North Carolina Solar Power Rebates, Tax Credits, and Incentives


Solar Legislator Score:

From the Great Smoky Mountains down to Cape Fear on the Atlantic coast, North Carolina has a natural environment to be proud of. With everything from golf to wineries, the great outdoors is part and parcel of living in the Tar Heel state. Don’t forget those Carolina blue skies, either. How has the state been protecting this environment by promoting renewable energy sources such as solar power?

First, we invite you to input your average monthly power bill into the below spreadsheet. Double click on the dollar value then input the amount and hit ‘enter’. Our calculator will then do its magic to display how many panels you’ll need to knock your bill down to zero as well as a nifty break-even analysis which takes into account the unique incentives and credits available in North Carolina. These figures are rather conservative and assume you have a southerly facing or flat roof, you have no shading issues, and have excellent credit. Also, the cost per watt installed of $10.00 is probably on the high end. To get a precise evaluation of your property, we recommend hooking up with of our friendly solar experts in North Carolina for more details. Hopefully, from this calculation you get a good sense of why solar makes sense now in North Carolina.

Click the play button here to learn how the North Carolina solar calculator works:

Alternative content

Below the calculator spreadsheet, check out the legislative steps which have cleaned up North Carolina’s energy market.


 

STATE LEGISLATION

North Carolina has been doing fairly well with promoting clean power over the past few years. In August 2007, North Carolina overhauled its renewable energy rules with Senate Bill 3, which authorized tax credits for solar power generation. Senate Bill 3 also requires that the state generate at least 12.5% of its power from renewable sources by 2021. That’s not a phenomenal percentage, but then North Carolina is the first state in the Southeast to adopt a renewable energy standard, so kudos to the legislature for being first into the water.

NET-METERING

In October 2005 the Utilities Commission laid out rules for net-metering by investor-owned utilities in North Carolina; the order was amended in 2006. Maximum system capacities were set at 20kW for residential customers and 100kW for businesses. The utilities are only required to enroll 0.2% of the last year’s peak load, meaning that new systems are subject to a first-come, first-served allocation plan until 2018 when this becomes the minimum. Net excess power generated is credited back to the user on the next monthly bill. At the beginning of each summer season, any credit for net excess generation is granted to the utility. The North Carolina Utilities Commission only wants individuals to develop electrical generation systems that meet their own personal or corporate needs. Lastly, the net-metering program requires that customers switch to time-of-use metering.

 

STATE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS, UTILITY REBATES, UTILITY LOANS, AND UTILITY INCENTIVES

Renewable Energy Tax Credits

In 2007, when the legislature passed Senate Bill 3, tax credits became available to both residential and corporate customers in North Carolina. The credit covers up to 35% of the cost of a solar electricity or other renewable energy system, capped at $10,500 for residential systems and a whopping $2.5 million for commercial and industrial systems. Residential customers get that credit all in one year unless the total is more than 50% of their tax liability. If so, the rest of the credit is spread over 5 years. Businesses are required to take their credit over 5 years.

One really cool feature of Senate Bill 3 is that you can also take a tax deduction for a donation to a non-profit organization that is working on a renewable energy project. This is a great way to get people on the clean power bandwagon!

 

Check out these other great solar rebates and solar incentives for renewable energy in North Carolina:

 

Corporate Tax Credit

* Renewable Energy Tax Credit – Corporate

 

Green Building Incentive

* Asheville – Building Permit Fee Waiver

 

Personal Tax Credit

* Renewable Energy Tax Credit – Personal

 

Production Incentive

* NC GreenPower Production Incentive

* TVA – Green Power Switch Generation Partners Program

 

Property Tax Exemption

* Active Solar Heating and Cooling Systems Exemption

 

State Loan Program

* Energy Improvement Loan Program

 

Utility Loan Program

* Brunswick EMC – Residential Energy Efficiency Loan Program

* Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative – Energy Conservation Loan Program

* Piedmont EMC – Conservation Loan Program

* Progress Energy Carolinas – Energy Efficiency Financing Program

* PSNC Energy – Residential Energy Efficiency Loan Program

* South River EMC – EC Home Improvement Loan Program

 

