Solar Incentives in Louisiana
In 2026, Louisiana homeowners considering rooftop solar have access to two active state-level benefits. The first is a property-tax exemption: Louisiana law classifies qualifying solar equipment attached to an owner-occupied residence or swimming pool as personal property and exempts it from ad valorem taxation, meaning parish assessors may not include the value of that equipment when calculating the assessed value of the property. There is no stated dollar cap on this exemption. The second is a net billing framework administered by the Louisiana Public Service Commission. Customers who submitted an interconnection request or installed a distributed generation system after December 31, 2019 receive a credit for exported energy at the avoided-cost rate rather than the full retail rate; only legacy customers who interconnected before that date retain full retail-rate credits. Export compensation rates vary by utility, so homeowners should confirm the applicable rate with their specific provider.
On the federal side, the residential Clean Energy Credit under §25D — commonly referenced as the 30% federal tax credit — expired for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Budget Act (Pub. L. 119-21). A new residential solar installation completed in 2026 does not qualify for that credit, which meaningfully extends payback timelines compared to prior years.
Louisiana previously offered a refundable state income tax credit under R.S. 47:6030 of up to 50% of the first $25,000 in system cost for purchased residential systems. That credit was formally repealed and is no longer available for any new installation. With no state tax credit and no federal credit, payback calculations in 2026 rely primarily on the property-tax exemption, the applicable net billing rate, and Louisiana's residential electricity rate of approximately 14.16 cents per kilowatt-hour as of March 2026.
These figures are verified as of June 2026 against official sources; programs and utility rates change with each legislative session and rate case, and the Louisiana Public Service Commission and Louisiana Department of Revenue are the authoritative sources for current program details.
Federal credit update. The federal residential Clean Energy Credit (the 30% “solar tax credit” under §25D) expired for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. New 2026 residential installs do not qualify; a 2025 install can still be claimed on a 2025 return (IRS Form 5695). What this means for 2026 →
Current solar incentives in Louisiana
Solar Energy Systems Ad Valorem (Property) Tax Exemption
Louisiana law classifies solar energy system equipment attached to an owner-occupied residential building or swimming pool as personal property and exempts it from ad valorem (property) taxation. Parish assessors may not include the value of qualifying solar equipment when assessing the value of the building or pool. A qualifying solar energy system is a device that uses the sun's heat as its primary energy source to heat or cool a structure or pool or to heat water, including systems using solar collectors and solar cells.
| Amount | Full exemption of the assessed value attributable to the qualifying solar equipment; no dollar cap stated in the statute. |
|---|---|
| Who qualifies | Solar energy system equipment attached to an owner-occupied residential building or swimming pool. |
| Administered by | Louisiana parish tax assessors (statute administered under Louisiana Department of Revenue / Tax Commission framework) |
Source: La. R.S. 47:1706 Official source →
Net Metering / Net Billing (Avoided-Cost Compensation)
The Louisiana Public Service Commission revised its net metering rules by General Order dated September 19, 2019. Customers who submitted an interconnection request or installed a distributed generation facility after December 31, 2019 are no longer credited at the full retail rate for exported energy; instead they pay full retail rate for energy purchased from the utility and receive credit at Avoided Cost for energy exported to the grid (a net billing structure). Customers who installed before that date are grandfathered under the legacy retail-rate net metering tariff. Avoided Cost is calculated as the trailing 12-month average locational marginal price for each jurisdictional electric utility.
| Amount | Legacy (pre-2020) customers: full retail-rate credit for exported energy. New (post-2019) customers: exported energy credited at Avoided Cost (12-month average locational marginal price); avoided-cost rates are published per utility and updated annually. |
|---|---|
| Who qualifies | Retail electric customers of LPSC-jurisdictional utilities (investor-owned utilities and many cooperatives). Applies statewide outside municipal-utility territories; the City of New Orleans regulates its own net metering through the New Orleans City Council rather than the LPSC. |
| Administered by | Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) |
Source: LPSC General Order dated September 19, 2019 (Docket R-33929); LPSC Net Metering Rules Official source →
No longer available in Louisiana
These programs have been repealed or closed and do not apply to new installations. They are listed for homeowners who still ask about them.
Solar Energy Systems Tax Credit (R.S. 47:6030) — repealed
Louisiana formerly offered a refundable state income tax credit for the purchase and installation of residential solar energy systems. Eligibility for new systems had already been wound down in prior years (the credit for purchased systems was capped and exhausted, and leased systems were excluded), and the statute was formally repealed by Acts 2024, 3rd Extraordinary Session, No. 5, effective January 1, 2025. No solar income tax credit is available to Louisiana homeowners for systems installed in 2026.
Source: La. R.S. 47:6030, repealed by Acts 2024, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 5, §3, eff. Jan. 1, 2025 Official source →
Compare solar incentives across all states → · Check what applies to you →
Programs verified as of June 2026 against official state and federal sources (each cited above); refreshed quarterly as legislatures and utility rate cases change the rules. How we verify this data. This page is informational only — not tax or legal advice.