Arkansas Solar Incentives And Rebates
1. Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC)
The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is the largest solar incentive available in the country that all Arkansas homeowners have access to. This incentive alone will drastically drive down the cost of going solar in Arkansas. Commonly referred to as the ITC, short for “Investment Tax Credit”, when you install a photovoltaic solar system in 2021, the federal tax credit is 26% of the cost of your solar panel system. This means that 26% of the total cost is covered for the entire cost of the system, including equipment, labor and permitting, installation and more. The Federal Investment Tax Credit falls to 22% at the end of 2022.
Arkansas Net Metering Policy
Net Metering exists in almost every state, including Arkansas. How does Net Metering work, exactly? As an Arkansas homeowner, you get full retail rate credit for the amount of electricity you send back into the grid with your solar panels. Net Metering mandates that your utility company monitor the amount of energy your solar power system generates, as well as how much energy your property actually consumes. This is ensure that you get credit for the surplus of energy you don’t use, thus building up energy credits you can use in the future on lower, cloudier days with little production. In Arkansas, Net Metering is offered through all utility companies and you will get credited for full retail electricity rates when your property produces more solar power than you are using.
In Arkansas, systems partaking in Net Metering are permitted to be up to 25 kW in size. 25 kW equates to roughly 80 solar panels, which is often more than enough to produce the amount of power your home needs.
Entergy Arkansas, LLC offers a Net-Metering Service Schedule to qualified customers that generate electric power using solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, or qualified biomass resources. Net Metering is a means of crediting these customers for energy they supply to the grid while billing them for energy they consume from the grid. Net Metering is available to residential customers whose Net Metering facilities have generator capacity up to 25 kilowatts (or generator capacity representing the customer’s highest residential usage in the previous twelve months) and to non-residential customers whose Net Metering facilities have generator capacity up to 20 megawatts (capacity over 1 MW requires Commission pre-approval). Customers may not take service under the Net-Metering Service Schedule if they are already taking service under any other tariff with provisions for alternative source generation or cogeneration.
With Net Metering, the kilowatt-hours (kWh) produced by the customer and supplied to the grid offset the kWh supplied to the customer in that month (meaning the customer is billed for net kWh). If the customer sends more kWh to the grid than used, the net kWh used for billing are set to zero that month. Any kWh generated by the customer in excess of the kWh used are accumulated and credited to the customer’s account associated with the meter physically attached to the customer’s Net Metering Facility (“Designated Meter”) in the next applicable billing period.
A customer taking service under the Net Metering Service Schedule also has the option to request that any remaining net excess generation (expressed in kWh) be credited to one or more of the net metering customer’s meters (“Additional Meters”) in the rank order provided by the customer. The net metering customer must provide at least 30 days notice to Entergy Arkansas, LLC by submitting a completed Net-Metering Meter Aggregation and Common Ownership form (see link below), the requested customer information, and the list of the Additional Meters and the designated rank order in which any excess kWh credit should be applied.
A net metering customer may choose to have Entergy Arkansas, LLC purchase net excess generation when there are net excess generation kWh associated with a net metering customer’s account which are older than 24 months. If a net metering customer ceases to be a customer of Entergy Arkansas, LLC, ceases to operate the net metered facility, or transfers the net metering facility to another person or entity, Entergy Arkansas, LLC will purchase any net excess generation kWh remaining associated with the net metering customer’s account. Any net excess generation kWh that are purchased by Entergy Arkansas, LLC under these circumstances will be purchased at Entergy Arkansas, LLC’s estimated annual average avoided cost rate for wholesale energy.
Entergy Arkansas, LLC is required to supply a meter at no charge capable of recording two-way electrical flows. If a non-standard meter is required, the additional cost of the non-standard meter will be paid by the customer.
Increase In Home Resale Value
With new verified research coming out over the years, it is now proven that solar panels can increase the value of your home on the real estate market.
According to a study by the University of California, Berkely, numbers do vary based on location, city, and state, but studies have concluded that for every 1 kilowatt of solar panels installed on your property, the value of your home can increase anywhere between $4,000 – $6,000. For example, the average system size in Illinois is 7 kilowatts. This means your home can increase in value anywhere between $28,000 and $42,000 in resale value.
With over 400 Five-Star Verified Google ratings, Tron Solar is one the leading solar energy providers in the Midwest for homeowners and commercial properties. Having helped hundreds of homeowners convert to solar energy, Tron Solar has successfully reduced families’ power bills and saved them money by converting to solar energy. We take pride in using the highest quality products available in the solar power market and our excellent customer service experience. Tron Solar offers a variety of solar energy services, ranging from residential solar panel installation, maintenance and commercial solar. Headquartered in Chicago, Tron also has offices in Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana and Wisconsin.