Rebates and incentives

Low income solar program eligibility checker

Enter your household income, size, and your area's median income figure. See where you fall against the thresholds most programs actually use.

Your household

1 Project details Optional
2 Income details
Combine income from all household members, before any deductions.
3 Area median income
Search "[your county] HUD area median income" to find your county's published figure.
HUD publishes exact figures by household size. This uses standard approximate multipliers.

How it works

Three steps to your result

Step 1

Find your county's AMI figure

HUD publishes area median income figures by county and household size every year. A quick search for your county name plus "HUD area median income" usually surfaces the current table.

Step 2

Enter your household income and size

Use your total household income before taxes, combined across everyone living in the home, and select the closest household size adjustment. Not sure how this interacts with a federal credit? Check the federal ITC calculator separately.

Step 3

Match your tier to actual programs

Once you know your approximate AMI percentage, check your state's specific programs on the rebates and incentives hub for exact thresholds, since some extend further than others.

Understanding income-based solar eligibility

Why AMI instead of a flat national number

A household earning $60,000 a year is in a very different position in rural Mississippi than in the San Francisco Bay Area, even though the dollar figure is identical. Area median income adjusts for that by measuring eligibility relative to what's typical in each specific county, which is why the same household income can qualify in one place and not another. If you cannot put panels on your own roof, the community solar for low-income households tool shows how community solar compares.

How household size changes the threshold

HUD's published AMI figures scale with household size, since a family of five needs more income than a single person to reach the same standard of living. This tool uses standard approximate multipliers, but official program applications use HUD's exact published table for your county and household size, which can differ by a few percentage points from the approximation used here. State-specific programs are listed on the rebates and incentives hub.

What eligibility actually opens up

Income-qualified programs often go well beyond a standard rebate. Some cover 100% of system cost for qualifying households, others add a bonus percentage on top of whatever base incentive applies, and some offer no-cost weatherization alongside solar. The performance based incentive calculator covers programs that pay based on your system's actual output rather than a flat rebate, which sometimes stack with income-qualified programs. The DSIRE database of state incentives lists the incentives that apply in your state, with links to each program's rules.

Applying with limited documentation

If you're already enrolled in a program like SNAP or LIHEAP, many solar income-qualification processes let you use that enrollment as proof instead of submitting fresh income documentation. This can meaningfully speed up your application. Confirm this option is available before assuming it applies to every program you're considering, and check the rebate application cost benefit calculator if you're weighing whether the paperwork is worth the payout for a specific program.

If you borrow for the rest of the system, the combined loan and rebate timing tool takes your rebate total and works out the monthly payment on the balance. If you may qualify for low-income solar programs beyond what's covered here, the community solar for low-income households tool is worth checking too. To see how a loan changes this result, run the combined loan and rebate timing tool with the same system cost.

Questions

Frequently asked

Area median income, or AMI, is the midpoint household income for a specific county or metro area, published annually by HUD. Most low-income solar programs set eligibility as a percentage of AMI rather than a flat national dollar figure, since housing and living costs vary so much by region. A household earning $45,000 could be well under 80% AMI in an expensive metro area but above it in a lower-cost one.

The most common tier is 80% of area median income or below, which is the standard low-income threshold used across many federal and state housing and energy programs. Some programs extend eligibility up to 120% or even 150% of AMI for moderate-income households, though the incentive amount is often smaller at those higher tiers.

Yes. AMI limits are typically published per household size, since a larger household needs more income to maintain the same standard of living. A four-person household and a one-person household in the same county have different AMI dollar thresholds even though the area's overall median is one number. Use your program's official household-size-adjusted limit when you apply, not just the area's headline AMI figure.

Most programs ask for recent tax returns, pay stubs, or proof of enrollment in another income-qualified program like SNAP or LIHEAP, which can sometimes let you skip a separate income verification. Requirements vary by program, so check the specific application for exact documentation before assuming what worked for one program will work for another.

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