With the new year, you may be wondering what the current status of the solar incentives are. Here's a quick refresher of what incentives are still available to you and when they expire.
- Renewable Energy Sales and Use Tax Exemption: All solar energy systems under 10kw are 100% exempt from Washington state sales tax. If your system is over 10kw sales tax will apply but you are eligible to request a 75% refund from the Department of Revenue after installation. This incentive is expiring June 30th, 2018.
- Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit: Federal tax credit for 30% of the total cost of your system. This is a tax credit applied against your federal tax bill. It can be used in following years if entire credit is not used in first year. Solar energy systems installed on vacation homes or second residences are eligible for credit. The 30% tax credit is until 12/31/2019 and will steadily decrease in following years.
- Renewable Energy Cost Recovery Incentive Payment: This program pays the customer for every kilowatt hour they produce up to $5,000 a year. The max pay rate available is $0.54 per kilowatt hour if you have Washington made panels and inverter. Due to the increase in solar installation most utilities have reached their cap and have either closed their program or decreased their incentive rate. Pacific Power and Puget Sound Energy are still admitting people into their incentive program however their rate has decreased. We are projecting around $0.40 per kilowatt hour. The max is still $5,000 a year though. This incentive is set to expire June 30th, 2020.