Tax Credits

Louisiana State Tax Credit (residential and apartment complexes)

Enacted on January 1, 2008 with no expiration date!
For residential systems and residential complexes, i.e. apartment buildings
Covers solar hot water, solar electric, solar pool heaters, and wind generators.
You get a refundable tax credit of 50% from the state with a cap of $25,000 per installed system cost. You can put as many systems on one home until 100% of your home’s energy comes from solar, and still receive the state tax credit on each system.
Here is the form in PDF State Tax Credit form.

***WARNING!!! Beware of some air-conditioning companies claiming you can get a 50% tax credit on your air-conditioning system if they install some solar modules with it. A brand of air-conditioners offer a “solar” option which is nothing more than a small offset of the energy usage of the unit. You will not get the Louisiana tax credit on your air-conditioning system and they will probably be arrested for fraud if they are caught including the air-conditioner as part of the solar power system!

Federal Tax Credit

Has been extended till 2016 and the new FTC will take effect January 1, 2009.
For homes and commercial businesses it covers solar hot water, and solar electric. Does not cover solar pool heaters.
For both residential and commercial you get 30% back with NO cap!
Here is the form for the FTC FTC Form 5695.pdf.

Recent Solar Legislation – SOLAR RIGHTS FOR LA! (2010 Legislative Session)

HB751(Foil): Provides for the right to install solar energy devices. LSES worked for several months at the meetings to write legislation to assist solar owners with the right to install solar systems on their property. It was signed by Governor Jindal and became Act 274. Read the full bill here HB751.

Recent Solar Legislation (2009 Legislative Session)

Here are the three additional bills that have been signed into law in 2009

HB858(Ponti): Expands eligibility for the wind and solar energy system tax credit to taxpayers who purchase and install such systems in residential properties. Read full bill HB858.

HB733(Ledger): A tax credit for the green jobs industry. How much the tax credit will be depends on how much the project is. For projects between $100,000 and $300,000 there is a tax credit of 10%, for projects between $300,000 and $1 million there is a 20% tax credit, and for projects greater than $1 million there is a tax credit of 25%. No more than $60 million in tax credits shall be granted for state certified green jobs per year. Read full bill here.

SB224(Gautreaux): Authorizes creation of sustainable energy financing districts by local governmental subdivisions and provides for issuance of bonds and property assessment programs for solar energy and efficiency projects. Read full bill here.

Also passed in the Louisiana Legislature was HCR93(Peterson): Establishes the Louisiana Climate Change Policy Commission.

The best resource for state incentives is DSIRE: Database of State Incentives for Renewable and Efficiency