Cleveland, OH Solar Panels

Ohio’s Property Tax Exemption removes the added property value of your solar energy system from your property tax assessment. This means you won’t pay additional property taxes on the increased home value that comes from installing solar panels. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.53, any solar energy system with a capacity of 250 kilowatts or less is completely exempt from real property taxation.

To qualify for this exemption, your solar system must have been installed on or after January 1, 2010, and the total capacity must be 250 kilowatts or less (which covers virtually all residential solar installations). The financial benefit varies based on your home’s location and local tax rates, but typically saves homeowners hundreds of dollars annually. For example, if your solar system adds $20,000 to your home’s value and your local property tax rate is 2%, you would save approximately $400 per year in property taxes. This exemption continues for as long as you own the system, providing ongoing savings throughout the life of your solar installation.

Unfortunately, Ohio does not currently have an active Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC) market for residential solar owners. While some states allow homeowners to earn and sell SRECs as a way to generate ongoing income from their solar energy production, Ohio has not established a functional SREC program that provides financial benefits to solar customers.

In states with active SREC markets, solar system owners earn certificates for the clean energy they produce, which can then be sold to utilities that need to meet renewable energy requirements. However, without an established market or mandatory renewable energy standards that create demand for SRECs in Ohio, homeowners cannot currently count on this as a source of savings or income. If you’re considering solar in Ohio, focus on other available incentives and the long-term savings from reduced electricity bills rather than potential SREC revenue.

Net metering in Ohio allows homeowners with solar panels to receive credit for the excess electricity their system produces and sends back to the grid. Each month, your utility company tracks how much solar energy you export versus how much electricity you consume from the grid. When your solar panels produce more energy than your home uses, that excess is credited against your total monthly consumption on a 1-to-1 basis, meaning every kilowatt-hour (kWh) you send to the grid offsets one kWh you would otherwise pay for at the full retail rate.

If you generate more electricity than you use in a given month, the surplus credits carry forward to your next billing cycle. However, these carried-over credits are valued at the generation rate rather than the full retail rate. Depending on your utility company—including AEP Ohio, Duke Energy, FirstEnergy companies (Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric, Toledo Edison), and AES Ohio—this generation rate typically ranges from 5 to 12 cents per kWh. This means while you get full retail value for energy used immediately, excess credits are worth less when rolled forward. All Ohio homeowners with solar systems are eligible for net metering through their utility company, with no specific deadlines or time limitations. The program operates on a monthly settlement basis, making it straightforward to understand how your solar production impacts your electricity bills throughout the year.