North Charleston
Solar Incentives in North Charleston, SC
Last verified: 5 October 2026. Only incentives checked at their primary source.
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Every solar incentive a North Charleston address can use
| Incentive | Provider | Who qualifies | Amount and maximum | How to claim / deadline | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SC solar energy credit (SC Code §12-6-3587) | SC Department of Revenue | Taxpayers who buy and install a certified system on property they own in SC | 25% of cost; up to $3,500 or 50% of state liability a year; 10-year carryforward | Form TC-38 with the SC return for the year installation is complete; no sunset for solar | 5 October 2026 |
| Dominion Solar Choice rider | Dominion Energy South Carolina | Dominion residential customers who applied on or after 1 June 2021, up to 20 kW AC | Monthly netting within each time-of-use period; November cash-out at avoided cost; $13.50 minimum bill | Interconnection application to Dominion; requires Rate 5 | 5 October 2026 |
| Renewable Surplus Rider | Berkeley Electric Cooperative | Berkeley Electric members, up to 20 kW AC, not on time-of-day or demand rates | 6.03¢ per exported kWh; $150 application + $50 inspection | Application to the co-op; credit updated around 1 March each year | 5 October 2026 |
| Federal §25D | IRS | Homeowners | Ended: not available for property placed in service after 31 December 2025 | — | 5 October 2026 |
| Federal §48E | IRS | Businesses and lessors (including a leasing company that owns your system) | Business credit; ends for solar placed in service after 2027 where construction begins after 4 July 2026 | Form 3468; see IRS Notice 2025-42 | 5 October 2026 |
| Clean Energy Credit (TC-54) | SC Department of Revenue | Businesses | Up to $500,000 a year; 15-year carryforward | Form TC-54 | 5 October 2026 |
| Solar for All (SC) | SC Office of Resilience / EPA | — | Ended by EPA in August 2025; do not count on it | — | 5 October 2026 |
Each row checked at the source listed at the foot of the page on 5 October 2026. Battery eligibility for the state credit is not confirmed in the statute or SCDOR guidance we read, so we do not state it either way.
How fast a North Charleston household uses the 25% state credit
The credit is capped twice: $3,500 a year and half your state tax liability. On a $24,000 example system the credit is $6,000.
With an example state tax liability of $2,400, you can use $1,200 a year, so the credit takes 5 years. At $5,000 of liability it is $2,500 a year over 3 years, and at $9,000 the $3,500 cap binds and it takes 2 years.
North Charleston’s median household income is $62,956 (ACS 2020–2024), below Summerville’s $81,046 and Goose Creek’s $88,178 on the same survey, so the liability limit is the one many households here will hit. The ten-year carryforward covers all three examples.
Your actual liability is on last year’s SC1040. A seller who shows the whole $6,000 as a first-year saving is overstating your cash flow. State-level detail is on the South Carolina solar tax credit.
Does the City of North Charleston or Dorchester County offer a rebate?
We found no homeowner solar rebate, grant or fee waiver from the City of North Charleston, Charleston County or Dorchester County.
The City’s permit fee schedule has no solar discount: a solar job pays the same $30 filing fee and valuation-based building fee as any alteration.
The City’s economic-development pages list state incentives aimed at manufacturers, not homes.
South Carolina also has no residential solar property-tax exemption that we found in Title 12 Chapter 37; the only solar text there concerns manufacturers. That is what we found, not a ruling, so ask the Charleston or Dorchester County assessor if your home’s assessed value changes after installation.
What North Charleston’s two utilities pay for solar exports
Dominion offers no cash rebate for residential solar. Its value is the Solar Choice rider: exports offset lower-priced periods in the same month, the bank rolls forward, and each November any balance is paid at avoided cost and reset.
Credits never reduce the basic facilities charge. Customers who applied before 1 June 2021 keep legacy net metering until 31 May 2029; later applicants go on a PSC-approved Solar Choice metering tariff.
Berkeley Electric pays a published 6.03¢ per exported kWh under its Renewable Surplus Rider. Its rider is reset around 1 March each year, so a 25-year savings projection should not assume today’s credit holds. The full export comparison is on South Carolina net metering.
Is there a battery incentive in North Charleston?
No dedicated battery rebate exists from Dominion, Berkeley Electric, the City or the state that we could verify.
Whether a battery installed with solar counts toward the 25% state credit is not settled in the sources we read, so get written tax advice before relying on it.
Dominion’s rider treats storage as part of your system only if it charges solely from onsite renewables. The economics are on battery storage in North Charleston.
Incentives for North Charleston businesses and farms
A North Charleston business can look at federal §48E while its construction deadlines allow, and at the state Clean Energy Credit (up to $500,000 a year).
The Solar Energy Property Credit (TC-58) applied only to nonresidential systems of at least 1,900 kW, and SCDOR lists it as repealed on 31 December 2024.
See commercial solar in North Charleston; farm programs are covered on solar for farms near North Charleston.
Claiming incentives on a North Charleston installation
Confirm Dominion or Berkeley Electric from your bill. Ask the installer for the system’s certification (Solar Rating and Certification Corporation or equivalent), which the state credit needs.
Keep the contract, invoices and the City permit record from the Customer Portal; together they prove cost and completion.
The export rider starts only after interconnection approval and permission to operate.
File Form TC-38 with your SC return for the year the installation is complete, then carry any unused credit forward.
What if an incentive changes before your North Charleston system is finished?
The state credit has no end date for solar, so a delayed North Charleston install does not lose it.
The utility credits are what move: Berkeley Electric resets its export rate around each 1 March, and Dominion’s rider changes when the Public Service Commission issues a new order (the current one is PSC Order No. 2026-374).
Write into your contract which tariff the savings estimate used, so a change is visible rather than buried.
Questions
Is there a solar rebate in North Charleston?
Can I get the federal solar tax credit in North Charleston in 2026?
Can North Charleston homes get the Santee Cooper solar rebate?
How much is the SC solar credit worth on a North Charleston system?
Does Berkeley Electric pay for solar exports in North Charleston?
Is South Carolina Solar for All available in North Charleston?
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HyreSolar Research
Primary-source research, data analysis and fact checking
We are a research desk, not a sales floor. We read the statute, the tariff, the code section, the federal filing or the manufacturer data sheet ourselves, and we publish the figure with the document it came from and the date we retrieved it.
Where a number cannot be traced to a primary source, we publish the shorter page and say what we could not verify. That rule has cost us whole sections, and it is why the rest can be checked.
- 160
- primary sources read and cited
- 228
- figures with a retrieval date
- 115
- federal and state government sources
- 66
- researched pages published
How this desk works
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Data as of Last verified 5 October 2026. Authorship on this site is organizational: the analysis belongs to the desk rather than to a named individual, and we do not publish credentials we do not hold. Our editorial policy sets out how we source, date and correct what we publish.