Louisiana solar rebates and incentives: 2024 guide

Louisiana’s mild winters and above-average natural gas prices make it a natural fit for an all-electric home—which is 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 Louisiana, federal tax credits can still take a big bite out of the upfront costs.

As a Louisiana 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.

In addition to the great rebates and incentives above, Louisiana also offers a solar property tax exemption. Solar panels generally raise the property value of your home, but thanks to this law, you won’t have to pay extra tax on that added value.

Utility companies in Louisiana—including Entergy, SWEPCO, other electric co-ops, and municipal providers—do offer solar buyback programs.

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 Louisiana, 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 it’s generally half the retail rate or less. Entergy, for example, pays about $0.06 cents per kWh sent to the grid. Other providers offer less than $0.03 cents. 

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

(Louisiana previously offered a net metering program, which was more consumer-friendly in several important ways. But as of 2020, utility companies in the state are no longer required to offer true net metering for new solar installations.)

Louisiana doesn't offer any state-specific battery incentives. However, all batteries above 3 kWh in size are eligible for the 30% federal tax credit. 

Solar batteries paired with solar panels can make good financial sense in Louisiana. It boosts your energy independence and provides backup power during an outage, and it helps 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 Louisiana, here are some popular suggestions: