District of Columbia solar rebates and tax credits calculator

Summary of District of Columbia solar incentives 2020

Washington D.C. now has the nation’s most aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standard, and a nice solar carve-out to boot. That means the district requires utilities here to source a huge chunk of their electric mix from renewable energy sources, like the solar panels on your rooftop.

If you’re lucky enough to own any kind of property here with a view of the sun, it makes a lot of sense to connect with installers who can turn keys to make your installation happen. There are also new low and moderate income programs for solar energy here that are second to none.

Read on to learn all you need to know about investing in home solar power in Washington D.C.

Federal solar investment tax credit

The federal solar investment tax credit will have the biggest impact on the cost you will face to go solar in District of Columbia

This perk is commonly known as the ITC, short for “Investment Tax Credit”. If you install your photovoltaic system in 2020, the federal tax credit is 26% of the cost of your solar panel system. This is 26% off the entire cost of the system including equipment, labor and permitting.

Example: If your solar energy system costs $20,000, your federal solar tax credit would be $20,000 x 26% = $5,200.

The federal tax credit falls to 22% in 2021. Unless new legislation is introduced in Washington D.C., this program will be gone in 2022.

Net energy metering in District of Columbia

With net metering in some states, you get full retail rate credit for the amount of electricity you send back into the grid with your solar panels.

Net Metering requires your utility to monitor how much energy your solar power system produces and how much energy you actually consume, and make sure you get credit for the surplus.

Pepco (D.C.’s only electric utility) offers a standard net metering contract to all residential customers. For all systems under 100 kW, all surplus electricity is credited to your next bill at the full retail rate. Surplus may be carried over indefinitely. All that is superb, and net metering is very strong for residential customers here.

District of Columbia solar rebates

Unfortunately, Washington D.C. no longer offers any cash rebates to people who purchase solar panels. There are still a few nice incentives available in the District, though.

Solar for All program

First established in 2016, Washington D.C.’s Solar For All Program has a goal of bringing the benefits of solar to 100,000 low- and moderate-income households by the year 2032.

The program provides community solar shares to homeowners and renters who are at 80% of area median income or below, currently around $100k for a family of 4. The program promises a 50% reduction in utility bills over a 15-year subscription.

For more information about the program, visit the program manager’s website, the D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU), an independent non-profit utility, and overseen by the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE).

As this is a community solar program, you don’t even need to have a property with solar panels on it to qualify for this program. You simply see if you’re eligible, and enroll to get your solar shares at an offsite facility which then credits your utility bills over the next 15 years.

SRECs in Washington DC

In addition to creating electricity, your solar panels create solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs). SRECs are proof of the green value of electricity, and your utility company can buy them from you to avoid hefty alternative compliance fees from the local government for not meeting their clean energy goals.

Since the solar energy carve out of the RPS is so strong in DC, the alternative compliance fees are relatively high. Therefore, SREC prices here are around $400 per SREC. If you have a 6kW system, you can generate about 8 of them a year and sell them for cool $3,100 over the first year.

Until the state’s solar carve out is met, you can expect a similar amount annually over the 15 year term of your SREC sale agreement ! For this 6kW solar system example, your cumulative SREC profits can amount to roughly $35,000. That’s a huge reward as a solar panel owner in Washington DC.

Property tax exemption

We can stand up and applaud that the District gives you a 100% property tax exemption on all that extra home value you get from your solar power.

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