Mississippi solar rebates and incentives: 2025 guide

Mississippi’s sunny skies and mild winters make it a natural fit for going solar and powering your home with clean, sustainable energy. While there aren’t many state-level solar incentives for homeowners in the Magnolia State, federal tax credits can still take a big bite out of the upfront costs.

As a Mississippi homeowner, the ITC is the most impactful way to bring down your solar costs.

Residential Clean Energy Credit

The Residential Clean Energy Credit, formerly known as the federal investment tax credit (ITC), can reduce your solar panel system's cost by 30%. Your entire system qualifies for this incentive, including equipment, labor, permitting, and sales tax.

When you file your federal income taxes, you can claim this incentive as a credit towards your federal tax bill. Just keep in mind that to qualify for the ITC, you need to purchase your system either with cash or a solar loan–if you lease your system, you won't be eligible. 

You also need a high enough tax bill, though you can roll over any remaining credit year-to-year until 2035 when the ITC expires. The only time you might be eligible for a direct payment for the ITC is if you're a tax-exempt entity, like a nonprofit organization. 

Utility companies in Mississippi—including Entergy, Mississippi Power, and other investor-owned utilities—do offer solar buyback programs, but not net metering specifically.

While the sun is shining, your solar panels might produce more electricity than your home needs at any given moment. Under the net billing solar buyback programs in Mississippi, you can sell that excess power back to the grid for credits on your electricity bill. 

The catch is that the utility companies only offer partial credit for every kWh—you’re selling the electricity to them at a significant discount, compared to what they’ll charge you to buy that electricity back later. 

The exact rates depend on the utility company, but they’re generally the avoided cost rate plus $0.020 per kWh, which usually comes out to half the retail rate or less. Credits don’t expire though, so you can roll them over indefinitely.

If you want to squeeze the most possible value out of your solar panels under net billing, consider installing a solar battery.

Mississippi’s Battery Storage Incentive Program offers a $2,000 rebate for those installing a certified battery storage system, but the incentive is currently suspended. We’re not sure if and when that rebate will become available, but all batteries above 3 kWh in size are eligible for the 30% federal tax credit. 

Solar batteries paired with solar panels often make financial sense in Mississippi. They boost energy independence and provide backup power during an outage, helping you keep more of your own (free) solar power rather than letting the utility company take it at a steep discount.

If you're looking for solar installers in Mississippi, see the complete list.