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Solar incentives · Idaho · 2026
Solar rebates in Idaho.
The federal, state, and utility solar incentives available in Idaho for 2026, then matched to a vetted local installer.
Programs · Idaho
6
active programs & rules in 2026
Idaho Power real-time net billing with season and time-varying export credits · verified 2026-09-01
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The full list
6 programs available right now in Idaho.
Tax credit
#01
Federal Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) - ENDED
The 30 percent federal Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. Cash and loan purchases made now receive no federal tax credit. Idaho state deduction remains, but it is a deduction rather than a credit and is worth considerably less than the federal credit was.
Source ↗ Tax credit
#02
Federal Commercial ITC (Section 48E) - via Lease / PPA
Section 48E, the commercial Clean Electricity Investment Credit, survives at 30 percent and is available to third-party owners of residential systems under leases and power purchase agreements. The provider claims it and may reflect part of the value in the rate offered. Note that under a lease or power purchase agreement you generally do not own the system, which affects whether you can claim the Idaho deduction, so ask before choosing a structure.
Source ↗ Tax credit
#03
Idaho Residential Alternative Energy Tax Deduction - a DEDUCTION, not a credit
Idaho allows a homeowner to deduct the cost of a residential solar installation from state taxable income across four years: 40 percent of the system cost in year one, then 20 percent in each of the following three years. The deduction is capped at $5,000 per year and $20,000 in total, and is claimed on Idaho Form 39R in the Subtractions section. It is frequently mischaracterised online as a tax credit. It is not. A deduction reduces the income you are taxed on rather than the tax you owe, so its cash value is the deducted amount multiplied by your marginal Idaho income tax rate, which is a fraction of the headline figure. Treat any quote presenting it as a credit as wrong rather than optimistic.
Net metering
#04
Idaho Power real-time net billing (Case IPC-E-23-14)
In Case IPC-E-23-14 the Idaho Public Utilities Commission allowed Idaho Power to implement real-time net billing for non-legacy on-site generation customers. Under it, production consumed on site continues to offset your usage at the retail rate, while exported energy is compensated per kWh at an avoided-cost-based export credit rate that varies by season and by time of export. The export credit rate is updated annually, and Idaho Power initial filing proposed reducing the average annual rate from around 6.2 cents per kWh to just under 2.5 cents.
Program
#05
The export credit spread: 14.06 cents to 0.95 cents
Recent Idaho Power export credit rates have run at approximately 14.0598 cents per kWh for summer on-peak exports, 1.7682 cents for summer off-peak exports, and 0.9540 cents for all exported energy in the non-summer season. That is roughly a fifteenfold spread between the best and worst hours to export, which is far wider than in most time-varying tariffs. It means when you export matters far more in Idaho than how much you export, and it changes the case for storage and for load shifting substantially. Confirm the current published rates with Idaho Power, since they are updated annually.
Utility
#06
Three utilities, three arrangements
Idaho is served by Idaho Power across the south-west, Rocky Mountain Power in the east, and Avista in the north, alongside municipal utilities and cooperatives. Net billing under Case IPC-E-23-14 is an Idaho Power arrangement. Rocky Mountain Power operates its own Schedule 137 net billing in Utah and separate arrangements in Idaho, and Avista has its own. Check the utility name on a recent bill before applying any Idaho Power figure to your address.
Net metering · Idaho
Idaho Power real-time net billing with season and time-varying export credits
Idaho Power moved non-legacy on-site generation customers to real-time net billing following Case IPC-E-23-14. The structure has two halves. Generation your household consumes on site as it is produced continues to offset your usage, which is the most valuable outcome and is unaffected by the export rate. Generation exported to the grid is compensated per kilowatt hour at an avoided-cost-based export credit rate that varies by season and by time of export. What makes Idaho unusual is the size of that variation. Recent rates have run at approximately 14.0598 cents per kWh for summer on-peak exports, 1.7682 cents for summer off-peak, and 0.9540 cents for all exported energy outside the summer season. That is roughly a fifteenfold spread between the best and worst hours, far wider than in most time-varying tariffs. The consequence is that when you export matters far more here than how much you export in total. A kilowatt hour delivered to the grid on a summer afternoon is worth about fifteen times one delivered on a November morning, so a battery that can hold generation for the summer on-peak window is doing something genuinely valuable, and load shifting to raise self-consumption outside summer peak hours is close to free money. The export credit rate is updated annually, and Idaho Power initial filing proposed reducing the average annual rate from around 6.2 cents per kWh to just under 2.5 cents, so confirm the current published figures rather than relying on an older guide. Rocky Mountain Power in eastern Idaho and Avista in the north operate their own arrangements.
Worth checking before you sign:
taking a rebate can change your net-metering terms, and export credit rules
differ by utility. Your matched installer confirms the exact numbers for
your address.
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