Solar Rebate Program Overview
Innovative financing opportunities like rebates are needed to expand accessibility and encourage customer adoption of clean energy technologies like rooftop solar energy. NCSEA worked with Duke Energy and other stakeholders to craft the Solar Rebate Program in HB589, which requires the creation of a rebate program for 20 MW of rooftop solar installations per year for five years. Since then, NCSEA has continued working to implement this program before the NC Utilities Commission so that it successfully attracts and assists clean energy adopters wanting to install solar on their homes and businesses.
To date, this program has helped to take residential solar installations in Duke’s North Carolina territories from a total of about 5,600 systems (31 total MWs) in 2017 to over 17,000 systems (115 total MWs) by the end of 2020.
A Growing Demand
NCSEA was pleased with the intention of the rebates program to jumpstart the residential and small commercial solar markets in North Carolina. Since then, it has become clear that demand for residential and commercial rebates has drastically exceeded supply.
2018
The supply of residential and commercial rebates exhausted within two weeks of the opening of the application period
2019
The supply was exhausted within one and a half hours
2020
The supply was exhausted within twenty-one minutes
2021
The NCUC enacted changes to the rebates program that decreased rebate size, implemented a lottery system rather than first-come-first-served allocation, and altered the application schedule so that rebate offerings would occur biannually in January and July. Demand for rebates remains high, and in its most recent offering Duke reserved a total of 777 rebates with an associated installed capacity of approximately 9,208 kW.
Program Conclusion
Throughout the past four years of rebate program implementation, NCSEA has fought to ensure the program benefits customers as intended by HB589, and various changes have been made to the program over time. The rebates program is slated to conclude by Dec. 31, 2022.
- Apply for a rebate and sign up for notifications about Duke’s Solar Rebate Program
- View the Solar Rebate Program docket at the NC Utilities Commission
- Read Part VIII of HB589
- View North Carolina General Statute (section) 62-155, which codifies the HB589 Section on solar rebates
- Read more about net energy metering and why it’s important
- It looks like in both offering periods (Jan 2022 and Jul 2022), the residential and non-residential participation caps were met, but the non-profit cap was not met in either
- From their most recent Joint Biannual Solar Rebate Program Report, 1,661 rebates were paid and 15,620 kW in capacity were installed in the 2021 program year
Timeline
July 9, 2018
The Solar Rebate Program launched, and the online application portal opened.
September 20, 2018
Order issued modifying the first year of the Solar Rebate Program.
January 2, 2019
The Solar Rebate Program opened for the 2019 calendar year.
Program Deployment
- The rebate is available for the first 10 kW of residential installations and the first 100 kW of non-residential installations.
- The rebate program represents a combined 20 MW of installed capacity per year for the next five years for Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC) and Duke Energy Progress (DEP). Each year, 10 MW will be reserved for residential consumers and 5MW will be reserved for non-profit organizations, which can include schools, places of worship, etc.
Rebate Per Customer Type
| Customer | Rebate Rate | Duke Energy Progress | Duke Energy Carolinas |
| Residential | 60 ¢/watt, up to $6,000 | Minimum of 5 MW/year | Minimum of 5 MW/year |
| Business/Non-Residential (commercial, industrial) | 50 ¢/watt, up to $50,000 | No minimum | No minimum |
| Nonprofit (schools, places of worship) | 75 ¢/watt, up to $75,000 | Minimum of 2.5 MW/year | Minimum of 2.5 MW/year |