incentives, photo voltaic tax credit, photo voltaic panel rebates and loans within the Buckeye State.
Evaluating Ohio incentives for photo voltaic panels
| Ohio incentive | Description | Eligibility | Estimated worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal residential clear vitality credit score | This federal tax credit score will reimburse you for as much as 30% of the price of putting in a photo voltaic panel system. | All US residents | About $7,200 for the nationwide common value of an 8 kW photo voltaic system |
| Ohio Property-Assessed Clear Power (PACE) Financing | Financing program that provides zero down cost, a set rate of interest, no private assure, and 15 to 25 12 months financing phrases | Owners in Ohio | Varies |
| Photo voltaic Renewable Power Credit (SRECs) | Credit score for electrical energy that your photo voltaic panels generate | Owners with photo voltaic panels | Varies; is determined by market worth |
| Metropolis of Cincinnati Residential Tax Abatement | Pay property taxes on pre-improvement worth | Owners in Cincinnati with an eligible dwelling renovation venture | Pay property taxes on pre-improvement worth for 10 to fifteen years |
| Cuyahoga County Residence Enhancement Mortgage Program (H.E.L.P.) | Decrease-interest dwelling loans between $3,000 and $200,000 | Should reside in certainly one of Cuyahoga County communities (besides Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls Township, and Looking Valley) | Loans at 3% under market rates of interest |
| Franklin County Residence Enchancment Program | Actual property tax abatement | Residents who personal residential property in Franklin County | Relies on the settlement |
| Hamilton County Residence Enchancment Program (HIP) | 5-year, 3% loans for dwelling photo voltaic initiatives | Owners in Hamilton County that meet lending standards | As much as a $50,000 mortgage |
*Estimated worth calculated by utilizing a nationwide common of $24,000 for putting in photo voltaic panels, or 8 kW at a national average cost of $3 per watt
Federal photo voltaic tax credit score
Expanded and prolonged within the Inflation Discount Act handed in 2022, the residential clean energy credit is essentially the most important tax incentive for US householders eager to go photo voltaic. It offers you with a tax credit score value as much as 30% of the full value of putting in photo voltaic panels on your own home.
Ohio photo voltaic tax credit, exemptions and mortgage packages
The Buckeye State has some packages that may assist soften the monetary value of going photo voltaic. Listed below are some we discovered:
Ohio Property-Assessed Clear Power (PACE) Financing
The PACE financing program affords an reasonably priced technique to set up a photo voltaic panel system at your own home. This financing software means that you can repay the prices of an vitality enchancment via a voluntary evaluation in your property taxes. PACE financing options zero down cost, a set rate of interest, no private assure and 15- to 25-year financing phrases.
Photo voltaic Renewable Power Credit (SRECs)
Beneath this program, you possibly can obtain credit score for electrical energy your photo voltaic panels generate. For each megawatt-hour (MWh), you receive a credit that you can cash in. SRECs might be bought via third events. The fee per SREC in Ohio varies.
Native photo voltaic panel incentives in Ohio
Your metropolis, county or group could have its personal packages to encourage photo voltaic panels. Listed below are some examples.
Metropolis of Cincinnati Residential Tax Abatement
Residents of Cincinnati can lower their taxes to the pre-improvement value of their property for anyplace from 10 to fifteen years. This is applicable to current dwelling renovation properties. Some candy information: this incentive went via a considerable revamp in 2023 to prioritize eco-friendly initiatives.
Cuyahoga County Residence Enhancement Mortgage Program (HELP)
Owners in most of Cuyahoga County can obtain a loan of up to $200,000 at a 3 percentage points below market rate to make enhancements on eligible houses.
Franklin County Residence Enchancment Program
In Franklin County, residential property house owners may be eligible for a property tax exemption on their dwelling photo voltaic venture. The phrases, such because the variety of years the abatement stretches for and the share abated, fluctuate.
Hamilton County Residence Enchancment Program (HIP)
Hamilton County residents could also be eligible for five-year loans at 3 proportion factors under market price for dwelling enhancements. These loans are capped at $50,000, however there aren’t any revenue restrictions or limits. You simply want to satisfy the accomplice financial institution’s lending standards.
Ohio internet metering guidelines for photo voltaic vitality
Net metering is offered should you dwell in Ohio. Owners who produce their very own photo voltaic vitality on their property can scoop up a credit score on their electrical energy payments for extra vitality that goes again into the electrical utility’s distribution system — the grid.
In Ohio, if your own home has a photo voltaic vitality system and is linked to your native electrical utility’s distribution system, you are eligible to save lots of in your electrical energy invoice. The photo voltaic vitality system on your own home can be utilized to offset half or all your vitality wants, as much as 120%.
Web metering credit might be put towards your invoice in future months and can continue to carry forward.
Your breakeven point for installing solar in your house is earlier should you stack internet metering on high of cash saved on your own home vitality payments. In Ohio, payback intervals for photo voltaic installations are typically lower than 10 years due to internet metering, Rader mentioned.
“You are getting credit within the summertime, and also you’re utilizing these credit within the fall and even wintertime,” he mentioned. “So you are not seeing a invoice for chunk of the 12 months when you’ve got a photo voltaic system that is giant sufficient. Then the web metering system means that you can truly unfold that out over the 12 months, which is incredible.”
Neighborhood photo voltaic initiatives in Ohio
At the moment, Ohio does not have any community solar projects for its residents. Lawmakers in 2023 introduced a bill that will create a pilot program for group photo voltaic.
“We’re hoping that quickly in Ohio, we may have group photo voltaic and that individuals would be capable to subscribe to those group photo voltaic initiatives throughout the state as soon as we’ve that rule,” Rader mentioned. “However proper now, we do not have the regulatory system set as much as permit for group photo voltaic initiatives to exist.”
