Ohio program status, SREC market context, and federal credit status reviewed August 2026.
Ohio’s solar incentive cupboard is nearly bare, and pretending otherwise is how homeowners get sold bad math: there is no state tax credit, no statewide rebate, the SREC market collapsed after House Bill 6 removed the solar carve-out in 2019, and the federal residential credit ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. What Ohio still offers is narrower and quieter: net metering that credits your exports, a state loan-rate discount, and installed prices at $2.79 per watt that are low enough to carry the case on their own.
This page lists what actually remains, what each item is worth, and what vanished, so no proposal can sell you 2019’s incentives at 2026’s prices.
Check what your Ohio utility actually credits
The 2026 Ohio Incentive Ledger
Incentive | 2026 status | What it is actually worth |
|---|---|---|
Federal residential credit (Section 25D) | Ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025 | $0 on a purchased system; walk away from quotes that still subtract 30% |
Ohio state tax credit | Does not exist | $0 |
Statewide rebate | Does not exist | $0 |
SRECs | Market collapsed after HB 6 (2019) | $3 to $5 per megawatt-hour, roughly $30 to $50 a year on a residential system |
Net metering | Active for customers of the regulated utilities | Export credits at the generation portion of your rate; the workhorse of the Ohio case |
ECO-Link loan-rate discount | Active, through the Ohio Treasurer’s linked-deposit program | An interest-rate reduction on qualifying home-improvement borrowing, worth real money on a financed system |
Net Metering Is the Incentive Now
With the credits gone, Ohio solar earns its keep the unglamorous way: electricity you do not buy. Customers of AEP Ohio, AES Ohio, Duke Energy, and the FirstEnergy utilities can net exported power against their bills, with credits tied to the generation portion of the rate rather than the full delivered price.
Two consequences follow, and they should shape every Ohio proposal:
- Self-consumption is worth more than exporting. The kilowatt-hour you use as it is produced avoids your full rate; the one you export earns the smaller generation credit. Size to your usage, not your roof.
- Your supplier choice interacts with your solar. Ohio’s retail choice market lets you shop generation suppliers on the state’s Apples to Apples comparison site, and the supplier rate you pick changes what your exports credit against. Ask your installer to model your actual supplier rate, not a state average.
The mechanics sit in our guide to whether solar is worth it in Ohio, which is the question this page’s ledger feeds.
ECO-Link: The One Program Most Quotes Never Mention
Ohio’s Treasurer runs a linked-deposit program, ECO-Link, that reduces the interest rate on qualifying home-improvement loans through participating banks. Solar and energy projects can qualify, and on a financed system a rate reduction compounds over the loan’s life into savings that rival what small rebates used to pay.
It is not a rebate and it is not automatic: you apply through a participating lender, terms depend on the bank, and the discount applies to the borrowing, not the sticker. If you are financing anyway, it is the closest thing Ohio has to free money, and the fact that few sales pitches mention it tells you who profits from dealer-fee financing instead.
What Disappeared, and Why It Matters
- The SREC carve-out. House Bill 6 removed Ohio’s solar renewable portfolio carve-out in 2019, and residential SREC income collapsed from a real revenue stream to $30 to $50 a year. Any projection leaning on SREC income is recycling a dead market.
- The 30% federal credit. Ended for purchased residential systems after December 31, 2025. Third-party owners may access separate business treatment, which matters only if it lowers a lease payment.
- Nothing state-level replaced them. Ohio’s legislature has not created a successor credit or rebate. The honest pitch is cheap installation plus avoided electricity, and at $2.79 per watt, with a 6.45 kW system, the average size for a four-bedroom house, pricing near $18,000, that pitch can still work; see what solar costs in Ohio.
You Likely Will Not Qualify If
Plainly:
- You want a rebate check. There is no Ohio entity writing one for a standard residential rooftop system.
- You are counting SRECs as income. At $3 to $5 per megawatt-hour, they cover a dinner, not a loan payment.
- You are on a municipal or cooperative utility. Net metering terms above apply to the regulated investor-owned utilities; munis and co-ops set their own rules, and some credit exports at lower avoided-cost rates. Verify with your utility before modeling anything.
- Your quote’s math needs the federal credit. If the proposal only pencils with a 30% subtraction, it does not pencil.
Check What My Ohio Utility Actually Credits
The remaining value in Ohio runs through your utility and supplier, not a program office. Enter your ZIP code to see how your territory treats exported solar before you compare quotes.
See what remains for your Ohio ZIP
Frequently Asked Questions
Ohio’s solar incentives in 2026 are net metering with the regulated utilities, the ECO-Link loan-rate discount through the Ohio Treasurer, and SRECs worth roughly $30 to $50 a year. There is no state tax credit or statewide rebate, and the federal residential credit ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025.
No. Ohio has never offered a state income tax credit for residential solar, and the federal credit is now $0 for purchased systems. Quotes showing either are out of date.
No statewide rebate exists. Some municipal utilities occasionally run their own limited programs, so customers outside the big four utilities should check directly, but nobody should build a purchase decision on finding one.
Yes, for customers of AEP Ohio, AES Ohio, Duke Energy, and the FirstEnergy companies, with export credits tied to the generation portion of the rate. Municipal and cooperative utilities set their own terms.
Around $3 to $5 per megawatt-hour after the market collapsed following House Bill 6 in 2019, which works out to roughly $30 to $50 a year for a typical home system. Treat them as a rounding line, not a revenue stream.
It can be, on the strength of $2.79 per watt installation and avoided electricity, sized to your own usage. That is a house-by-house answer, and our Ohio worth-it guide runs the actual numbers.
Sources
References & Research Sources
EcoGen America reviewed Public Utilities Commission of Ohio resources, Ohio Treasurer program materials, utility net metering resources, and federal tax guidance for this article. Sources were accessed August 5, 2026, unless another publication, release, effective, or update date is listed below.
- Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Net Metering and Apples to Apples Supplier Comparison Resources. State regulatory resource covering export crediting and retail supplier choice. Accessed August 5, 2026.
- Ohio Treasurer of State. ECO-Link Program. State linked-deposit program reducing interest rates on qualifying home-improvement loans. Accessed August 5, 2026.
- Ohio General Assembly. House Bill 6 (2019). Legislation that removed the solar carve-out underlying Ohio’s SREC market. Effective 2019. Accessed August 5, 2026.
- AEP Ohio. Residential Net Metering and Interconnection Resources. Utility resource covering solar customer treatment. Accessed August 5, 2026.
- AES Ohio. Residential Net Metering and Interconnection Resources. Utility resource covering solar customer treatment. Accessed August 5, 2026.
- Duke Energy Ohio. Residential Net Metering and Interconnection Resources. Utility resource covering solar customer treatment. Accessed August 5, 2026.
- FirstEnergy (Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison). Residential Net Metering and Interconnection Resources. Utility resource covering solar customer treatment. Accessed August 5, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). FAQs for Modification of Sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W and 179D under Public Law 119-21. Federal guidance confirming termination of the residential clean energy credit for installations completed after December 31, 2025. Accessed August 5, 2026.
