North Carolina's incentive picture depends heavily on which utility serves you
There is no state income tax credit, despite what some sales pitches imply
North Carolina's 35% Renewable Energy Tax Credit expired at the end of 2015 and has not been renewed by the legislature. This is a common point of confusion, since some solar sales presentations and older online guides still describe a state credit as if it currently exists. It does not. What remains active at the state level is the sales tax exemption and the property tax exclusion, both of which apply automatically without a state income tax filing, plus net metering value that varies by utility. Run the numbers on both exemptions with the sales tax exemption savings calculator.
Net metering pays very differently depending on your utility and interconnection date
Dominion Energy North Carolina customers, generally in the northeastern part of the state, receive traditional net metering credited near the full retail rate, currently commonly cited around $0.11 to $0.12 per kWh. Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress customers who interconnected on or after October 1, 2023 are placed on either a time-of-use export rate under Rider RSC or, for customers who want to avoid mandatory time-of-use billing, the transitional Rider NMB, both of which credit exports at Duke's Net Excess Energy Credit rate, commonly cited around $0.034 per kWh against a Duke retail rate near $0.12 to $0.14 per kWh. Per the NC Public Staff's own net metering page, customers who interconnected before October 1, 2023 are not permanently exempt from this transition either: their legacy net metering terms carry them only through December 31, 2026, after which they move onto the Rider NMB bridge rate for up to 15 years before a further transition. This utility-dependent gap, and the approaching 2026 deadline for legacy customers, is large enough that it should be the first thing you confirm before estimating your payback period. Compare it against a neighboring state's utility structure with the Georgia incentive estimator.
Sales and property tax treatment are favorable, and the two-tier property tax question actually has a clear answer
Solar equipment is exempt from North Carolina's state sales tax under General Statute 105-164.13(44c), applied automatically at the point of sale. Property tax is where sources genuinely diverge, though not because the law is ambiguous: General Statute 105-275(45) provides an 80% exemption on the value a solar system adds to your home's appraisal, and that's the figure many guides stop at. But per the DSIRE database of state incentives, the 80% exclusion only applies to systems that are actually taxable in the first place, meaning systems connected to a business or used to produce income. A typical residential system owned by an individual homeowner, not used to produce income or connected with a business, is excluded entirely as non-business personal property and isn't taxable at all. In practice, that means most homeowners get something closer to a full property tax exclusion, while the 80% figure describes the commercial case. Confirm your specific situation with your county tax assessor if a business use or home office is part of the picture. The property tax exemption savings calculator can help you model this.
Duke's PowerPair program adds real money if you're adding a battery, but capacity is limited
Duke Energy's PowerPair pilot pays up to $9,000 for a new solar-plus-battery installation, split into a solar incentive of $0.36 per watt up to 10 kW and a battery incentive of $400 per kWh up to 13.5 kWh, worth up to $3,600 and $5,400 respectively. Duke Energy Progress territory reached full program capacity around November 2025 and stopped accepting new applications, placing later applicants on a waitlist. Duke Energy Carolinas territory had limited remaining capacity as of mid-2026, with reports describing internal program cohorts filling at different rates, so treat any specific remaining-capacity figure as a snapshot rather than a guarantee, and confirm current status with Duke Energy or your installer before counting on this incentive in your budget. If a battery is part of your plan, the savings with battery vs without battery comparison shows the difference it makes.