Connecticut Solar Incentive Programs

Connecticut ranks 30th in total installed solar capacity, with 2,134 MW installed and enough solar to power 312,217 homes. That’s a smaller market than neighbors like New York, but SEIA describes Connecticut as a steadily growing state, with particularly strong adoption in the residential and distributed generation segments. Solar currently supplies 5.82% of the state’s electricity, and there are more than 124,640 solar installations and 2,394 solar jobs in the state today.

With an average residential electricity rate of roughly 20 cents per kWh, well above the national average, Connecticut homeowners have plenty of financial reason to look at solar. Between some tax exemptions and a financing program run through the Connecticut Green Bank, there’s real money on the table for homes and businesses looking to make the move to solar.

Below is a list of some of the incentives available to Connecticut homeowners and businesses, and you can find further breakdowns by visiting https://programs.dsireusa.org/system/program?state=CT.

Federal Incentives

Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC)

Commercial solar energy systems installed in Connecticut can take advantage of the Federal Investment Tax Credit 48E, which provides a tax credit of 30% of the total cost of the system, provided prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements are met. 

Residential systems can no longer claim any federal solar tax credit, as the One Big Beautiful Bill eliminated it for systems installed after January 1st, 2026. 

Commercial Depreciation

Commercial asset owners can write off 100% of a project’s value in depreciation in the first year. The One Big Beautiful Bill reinstated the 100% bonus depreciation, while simultaneously eliminating the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) that previously depreciated solar energy systems over 5 years. 

The depreciable basis of a project is reduced by half of the ITC value when combined with the 30% ITC. Here’s a quick example:

• Project cost = $800,000
• 30% credit = $240,000
• Reduced depreciation basis: $800,000 – ($240,000 / 2) = $680,000

A company’s tax rate is then taken into account to calculate the exact amount they’re able to write off. 

State Incentives & Programs

Connecticut leans on tax exemptions and low-cost financing rather than direct rebates. Here’s what’s actually active for homeowners and businesses right now.

Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Solar and Geothermal Systems

Connecticut charges a 6.35% sales and use tax on most retail purchases, and that tax would normally apply to solar panels, inverters, mounting hardware, battery storage, and installation labor. But thanks to an exemption, solar equipment ais fully exempt from that tax. On a $30,000 residential system, that’s roughly $1,905 that never gets added to the bill.

Local Option Property Tax Exemption for Renewable Energy Systems

Connecticut lets individual municipalities authorize a property tax exemption for buildings equipped with a solar energy system. Most towns have adopted the exemption at this point, but coverage isn’t universal, so it’s worth confirming with a specific town’s assessor before assuming it applies.

Homeowners installing standard rooftop solar PV systems are generally covered by Connecticut General Statutes Section 12-81(57)(A)(i), which has provided a mandatory, statewide property tax exemption for residential solar electric systems since 2007. Either way, anyone claiming an exemption has to file a written application with their local assessor by November 1st of the assessment year, or the exemption is waived for that year.

C-PACE Financing

C-PACE, or Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, is a Connecticut Green Bank program that lets commercial and larger multifamily property owners finance solar and other clean energy upgrades through an assessment attached to the property itself rather than a conventional loan to the owner. Because the debt is tied to the property, C-PACE financing can offer longer terms and lower monthly costs than a typical commercial loan, and the obligation can transfer to a new owner if the property sells before the assessment is paid off.

C-PACE is only available for nonresidential properties, or multifamily properties with five or more units, and only in municipalities that have opted into the program by passing a resolution. The property owner also needs to secure consent from any existing mortgage holder before closing. Connecticut launched C-PACE back in 2013 as one of the first commercial PACE programs in the country, and SEIA points to it as a model that other states have since followed.

Smart-E Loans

Smart-E Loans are the Connecticut Green Bank’s residential financing product, offered through a network of participating local lenders rather than the Green Bank directly. They require no money down and can be used for solar panels, battery storage, and more than 90 other home energy and resiliency upgrades, with up to 25% of the loan allowed to cover non-energy work like roof repairs done ahead of a solar install.

Current standard rates run from 6.99% APR on 5-, 7-, and 10-year terms up to 7.99% APR on a 15-year term, with a maximum loan amount of $50,000. To qualify, the home has to be in Connecticut, owner-occupied, and a 1- to 4-unit residential building, with individually metered condo units also eligible. 

Net Metering

Connecticut’s traditional net metering program, a monthly kWh credit at the full retail rate with any leftover balance paid out once a year at the utility’s avoided cost, closed to new residential customers on December 31, 2021. Anyone who enrolled before that date is grandfathered onto the old terms through December 31, 2039, but every system installed since 2022 falls under a different program.

That replacement is the Residential Renewable Energy Solutions (RRES) program, created under Public Act 19-35 and administered jointly by Eversource and United Illuminating under PURA oversight. Instead of standard net metering, a new solar customer picks one of two tariffs and locks it in for 20 years:

• Netting Tariff: Solar production is used on-site first, and any excess sent to the grid earns a bill credit at the full retail rate, the same way traditional net metering worked. The tradeoff is a separate on-bill charge, called the Solar Energy Adjustment, assessed on total generation rather than just what’s exported. That charge has risen sharply for new enrollees, from $0.005/kWh for systems that enrolled before 2026 to $0.0402/kWh for 2026 enrollees, an increase that’s worth about $455 a year on an 11 kW system.
• Buy-All Tariff: Every kilowatt-hour the system produces is sold to the utility at a fixed rate, set at $0.3289/kWh for 2026 enrollees, and the homeowner then buys 100% of their usage back from the grid at the standard retail rate. This tariff is mostly used by third-party solar companies structuring a power purchase agreement, since it guarantees a predictable payment stream over the 20-year term regardless of how the homeowner’s own usage changes.

Whichever tariff a homeowner picks, the rate is locked for that system’s full 20-year term, and PURA resets the rates for new enrollees every year, so a system that enrolls in 2027 could see different numbers than one enrolled in 2026. Once a system is enrolled under a given tariff, it can’t switch to the other one later. For most owner-occupied homes that plan to use a meaningful share of what they generate, the Netting Tariff tends to be the more straightforward option; Buy-All exists mainly to make the economics of a no-money-down PPA work for the company financing it.

Where does Connecticut solar go from here?

Connecticut’s solar market is smaller than its northeastern neighbors, and SEIA projects only 970 MW of growth over the next five years. 

With a full sales tax exemption, a property tax exemption on the added home value, and two Green Bank financing programs covering both commercial and residential projects, the incentive stack in Connecticut is built around lowering the upfront cost and financing burden rather than paying homeowners directly.

If you’re in Connecticut and looking to go solar with protection for parts and labor for 30 years, check out our homeowner page to find a Solar Insure Certified Provider near you: https://www.solarinsure.com/find-a-certified-provider

Want to learn more about solar incentives in other states? Check out our solar incentives hub: https://www.solarinsure.com/solar-incentives-guide-to-all-50-states