Eugene, OR Solar Panels

The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) Solar + Storage Rebate Program offers residential homeowners in Eugene a rebate of up to $5,000 for a solar electric system and up to $2,500 for a paired energy storage system. The program is set to temporarily reopen on June 15, 2026, with $1.1 million in available funding — but demand is expected to be extremely high, and funds may be exhausted within the first day.

Low- and moderate-income (LMI) households are eligible for significantly enhanced rebates worth up to 60% of the total system cost, which can reach up to $7,500 for solar. LMI eligibility can be established through qualifying Oregon Housing and Community Services programs, Oregon DHS/OHA programs, or by providing an Oregon Department of Revenue tax transcript proving household income.

To qualify, your system must be installed on real property in Oregon by an ODOE-approved contractor. The contractor must submit a reservation application before construction begins. For paired solar and storage systems, both must be purchased together from the same approved contractor. Rebates are issued to the contractor and passed on to you as an upfront discount.

Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB), the primary electric utility serving Eugene, offers a solar incentive of $0.40 per AC output watt, up to a maximum of $2,500 for residential customers. Nonprofit, government, and public business customers can receive a higher rate of $0.50 per AC output watt, up to $12,500. The 2026 program has a total budget of $125,000, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Customers must apply for pre-approval before installation to be eligible for the incentive. Even if the incentive budget is exhausted, EWEB encourages customers to follow the same application process, as additional funding may become available. Systems must comply with EWEB’s interconnection and net metering requirements.

For net metering, EWEB credits excess monthly generation at the 2026 Annual Renewable Net-Metered Rate of $0.0399/kWh. Customers who prefer to sell generation directly to EWEB can do so at the 2026 Annual Renewable Generation Purchase Rate of $0.0634/kWh. Contact EWEB or visit their website to begin the pre-approval process.

Under Oregon Revised Statute §307.175, any increase in your home’s real market value resulting from the installation of a qualifying solar energy system is fully exempt from property tax assessment. This means that even though solar panels can meaningfully increase your home’s value, your annual property tax bill will not go up as a result. The exemption applies to solar, wind, geothermal, water, fuel cell, and methane gas systems used to generate electricity or heat/cool a home.

The financial benefit is ongoing for the life of your system. Based on Oregon’s average property tax rate of 0.82%, a typical solar installation could save approximately $255 per year on property taxes, or up to $378 per year for a solar-plus-battery system — adding up to roughly $5,100–$6,300 in total savings over the life of the equipment. The exemption only applies to systems that are net-metered or primarily intended to offset on-site electricity use.

Important: Homeowners in Eugene must apply for this exemption through their county assessor’s office on or before December 31 of the year in which the system was installed — it is not entirely automatic in all counties. Additionally, this exemption is currently scheduled to expire for systems installed after July 1, 2029. Homeowners who install before that deadline and receive the exemption will retain it for the lifetime of their system, creating a strong incentive to act before 2029.

Oregon is one of only a handful of U.S. states with no general state sales tax. As a result, all solar equipment — including panels, inverters, racking, batteries, and installation labor — is automatically exempt from sales tax. There is no application to file or special exemption to claim; the savings are built in at the point of purchase.

This provides an immediate and meaningful cost advantage compared to purchasing solar in most other states, where sales tax on equipment alone can add thousands of dollars to the total project cost. For example, in a state with a 7% sales tax, a $25,000 solar system would incur $1,750 in sales tax — a cost Eugene residents simply don’t face.

This benefit applies equally to all Oregon residents regardless of income, utility provider, or location, and requires no action on the part of the homeowner or installer. It effectively lowers the baseline cost of going solar in Eugene compared to the national average.

Oregon’s Net Energy Metering (NEM) policy requires major utilities to offer net metering for residential solar systems up to 25 kW. Under net metering, excess electricity your solar panels send to the grid earns you credits on your utility bill. When your panels aren’t producing enough (e.g., at night or on cloudy days), those credits offset the electricity you draw from the grid, potentially reducing your bill to near zero.

Credits accumulate throughout the year and are reconciled at an annual true-up each March. Any unused credits remaining after the March billing period are transferred to a low-income assistance program (the Low Income Energy Assistance Program) rather than paid out in cash.

For Eugene homeowners, EWEB credits excess monthly generation at $0.0399/kWh (with a direct generation purchase option at $0.0634/kWh). All net-metered systems must meet the utility’s interconnection requirements and be installed by a licensed contractor. Oregon does not currently have an SREC (Solar Renewable Energy Credit) market, as the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard does not include a specific solar carve-out.