Missouri solar rebates and tax credits calculator

Summary of Missouri solar incentives 2021

The cost to install solar panels on your home in Missouri is lower than ever. There are strong solar energy rebates for 2021 to further bring down costs, for folks served by KCP&L, Columbia Water & Light, or Empire District. 

While some of the rebate tiers have gotten a little less juicy over the past few years, there are very lucrative solar investment opportunities here, with some farm installations coupled with USDA grants creating immediate payback scenarios.

You can save thousands of dollars off the up-front cost of solar, combine that with another big cash windfall in the federal solar tax credit, and use electricity bill savings to quickly pay back your net costs. The average homeowner will save thousands over the 25-year operating life of their solar panels, and benefit from increased home value and environmental benefits, to boot!

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 Missouri

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 Missouri

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.

Missouri requires all utilities to offer net metering to customers with solar power systems up to 100 kW. Net excess generation is credited to your next bill at a minimum of the utility’s avoided cost rate.

Now, "avoided cost rate" is short for "how much it would have cost us to burn more coal and make electricity at one of our plants". As you may guess, the avoided cost rate is pretty cheap. Like, you pay $.12/kWh for electricity from them, but they'll only pay you $.03/kWh for excess you send back to the grid. That's why it's really important you size your system well so you don't produce way more electricity than you use.

We’d like to see the law amended to ensure you get credit for your net excess generation, even if you run a surplus every month. Right now, all credit not used after 12 months reverts back to the utility without compensation. While we think the utility should cut you a check for all that surplus instead, at least there’s some credit rolling back to you when you aren’t able to use all the solar electricity you produce onsite.

Missouri solar rebates

Missouri has what basically amounts to a statewide rebate program for solar installations because several of the state's largest electric utility companies offer rebates for their customers.

Property tax exemption

A solar panel installation on your home adds value to it. We’re talking thousands of dollars of value, based on all that electricity you won’t be paying for in the next few decades. Luckily, Missouri realizes that a good way to encourage homeowners to go solar is to exempt all that additional value from property taxes. That’s right, you will not pay a dime in taxes on all that added value!

Useful links

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