Rock Hill, SC
Solar Incentives in Rock Hill, SC
What a Rock Hill homeowner can claim, what the city utility pays, and what has ended. Last verified 5 October 2026.
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Every solar incentive we could verify for Rock Hill
Last verified: 5 October 2026. Each row was checked at the source named.
| Incentive | Provider | Who qualifies | Amount and maximum | How to claim | Deadline and limits | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar energy income tax credit | State of South Carolina | Owner of a certified system on SC property (taxpayer) | 25% of cost; up to $3,500/yr or 50% of liability; 10-year carryforward | Form TC-38 with your SC return, after installation | No end date for solar; system certified by SRCC or equivalent | §12-6-3587 |
| Net billing export credit | PMPA, via the City of Rock Hill | City electric customers with an interconnected renewable system | 3.874¢/kWh on-peak, 2.168¢ off-peak; credit rolls up to 12 months, then paid out at year end | Standard Interconnection Agreement and Tri-Party Net Billing agreement, filed with the permit | Rates as of the schedule in effect when you sign; PMPA may change them | Tri-Party agreement |
| Federal Residential Clean Energy Credit (§25D) | IRS | None for new systems | Ended | — | Not available for property placed in service after 31 Dec 2025 | IRS |
| Solar for All | SC Office of Resilience (EPA grant) | None | Ended | — | EPA ended the program in August 2025 | SCOR |
Rows are incentives that pay toward, or for the output of, a home solar system. Programs that do not are discussed below.
Federal solar incentives for Rock Hill homeowners in 2026
None for a system you buy. The IRS states that §25D “is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.”
A leased system is different, because the leasing company may claim the business credit under §48E, which ends for solar placed in service after 2027 where construction begins after 4 July 2026 (IRS Notice 2025-42).
A Rock Hill sales pitch that still quotes a 30% federal credit to a homeowner buying outright is out of date. What the end of 25D means.
The South Carolina solar tax credit for a Rock Hill system
The state credit is the incentive that does the heavy lifting in Rock Hill, because the export credit is small.
It covers 25% of the cost of buying and installing a system you own, so a $20,000 example contract earns $5,000, used as $3,500 in the first year and $1,500 the next, if your state tax liability is at least $7,000 a year.
With lower liability, the half-of-liability cap applies and the carryforward stretches over more years. The system must be certified by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation or an equivalent the State Energy Office endorses. The SC solar tax credit in depth.
What the City of Rock Hill utility offers solar customers
The city’s utility incentive for solar is the net billing arrangement itself.
Your system serves your own use first, and the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency buys the surplus at its avoided-cost rate: 3.874¢ on-peak (1–9 p.m. weekdays June–September; 6 a.m.–1 p.m. weekdays October–May) and 2.168¢ at all other times.
A credit larger than the month’s bill carries forward for up to twelve months, and the city pays out unused credit at the end of each calendar year.
PMPA calls these rates minimums, and the city may choose to pay more; ask the Utilities Department for the current schedule.
Two city programs are not solar incentives. SmartChoice pays a $400 rebate for a 16 SEER heat pump, $225 for a 40-gallon electric water heater, and offers 6% heat-pump loans for up to 60 months.
Green Power adds $3 a month per 100 kWh block to your bill to support Santee Cooper’s Solar Schools program. Neither pays toward rooftop panels, though a heat pump on the Great Rate can raise the daytime load your panels serve.
Why Act 62 net metering rules do not apply to Rock Hill’s utility
South Carolina’s customer-generator law (Title 58 Ch. 40) exempts electrical utilities serving fewer than 100,000 customer accounts, and state law counts a city as an electrical utility only for its operations outside city limits.
Rock Hill had 36,492 residential customers in 2024 (EIA-861). The legacy net metering that Duke and Dominion customers who applied before 1 June 2021 keep until 2029 was never a Rock Hill program. Net metering across South Carolina.
Rock Hill and York County solar rebates and property tax
We found no City of Rock Hill or York County rebate for residential solar.
On property tax, we found no residential solar exemption in South Carolina Code Title 12 Ch. 37; the only solar text there concerns manufacturers.
That is a finding, not a ruling: ask the York County Assessor how added value from panels is treated before you rely on either answer.
Battery, business and farm incentives in Rock Hill
Batteries: we found no city battery incentive, and whether a battery qualifies for the state credit is not settled in the sources we checked, so ask a tax adviser.
Businesses can look at the state Clean Energy Credit (Form TC-54, up to $500,000 a year, 15-year carryforward) and federal §48E within its construction deadlines; see commercial solar in Rock Hill.
Farms in York County should check USDA programs through the local service center; see solar for farms near Rock Hill.
How to claim and stack solar incentives in Rock Hill
Cash, a loan or home equity. The state credit goes to the owner, and a third-party PPA is not allowed in South Carolina.
Interconnection and Tri-Party agreements, contract copy and the $100,000 liability certificate go in with the city permit application.
The signed contract, invoices showing the purchase and installation cost, the equipment certification and the city’s final approval.
Then carry forward any unused credit for up to ten years.
Unused export credit is paid out by the city at the end of each calendar year.
The two stack: the state credit reduces what you pay, the export credit adds to what the system earns. If either changes, the other still stands.
How much Rock Hill homeowners can save from incentives
On a $20,000 example contract, the state credit is worth $5,000. The export credit depends entirely on how much you export: 1,000 kWh sent out in on-peak hours earns $38.74, the same amount off-peak earns $21.68.
That contrast is why the incentive picture in Rock Hill points toward a modest system sized for self-use. Model your own numbers with the incentive finder and the Rock Hill cost scenarios, and see how financing interacts with the credit.
Questions
Is there a solar rebate in Rock Hill, SC?
Can I still get the federal solar tax credit in Rock Hill?
How much is the South Carolina solar tax credit?
What does Rock Hill pay for excess solar power?
Does the City of Rock Hill’s Green Power program pay me for solar?
Does solar raise property taxes in Rock Hill?
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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.