2021 Oregon Solar Incentives for Homeowners

Current Oregon solar incentives allow homeowners in the greater Portland, OR area to lower the upfront cost associated with a brand new solar energy system. With two new incentives available to homeowners in 2022, the cost of solar is at a new time low.

Energy Trust of Oregon Solar Incentives 2021

If you are a Portland General Electric (PGE) or Pacific Power customer, you will receive a cash rebate from the Energy Trust of Oregon. This rebate goes to the solar installer and drops your cost of going solar. How much you will receive can vary a bit depending on your home or business. Current incentive levels are below.

Portland General Electric

$0.30 per watt
up to $2,400

pacific power

$0.35 per watt
Up to $2,800

how to calculate

The ETO incentive is calculated based on how much solar power is installed. The larger the system, the larger the cash-incentive. If you purchase a 5 kilowatt system, the Energy Trust of Oregon they will give up to $1750 towards the installing solar panels for your home. The homeowner will not get the cash-incentive themselves, instead it will be paid to the installer directly. Here is how it works.

Pacific Power Calculation: (5,000 watts) x ($0.35) = $1,750
Portland General Calculation: (5,000 watts) x ($0.30) = $1,500

Qualifications

The solar installer must be a certified Solar Trade Ally by the Energy Trust of Oregon.
All solar equipment must be new and UL listed.
Verification from Energy Trust tax inspectors.
Must have a TSRF of 75% or more.

A remote assessment showing the TSRF of a home in Portland, OR.

Solar Within Reach Incentive for Low-to-Middle Income Families

The new Solar Within Reach makes going solar more affordable for income-qualified households. With increased cash incentives (up to $9,000) and a federal energy tax credit, powering your home using the sun’s energy is now within your reach. To participate, you must meet certain Energy Trust of Oregon’s qualifications for your building and income.

Site Qualifications

To qualify, you must on a single-family home, floating home, manufactured home, condo, or multi-family residence (must be a duplex, triplex, fouflex, or be an attached side-by-side unit).

Income Qualifications

You must meet certain income qualifications depending on your household size and your maximum gross annual income. See below:

1 resident: $54,240
2 residents: 62,040
3 residents: $69,720
4 residents: $77,520
5 residents: $83,760
6 residents: $89,880
7 residents: $96,120
8 residents: $102,360

Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program

This attractive new solar rebate program from the Oregon Department of Energy lowers the cost barrier for stand-alone systems AND solar plus home battery backup systems to qualifying Oregon homeowners.

Rebates may cover up to 60 percent of the net system cost. The maximum rebate is $5,000 for standalone solar systems and $7,500 for solar plus energy storage systems. Pretty nice, huh?

Site Qualifications

Installation (solar and storage) must be installed on real property in Oregon.
The project must be installed and purchased by the same ODOE-approved contractor (we are).
Solar installations must have a minimum of 75% Total Solar Resource Fraction (TSRF).

Federal Investment Solar Tax Credit

The Federal Solar Tax Credit will directly credit your federal business taxes, wiping out any tax liability that you have on a dollar-to-dollar basis. This incentive is a credit to your tax return worth 26% of the total cost of your solar electric system. The credits can be used within 5 years from the date of installation.

Example Using The Federal Solar Tax Credit

This solar tax credit is calculated from a percentage. For ever dollar you spend, the government will give you $0.26 or 26% back in tax credits dropping your total federal tax liability. There is no limit on how much you can get back unlike the Energy Trust incentive.

What this means is the government is incentivizing you to install clean renewable energy by dropping the price by 26% and putting no ceiling on how much you wish to invest. The exact rules apply for commercial customers.

Calculation: ($10,000) x (0.26) = $2,600 federal tax credits

Solar Net Energy Metering

Net Energy Metering is how your utility compensates homeowners with solar panels for providing clean, renewable energy to your neighbors. Your utility must keep a “running tab” on how much solar energy you generate and then subtracts what you gained from your bills reducing your monthly electric bills. Any extra energy credits that you save up must be carried forward to the next month’s bill for a full year.

Each credit is worth equal the market rate which is the price you pay for electricity. This means that you can bank up energy credits for solar power that you create in the summer, then use it in the winter when the sun isn’t shining so much.

Example of Net Energy Metering

When you generate 1,000 kilowatt-hours of solar power while only consuming 650 kilowatt-hours you will net 350 bankable solar credits. This always happens when you are producing more than your home is using at the time. When you are generating less energy than you need the credits are automatically applied when the utility grid energy flows into your home, such as at night.