Kansas solar rebates and tax credits calculator

Summary of Kansas solar incentives 2021

Kansas has not had a strong history in supporting home solar power, or even renewable energy more broadly. In 2015, the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) law was repealed, and a voluntary “goal” for renewable adoption was put into place. In 2019, the state’s largest utility company, Evergy, got the Corporation Commission to approve monthly fees added to the bills of homeowners with solar panels.

That ruling was subsequently overturned by the Kansas Supreme Court, but even without the additional fees, adding solar panels to a home in Kansas is not the great financial decision it is in many other states.

That doesn’t mean Kansas is without incentives for solar. Specifically, the state offers both solar net metering and a property tax exemption for the value a solar installation adds to your home.

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 Kansas

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% at the end of 2022.

Net energy metering in Kansas

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.

Current Kansas net metering law says that solar production will be recorded throughout the month, and if the customer generates more kilowatt-hours (kWh) than they use, they’ll be paid for the excess energy at the utility’s “system average cost” (wholesale rate) — about 2.1 cents per kWh, compared to 11.3 cents/kWh retail.

That means you get paid much lower than retail if your panels generate more than you need during a whole month. Folks in Kansas have a reason to choose smaller solar panel installations that won’t produce more than their usage during the sunniest month of the year, or they risk earning less money for the kilowatt-hours above and beyond that number.

That’s Kansas net metering as it stands, and there aren’t any major plans afoot to shake it up. There’s no guarantee that will go on indefinitely, though. Kansas has had a bit of a bumpy history with net metering.

As we mentioned above, in 2019, Evergy (formerly Westar and KCP&L), the largest investor-owned utility in Kansas, got approval from the Kansas Corporation Commission to levy additional monthly fees on solar owners. Thankfully, that approval was stuck down by the state Supreme Court in early 2020.

The Court was pretty clear in its decision that Evergy’s attempt to charge solar owners more than other customers was “price discrimination” that Kansas law “clearly prohibits.”

Kansas solar rebates

Solar rebates in Kansas? Ha, no. There is one current solar incentive worth mentioning, though...

Property tax exemption

Fortunately the Kansas legislature has passed a solar property tax exemption. While this won’t save you any money upfront, it will save you thousands over the long haul.

Installing a solar power system adds thousands of dollars in value to your home. With the property tax exemption in place, you won’t have to pay a single extra penny in property taxes for that home value increase. That saves you thousands over the three-decade life of your solar power system!

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