Last updated: December2024
Written by
Ben Zientara
North Carolina is a great place to go solar and enjoy clean energy in your home! Lawmakers in Raleigh have been working hard on getting solar incentives for the state’s residents, including Duke Energy’s PowerPair and EnergyWise rebate programs and the federal solar tax credit.
While the average cost of a solar installation in North Carolina is around $21,000, incentives here can reduce that cost by 40% or more, making it easier to pay back your solar investment and save lots of money over the long term.
Incentive | Estimated average savings | Eligibility | About |
|---|---|---|---|
Federal solar tax credit | $6,750 | All tax-paying U.S. citizens | Tax credit equal to 30% of installation costs, applied to federal income taxes |
Duke PowerPair rebate program | Up to $3,600 for solar and $5,400 for battery storage | People who get solar and/or battery storage installed on their homes | Credit equal to $0.36/watt of solar up to 10 kW, and $400 per kWh of battery storage, up to 13.5 kWh. |
EnergyWise Home battery program | $60 to $796 per year, depending on battery output wattage | Solar battery owners who wish to allow Duke to control their battery up to 36 days for at least one year. | Paid as a monthly bill credit over at least one year. Batteries from the most popular manufacturers qualify. |
Solar property tax abatement | 100% of value added to a home | All North Carolina homeowners | According to the North Carolina Department of Revenue, solar systems not used to generate income or connect with a business are not taxable. |
Quick Facts
Value: 30% of solar installation costs
Frequency: One-time tax credit, can be rolled over to future tax years
How to apply: File IRS Form 5695 with annual tax return
There is no specific North Carolina solar tax credit, but the federal government offers the federal solar tax credit (formerly known as the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit or ITC). The Clean Energy credit applies to all U.S. residents who own a home on which they install solar panels.
The credit equals 30% of the cost to install solar and can only be claimed by homeowners with the tax liability to claim it.
The average solar panel system in North Carolina will earn a tax credit of about $6,750. But, the value of the solar tax credit can depend largely on system size, which you can see in the following table:
System size | Estimated cost | Tax credit |
|---|---|---|
5 kW | $15,000 | $4,500 |
7 kW (NC average) | $21,000 | $6,750 |
10 kW | $28,500 | $8,550 |
15 kW | $40,500 | $12,150 |
Taxpayers can claim the credit in the year after their solar installation is complete. The credit applies to all solar equipment or home battery storage costs but won’t include expenses like structural improvements that aren’t directly associated with generating solar energy.
Note: Lending companies often require paying the value of the solar tax credit toward a solar loan by 18 months to keep monthly payments low.
Quick Facts
Value: Up to $3,600 for a solar installation and $5,400 for a battery
Frequency: One-time rebate paid to a Duke Trade Ally (solar installer) at the time of installation
How to apply: Apply through solar installers in North Carolina
Duke Energy's PowerPair program provides incentives of up to $9,000 to make home solar panels and energy storage more accessible and affordable.
The program pays $360 per kilowatt (kW) of installed photovoltaic solar panels and $400 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of battery storage. An average-sized 7-kW solar installation in North Carolina with a 13.5 kWh Tesla Powerwall battery would earn the homeowner a $7,920 Duke PowerPair rebate.
A set number of incentives are available for the first 30,000 kilowatts of solar in both Duke Energy Carolina and Duke Energy Progress territories, for a total of 60,000 kW total. That’s enough for about 8,550 average-sized home solar panel installations.
Quick Facts
Value: varies by property value
Frequency: Ongoing
How to apply: automatic; no need to apply
According to our research, homes with solar panels sell for 6.8% more money than homes without. Thankfully, North Carolina does not require homeowners to pay property taxes on that extra property value.
In a 2011 memo to county assessors, the state Department of Revenue stated that solar energy “systems owned by individuals and not used to produce income or in connection with a business are not taxable.” As long as that description sounds like you, you get a property tax exemption!
Quick Facts
Average electric rate in North Carolina: $0.14 per kWh
Net metering availability: Available for customers of Dominion Energy, but customers of Duke Energy Carolina and Duke Energy Progress have to choose a lower compensation rate
Solar buyback rate: Approximately $.03/kWh for monthly excess generation for Duke customers
Under an ordinary net metering program, every kWh of excess energy solar customers send to the grid earns them one kWh in credit they can use to pull energy from the grid when the sun isn’t shining.
