Available Solar Rebates, Tax Credits, and Incentives in Georgia Contact online >>
Available Solar Rebates, Tax Credits, and Incentives in Georgia
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In this guide to making solar conversion more affordable in Georgia using solar incentives, you''ll learn:
Our solar experts have sifted through hundreds of local governments'' and utility companies'' websites to find accurate information about current solar incentives in each state. We''ve also unbiasedly ranked and reviewed hundreds of solar installers to empower you to make the right choice for your home.
Find the best price from solar installers in Georgia.
Yes, absolutely. Solar is relatively expensive in the area due to the high energy demand, but the solar incentive programs available in Georgia help make converting to clean energy far more accessible.
The typical upfront cost of a solar panel system in GA hovers around $36,190, around $6,000 higher than the national average. The average price per watt for photovoltaic (PV) equipment in the area is $3.29, which is below the U.S. average.
The high all-in price tag is due to the larger system requirements to meet local energy use. Most residents need an 11 kilowatt (kW) system to offset utility bills and energy costs, whereas the average American needs just 9 kWs worth of PV equipment.
Unfortunately, the state lacks a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goal, which many states use to promote clean energy and the adoption of related equipment like PV panels. As a result, the Peach State also has far fewer incentive programs available than most other states.
In the table below, we''ll include all of the incentive programs available for solar conversion, along with a description of how they work and the average savings they yield.
In our opinion, the federal tax credit is one of the best perks for solar customers across the country, regardless of the state incentives available to them. It''s offered by the federal government, so it applies to all homeowners. It''s especially useful in areas like Georgia, where there are no universal incentives offered by the state.
The credit was initially provided in 2005 as a means of making solar adoption more affordable. At that time, it offered a credit to one''s tax liability for 30% of the entire system value installed — including panels, inverters, solar batteries and more. The credit rate was originally scheduled to drop to 26% in 2022, 22% in 2023 and 0% in 2024.
In 2022, Congress signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which, among other things, improved the federal credit. It pushed the rate for 2022 installations back up to 30% — retroactively — and extended the credit for a decade. The new rate schedule is listed below:
Given the average solar system cost of $36,190 in Georgia, the 30% credit usually comes out to $10,857. You can save that much on your tax bill if you owe enough to cover the credit, which can effectively bring down the cost of your system. Any unused credit can be rolled over to four additional tax years for a total of five years.
Keep in mind that this is not a solar rebate but rather a tax credit. That means you won’t be able to take advantage of this perk if you don’t owe money on your income tax bill. If you don’t owe $10,857 but you do owe around $2,175 per year for five years after you go solar, you can still take the entire credit, but it will take longer to see those effective savings.
Additionally, we should mention that solar batteries are a popular option in Georgia. They provide effective net metering, which boosts savings over time, especially if you can’t access net metering due to the program caps (more on this later). The ITC also applies to solar batteries, which add between $10,000 and $20,000 to your system costs in most cases. The ITC could effectively save you an additional $3,300 to $6,600 on batteries. You can only apply the federal credit to equipment you install alongside your panels, so adding batteries later on means you’ll miss out on these added battery credits.
Claiming the federal credit is straightforward and usually only takes a few extra minutes when you''re filing your taxes. If you use software like TurboTax to file, just answer accordingly when prompted about installing renewable energy equipment or converting to solar. If you file manually or through an accountant, you can follow the below steps to take the credit.
As mentioned above, we''re huge fans of the federal credit in general, but especially in your area, where other incentives are severely lacking. The federal credit offers a great way to effectively make solar more affordable, and it stands out as an imperative perk to take in areas where there are few or no other benefit programs, like in the Peach State.
With an average credit value of nearly $11,000 — or around $14,500 if you also install batteries — and an application process that takes just a few minutes, this provides the best bang for your buck in terms of potential savings from going solar.
Solar easement laws protect the rights of solar customers to access the sunlight that normally hits their properties. They prevent neighboring property owners from obstructing that sunlight, which means neighbors could be forced to keep trees trimmed, and commercial properties nearby cannot build structures that block sunlight from your roof.
Plus, in some cases, these laws can lead to an increased duration of sunlight exposure for your solar power system. Some benefits of this include:
Thankfully, the solar easement laws are innate, so you never have to do anything to claim them. If you run into an issue with a neighboring property blocking your access to solar energy, you can contact your local building department to intervene on your behalf.
Solar easement laws are a great thing to have in place. They help establish renewable energy sources as legitimate and worthwhile alternatives to fossil fuels like natural gas, and they help increase the value of PV equipment.
Unfortunately, they don''t provide any direct savings for most property owners.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), net energy metering (NEM) has historically been one of the most beneficial perks for solar customers. It helps reduce costs in several ways:
NEM is mandated by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), but, unfortunately, there are caps on the program, which limits how many customers can take advantage of this incredible incentive. Additionally, utility providers are required to offer it to customers (within those caps), but the credit rate isn’t set by the PSC, so each company has dominion over the credit rate they offer.
Lower credit rates mean reduced savings over time, so they’re not as desirable. Most companies in the state use something like the avoided cost rate, putting the average credit rate well below the retail rate per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Some net metering is always better than none, but because of the limited access to this incentive, it’s much less beneficial overall than it could be in Georgia.
For example, Georgia Power has a behind-the-meter option, which is a buyback program that''s similar to net energy metering. However, the program filled up in 2021 and is not currently accepting new applications.
We should also mention that residents in many states throughout the U.S. are seeing net energy metering programs become less and less beneficial. Some states are adopting a credit rate that''s below the retail rate, while others are ditching the policy altogether. We saw this in 2024 in California, which has historically been the most solar-friendly state. We expect that trend to continue and eventually hit Georgia, which will lower solar savings.
When solar becomes less valuable in the wake of net metering disappearing, most customers will need to turn to solar batteries to make their systems worthwhile and maximize savings. Batteries are expensive — between $10,000 and $20,000 — so system costs will go up, and solar accessibility will go down.
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