Rebates and incentives, 70 tools
What will solar actually cost you after incentives?
The 30% federal tax credit for cash and loan buyers ended December 31, 2025. What's left depends heavily on your state, your utility, and how you pay for your system. These tools sort out what still applies to you.
Start here
Check your federal status first
The federal picture changed sharply for 2026, and it is the first thing to settle. The IRS page on the residential clean energy credit states the current rules and the placed-in-service cutoff.
Federal ITC calculator See whether your system still qualifies for a federal credit based on when it's placed in service and how you're financing it.Find your state, Northeast
Tax credit and rebate estimator by state
Find your state, South
Tax credit and rebate estimator by state
Find your state, West
Tax credit and rebate estimator by state
Find your province, Canada
Tax credit and rebate estimator by province
Federal programs
What's left at the federal level
Stacking incentives
Combine more than one program
Stacking a rebate on top of a credit can change your monthly cost, not just your total. The combined loan and rebate timing tool shows how a rebate that arrives later affects the payment on the rest.
Tax and property
Exemptions that lower your ongoing cost
Property and sales tax exemptions keep saving you money long after the install. The DSIRE database of state incentives lists the exemptions that apply in your state, with links to each program's rules.
Special programs
Income-based and performance-based incentives
Planning ahead
Track deadlines and weigh the paperwork
A rebate is only worth the paperwork if it shortens your payback by enough to matter. The payback period calculator lets you test the numbers with and without the incentive before you apply.
Questions
Frequently asked
Not for homeowners who buy or finance their system with cash or a loan. The 30% Section 25D credit ended for any system placed in service after December 31, 2025, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. A $24,000 system installed in March 2026 with cash gets $0 back federally, versus the $7,200 it would have earned in 2025. Leased or PPA systems can still pass through a 30% credit under Section 48E through 2027, since the leasing company claims it, not you. Run the federal ITC calculator to check your own situation.
Most states never depended on the federal credit alone. States like New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and South Carolina run their own tax credits or rebate programs that are unaffected by the federal change. Pick your state above to see what applies where you live.
A solar renewable energy certificate, or SREC, is a tradable credit your system earns for every megawatt-hour it produces in a handful of states with SREC markets, mainly New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio, and Washington DC. Prices swing with supply and demand, so it's worth checking current pricing with the SREC value estimator before assuming a fixed payout.
Usually yes, though some programs reduce your rebate if you're also claiming another one for the same equipment. The rebate stacking tool checks your specific combination for conflicts before you apply.