If you’re a Dominion Energy customer in North Carolina, congratulations, this is exactly what you get! Unfortunately, residential customers of either of Duke Energy’s subsidiaries aren’t so lucky.
Duke made changes to net metering in 2023 that reduced compensation for any excess kWh at the end of a month and added new fees to the electricity bills of solar panel system owners that those credits cannot offset.
The most important thing to know is that new solar owners in Duke territory now have two rate plans to choose from:
The Solar Choice plan that includes time-of-use rates with reduced compensation for excess generation and new charges
The Solar Bridge Rate doesn’t require time of use rates, but does reduce compensation for excess solar energy, adds new bill charges, and is only available for those participating in Duke’s EnergyWise Home Battery program.
In addition to the PowerPair rebates for energy storage, Duke offers another solar battery incentive program called the EnergyWise Home battery program.
The program offers monthly payments to people who own a home solar battery and are willing to let Duke draw some of its stored energy during certain times of the year. Duke says there will be between 30 and 36 of these “battery control events,” which correspond to very high demand on the energy grid.
As of late 2024, Duke has authorized batteries from seven companies to participate. Here’s a table showing the various brands and their eligible models:
Battery maker | Eligible models | Monthly incentive payments |
|---|---|---|
IQ 3,3T 5P, 10, or 10T | $5 - $17 | |
Avalon, eFlex 5.4, eVault Max 18.5 | $13 - $66 | |
aPower X + aGateX | $23 | |
PWRcell M3 - M12 | $15 - $35 | |
EverVolt Ev-X10, 15, 20 | $25 - $50 | |
Home Battery 10K1P + inverter | $17 - $52 | |
Powerwall+, 2, 3 | $23 - $52 |
Incentive payments are based on a battery’s ability to discharge power to the grid. The Fortress Power Avalon battery system has the potential to earn the highest incentive payment, followed by the SolarEdge Home Battery and Tesla Powerwall 3.
The EnergyWise program is Duke’s first attempt at creating a virtual power plant (VPP). By combining the power output of hundreds of batteries from all over the service territory, Duke can avoid buying lots of costly power on the hottest days, when grid demand is at its peak.
The average cost of solar panels in North Carolina is $21,000 before incentives for a 7-kilowatt solar installation. Once you factor in all of North Carolina’s solar incentives, that cost can drop to as low as $6,700 — almost 70% lower than the pre-incentive costs.
Average pre-incentive cost: $21,000
PowerPair rebate: 7 kW x $360 =$2,520
Net cost after rebate: $21,000 - $2,520 =$18,480
Federal tax credit: $18,480 x 30% = $5,544
Effective system cost: $21,000 - $2,520 - $5,544 = $12,936
A Tesla Powerwall 3 costs about $15,600 on average, bringing the total solar plus storage system cost to about $36,600 before incentives. A solar installation with a Powerwall battery is eligible for all of the above incentives plus an additional $5,400 PowerPair rebate.
All the incentives bring the average solar+battery installation in North Carolina down to $20,076 after incentives. That’s 45% off!
Quick Facts
Cost of grid power: $0.14/kWh - 17th lowest in the nation
Rate of increase in cost of grid power: 2.03% per year - 10th lowest in the nation
Average solar payback time: 8.5 years for solar-only installation, 13 years with a battery on the EnergyWise program
North Carolina is a great state for renewable energy, and the current incentives available to homeowners are great! That said, the state has electricity prices below the national average and a low rate of increase in those prices, so the energy bill savings of a solar installation are lower than in other places.
When going solar, we recommend finding the best solar companies in your area and getting multiple estimates from different companies. Choose a company that is local to you, has been in business for at least five years, and has good reviews from past customers.
Ben Zientara is a writer, researcher, and solar policy analyst who has written about the residential solar industry, the electric grid, and state utility policy since 2013.
His early work included leading the team that produced the annual State Solar Power Rankings Report for the Solar Power Rocks website from 2015 to 2020. The rankings w...
Learn more about Ben Zientara