Rebates

In 1975, the City of Santa Clara established the nation's first municipal solar utility. Under the Solar Water Heating Program, the Santa Clara Water & Sewer Utilities Department supplies, installs and maintains solar water heating systems for residents and businesses. In addition, the city has also installed solar energy equipment for a number of its own facilities.

Solar equipment is available from the city for heating swimming pools, process water and domestic hot water. The hardware (solar collectors, controls and storage tanks) is owned and maintained by the city under a rental agreement. The renter pays an initial installation fee

Note: According to the 2025 Renewable Energy Plan, in 2024, City of Columbus Utilities purchased or generated 22.82% of its total electric usage through renewable energy sources. 

In November 2004, voters in Columbia, Missouri, approved* a proposal to adopt a local renewable portfolio standard (RPS). (The state renewable electricity standard adopted by ballot initiative in November 2008 does not apply to municipal utilities such as Columbia Water & Light.) The city's municipal utility Columbia Water & Light is required to generate or purchase 30% of its electricity from eligible renewable energy resources by the end of 2028. Nearly 7%

Note: Residential PV systems installed on or after January 1, 2024 are ineligible for this tax credit. H.B. 264 of 2025 repeals this tax credit for all other technologies and applications place in service after December 31, 2027.  

Utah's income tax credit for renewable energy systems includes provisions for both residential and commercial applications. The Utah Office of Energy Development administers the tax credit and has responsibility for revising the tax credit rules and certifying systems as eligible for the credit. Legislation (Section 5) enacted in 2007 extended these tax credits through at least 2012. On or before this

Companies in Texas engaged solely in the business of manufacturing, selling, or installing solar or wind energy devices are exempt from the franchise tax. The franchise tax is Texas’s equivalent to a corporate tax. There is no ceiling on this exemption, so it can be a substantial incentive for solar and wind businesses.

For the purposes of this exemption, a solar energy device means "a system or series of mechanisms designed primarily to provide heating or cooling or to produce electrical or mechanical power by collecting and transferring solar-generated energy. The term includes a mechanical or chemical device that has

Texas allows a corporation to deduct the cost of a solar energy device from the franchise tax in one of two ways:

• The total cost of the system may be deducted from the company's taxable capital or,
• 10% of the system's cost may be deducted from the company's income.  

Both taxable capital and a company's income are taxed under the franchise tax, which is Texas's equivalent to a corporate tax. 

For the purposes of this deduction, a solar energy device means "a system or series of mechanisms designed primarily to provide heating or cooling or to produce electrical or mechanical

The Ohio Air Quality Development Authority (OAQDA) provides assistance for new air quality projects in Ohio, for both small and large businesses. For qualifying projects, OAQDA can provide a 100 percent exemption from the tangible personal property tax (on property purchased as part of an air quality project), real property tax (on real property comprising an air quality project), a portion of the corporate franchise tax (under the net worth base calculation), sales and use tax (on the personal property purchased specifically for the air quality project only) as long as the bond or note issued by OAQDA is outstanding

Ohio may provide a sales and use tax exemption for certain tangible personal property used in energy conversion, solid waste energy conversion, or thermal efficiency improvement facilities designed, constructed, or installed after December 31, 1974. 

Qualifying energy conversion facilities are those that are used for the primary purpose of converting natural gas or fuel oil to an alternate fuel or power source excluding propane, butane, naphtha, fuel oil, or natural gas. Solid waste conversion facilities include those that convert solid or semi-solid waste from industrial operations including public utilities, commercial distribution, research, agricultural, and community operations, and including garbage, street

Iowa allows a sales tax exemption for solar, wind, and hydroelectricity equipment. As of August 2024, the Iowa sales tax rate is 6%.

Wind

For wind energy, the exemption includes the total cost of wind energy equipment and all materials used to manufacture, install, or construct wind energy systems. The exemption does not apply to equipment used to construct a plant to manufacture wind energy systems.

Solar

Effective July 1, 2006, solar energy equipment is also exempt from the state sales tax. Solar equipment means any equipment that is used to convert incident solar radiation to energy, or equipment used

Note: S.B. 1 of 2025 amended this exemption to make it only to property taxes imposed for an assessment date before January 1, 2025.

Systems that generate energy using wind, hydropower, geothermal, and solar energy heating or cooling systems are exempt from property tax.* Systems using solar power devices—including solar thermal, photovoltaic (PV), and other solar energy—are exempt from property tax only if they were installed after December 31, 2011. 

For most eligible renewable energy systems, the assessed value of the system is exempt from property tax. One exception is solar energy heating or cooling systems which are exempt from

In Missouri, the right to utilize solar energy is a property right, but eminent domain may not be used to obtain such a property right. Easements obtained for the purpose of construction, reconstruction, remodeling, or acquisition of a solar energy system should be created in writing and are subject to the same conveyance and instrument recording requirements as other easements. Solar easements are considered a negative (i.e., restrictive or use prohibitive) easement and cannot be acquired by prescription; they must be negotiated expressly.

In June 2022, Missouri adopted S.B. 820, which prevents deed restrictions, covenants, and other similar binding