Utility Rate Discount

* Dominion North Carolina Power – Energy Saver Home Plus

* Duke Energy – Energy Star Homes Rate Discount Program

* Four County EMC – All Electric Rate Reduction Program

* Progress Energy Carolinas – Energy Efficient Home Program

* Randolph EMC – Energy Efficient Rate Discount Program

 

Utility Rebate Program

* Blue Ridge Mountain EMC – Energy Right Residential Program

* Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative – Energy Efficient Water Heater Rebate Program

* City of Gastonia Electric Department – Energy Efficient Water Heater Rebate Program

* City of New Bern Electric Department – Energy Management Rebate Program

* City of Statesville Electric Utility Department – Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Program

 

* An interesting article on leasing solar in North Carolina

 

CONSENSUS

When compared to their neighbors in the Southeast, North Carolina has been doing great things to promote solar power and other clean energy sources. Most of the real work that has been done by the legislature has come in the last couple of years. 2007 was a breakthrough year for renewable energy in the state, but it’s not time to rest yet. North Carolina could become a model for the rest of the Southeast if state leadership continues to build up a market for solar power.

Click here to have multiple solar installers bid to upgrade your North Carolina home or business.

 

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16 comments.

Sunwolf
Comment on February 24th, 2008.

This is good info. Thanks for having this available for people like me who are researching the viability of solar panels for my home and family.

Pingback on April 17th, 2008.

[...] N. Carolina [...]

Brian
Comment on June 8th, 2008.

Thank you. Very informative for those of us interested in alternative home power and the cost/benefit ratio of implementation.

robert
Comment on August 6th, 2008.

nc solar incentives

Pingback on October 11th, 2008.

[...] should be a little cheaper. Call it $70,000. Still pretty damn pricey. Except NC has a refundable 35% tax credit and the feds just passed a 30% tax credit. So that $70,000 system is suddenly “only” [...]

Dave's mom
Comment on November 11th, 2008.

Hi Dan, This looks great, but you may need to update the “Example 3KW System” to reflect the new Federal Tax credit (it is still shown as $2000).
Also I don’t understand why the 6.21 KW system requires 407sq ft and the “Example 3KW system requires 600 sq ft

Comment on November 11th, 2008.

Thanks Dave’s mom! All fixed.

CGSC Student
Comment on January 10th, 2009.

Does anyone know if it is better to buy the argon filled windows or not? How good of an investment are they? I want to reduce my energy bill but the contractor told me it would take about 22K to replace about 30 windos.. doesn’t that sound corrrect?

Zachary
Comment on January 27th, 2009.

Has anyone done a solar water heater install or a full home energy system install in Raleigh, NC? What was the cost? The results? I’m very interested!

Ursula
Comment on January 28th, 2009.

Zachary, we installed a solar water heater in September 2007 with fantastic results. We live in Hillsborough, NC and have a southeast facing roof. In February we’ll start getting 120 degree temps from the sun leading to summer when it turns itself off at 175 degrees. The tough months are October when the leaves are still in and the sun has dropped on the horizon or if we get a lot of rainy/cloudy days. During the winter we use the electric backup when we need to but keep it off otherwise. In all we are thrilled with our purchase and are looking into getting PV as soon as possible.

Meckes
Comment on February 3rd, 2009.

Not to be a party pooper, but the feds only offer a 30% tax rebate OR $2000.00 which ever is less. See Fed Form 5695.

Comment on February 3rd, 2009.

Meckes,

That is incorrect. The feds offer a 30% tax rebate with no cap. Legislation passed at the end of 2008 removed the $2000 cap.

Pingback on February 10th, 2009.

[...] Read more here [...]

JIMW
Comment on April 13th, 2009.

Do you have a spread sheet like that for VA?

Comment on May 5th, 2009.

Thank you for this website, it’s one of the rare blogs that you find talking about solar power and energy by states, as we are a company in Charlotte, north Carolina that we offer solar energy and solar power, we learn a lot from your website. Thank you again.

Rick
Comment on June 14th, 2009.

Two questions:
1) Would line 31 “Average monthly power bill savings” equal $90 in year 1?
2) Is the current state budget crisis likely to effect the 35% state credit?

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