North Carolina Solar Incentives: What's Actually Left After the Federal Credit
The 30% federal Residential Clean Energy Credit (IRC Section 25D) is no longer available for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. For North Carolina homeowners, that leaves the state property tax exemption, Duke Energy's PowerPair rebate, and utility-specific net metering to carry the math. This article covers what changed at the federal level, state incentives, Duke Energy programs, net metering rates, local financing, and how to get the most from what remains.
What Changed: The Federal Tax Credit Is Gone for New Systems
The federal tax credit used to be the financial baseline for home solar. Here is where IRC Section 25D stands now.
What the credit was: The Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) covered 30% of a solar and battery storage system's cost as a nonrefundable federal tax credit, with no dollar cap.
When it ended: The IRS states the credit is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025. The earlier schedule, which ran the 30% rate through 2032, no longer applies.
Who's still unaffected: Homeowners who had a system installed and operational by the end of 2025 can still claim the credit on that year's taxes and carry forward any unused portion.
The 2025 rollback didn't stop at solar, either. The same law eliminated several other clean-energy credits too, from EV purchases to home efficiency upgrades, on similarly accelerated timelines.
With the federal credit gone, state and utility-level incentives do most of the work for North Carolina homeowners.
What North Carolina Still Offers
Even without federal credit, North Carolina homeowners aren't starting from zero. A few state and utility-level programs remain genuinely useful, and stacking them changes math more than any single incentive does on its own.
Property tax exemption: North Carolina exempts the value a solar installation adds to a home from property tax assessments, so a homeowner doesn't pay more in property tax just for adding solar, a benefit claimed through a county exemption filing rather than anything solar-specific.
Duke Energy's PowerPair rebate: Customers pairing new solar with battery storage can receive up to $9,000 (up to $3,600 for the first 10kW of solar, up to $5,400 for battery storage), on a first-come, first-served basis while capacity lasts. The program is limited to Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas customers, so co-op and municipal utility customers won't find it on their bills.
No standalone state tax credit: North Carolina does not offer its own state-level solar tax credit to replace the expired federal one.
Every state is adjusting its own incentives differently now that the federal baseline is gone, and other states filling the federal gap are worth comparing against North Carolina's approach.
With the federal credit gone, a battery has to earn its place in a North Carolina solar setup. Storing daytime solar for the evening is one way, and it matters more under the time-of-use rates Duke Energy now applies to new solar customers. The EcoFlow TITAN Plus fits that role, with 8kW of solar input and a 5kWh base expandable to 30kWh.
For a smaller rooftop array, the standard EcoFlow TITAN is the simpler match. It has the same 7.2kW of 120V/240V output and the same expandable 5kWh base as the EcoFlow TITAN Plus, with one 4kW solar input and no solar-boosted 10kW output.
How Duke Energy's Battery Programs Work
PowerPair isn't a single flat rebate. It's structured in a way that rewards both the solar and the battery portions of a system separately, plus an ongoing credit on top.
PowerPair's two components: The $3,600 solar portion and $5,400 battery portion are each calculated separately, so the total depends on system size and battery capacity.
Ongoing credits after installation: Enrolled battery customers can also earn monthly bill credits, up to roughly $91 to $92 a month, through the EnergyWise Home program, in exchange for letting Duke Energy draw on stored battery power 30 to 36 times a year.
Limited availability: PowerPair enrollment is capped and has run into waiting periods before, so timing an application matters.
A broader look at what rebates are available for battery storage specifically: battery rebates exist outside PowerPair too, and other utilities offer their own incentives worth checking if a PowerPair slot isn't available.
Beyond the upfront rebates, what a system earns back over time depends heavily on net metering rules, and those vary by utility in North Carolina.
Net Metering in North Carolina: What You Actually Get Paid
Net metering determines how much credit a solar system earns for the power it sends back to the grid, and in North Carolina, that answer depends on which utility serves your home rather than any single statewide rule.
Duke Energy's older program is closing out: The original net metering rider (Rider NM) stopped accepting new customers back in September 2023, and existing customers on it transition to a bridge rider by the end of 2026.
What new Duke Energy customers get instead: New solar customers are placed on a time-of-use export rate structure with bi-directional metering, rather than traditional one-to-one net metering.
It varies by utility, not just by state: Dominion Energy offers full net metering (with a $200 fee for systems under 20kW), while co-ops like Blue Ridge EMC let customers choose between net metering and a flat per-kWh net billing rate.
Net metering structures differ so much state to state that comparing north carolina's rates against neighboring states is often more useful than assuming any single national standard applies.
Utility programs cover the ongoing savings side. For the upfront cost, a few local financing options are also worth knowing about.
Local Financing Options
Financing matters more now that the federal credit is gone, since spreading the upfront cost over a loan term is one of the more direct ways to offset losing that 30% reduction.
Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation offers solar loans up to $30,000 over terms as long as 10 years, at a 5% interest rate, for members in its service territory, according to Piedmont Electric's own loan program page.
Loans aren't the only financing route either, since comparing solar loans, leases, and PPAs side by side often changes which option makes sense for a given budget.
Is Solar Still Worth It in North Carolina Without the Federal Credit?
Losing 30% off the upfront cost is a real change, but it's worth separating what changed from what didn't.
The math changed, not the fundamentals: Losing 30% off the upfront cost extends the payback period, but the property tax exemption, PowerPair rebate, and ongoing utility bill savings are all still real and stackable.
Timing matters more than it used to: Homeowners who move quickly on state and utility incentives can still meaningfully offset the loss of the federal credit.
To put a rough number on it: a 9kW system paired with a battery under PowerPair could still capture up to $9,000 in upfront rebates plus the ongoing property tax exemption, even with the 30% federal credit gone. That doesn't erase the loss, but it keeps the payback period from stretching as far as it might look at first glance.
The break-even point moves when a discount disappears, but it doesn't necessarily vanish, and running the payback math again with today's stacked incentives is a more useful exercise than assuming yesterday's numbers still hold.
Here's how it all comes together.
Conclusion
With the federal solar tax credit gone for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025, North Carolina homeowners are working with the property tax exemption, Duke Energy's PowerPair rebate where capacity remains, and utility net metering options. The EcoFlow TITAN and EcoFlow TITAN Plus pair with solar to store daytime production for later use, whether you are installing a new system or adding modular storage alongside existing solar panels.
FAQs
Is there still a solar tax credit in North Carolina in 2026?
No. The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) is not available for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025, and North Carolina has no state solar tax credit. Homeowners can still use the property tax exemption and, where capacity remains, Duke Energy's PowerPair rebate.
What is Duke Energy's PowerPair rebate?
A one-time incentive of up to $9,000 for customers who install solar with battery storage: up to $3,600 for the first 10kW of solar and up to $5,400 for the battery, plus optional ongoing monthly credits for enrolling in battery control. Enrollment is first-come, first-served and capacity is limited.
Does North Carolina have net metering?
It depends on the utility. Duke Energy has moved new customers to a time-of-use export rate rather than traditional net metering, while Dominion Energy and co-ops like Blue Ridge EMC offer different structures.
Is North Carolina solar exempt from property tax?
Yes. The value a solar installation adds to a home is exempt from property tax assessment, so installing solar doesn't raise your property tax bill.
Is it still worth installing solar in North Carolina without the federal tax credit?
For many homeowners, yes, though the payback period is longer without the 30% credit. The property tax exemption, the PowerPair rebate where available, and a battery that stores daytime solar for evening use, such as the EcoFlow TITAN Plus, can offset part of the loss.
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