Solar Incentives API

Solar Incentives are programs offered by cities, states, utilities, and other entities that are designed to encourage the installation of distributed solar.

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This data is only made available under special circumstances and you need to be an Enterprise customer using our Switch Product.

These incentives fall into a few broad categories:

• Rebates - Cash payments. Usually, the size of the rebate is related to the size of the project but, sometimes, they can just be fixed payments.
• Bill credits - Similar to rebates, but applied directly to your energy bill.
• Tax credits - Credits that can be applied to your local, state, or federal taxes, depending on the program.
• Discounts - Subsidized prices for various project materials

This page outlines the data definitions and basic API operations for solar incentives. For a more in-depth guide on how to use this API, see the how-to.

Accessing Solar Incentives

To access incentives, you'll need special permissions on your account. Please contact us to find out more.

Data Definitions

An Incentive object consists of a set of properties describing how to calculate the incentive amount along with a list of applicabilities that specify what kinds of customers the solar incentive applies to.

Incentive

The Incentive object has the following data structure.

Applicability

The Applicability object has the following data structure. Applicabilities are used to determine whether a customer is eligible for an incentive. Customers must meet all applicabilities on an incentive in order to be eligible for that incentive.

Get a List of Incentives

This allows you to search for a set of incentives and get them back as a list of Incentive objects.

Resource URI

GET /rest/v1/incentives

Request Parameters

Example

This example will get a list of solar rebates for ZIP code 94105 that were effective on October 26, 2015, and are not exhausted.

GET /rest/v1/incentives?zipCode=95448&projectType=solarPv&customerClasses=RESIDENTIAL&effectiveOn=2015-11-05&isExhausted=FALSE

{  
  "status": "success",  
  "count": 2,  
  "type": "Incentive",  
  "results": [  
    {  
      "incentiveId": 3158839,  
      "masterIncentiveId": 3158839,  
      "eligibility": "ELIGIBLE",  
      "tariffCode": "None",  
      "incentiveName": "Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit",  
      "lseId": 100281,  
      "lseName": "State of California Incentives",  
      "serviceType": "SOLAR_PV",  
      "customerClass": "RESIDENTIAL",  
      "startDate": "2006-01-01",  
      "endDate": "2016-12-31",  
      "isExhausted": false,  
      "projectType": "solarPv",  
      "incentiveType": "taxCredit",  
      "rate": 30,  
      "rateUnit": "PERCENTAGE",  
      "documents": null,  
      "jurisdiction": "federal",  
      "quantityKey": {  
        "keyName": "systemCostMinusIncentives",  
        "displayName": "System Cost After Incentives",  
        "description": "Cost of the solar system after incentives, rebates and tax credits"  
      },  
      "quantityKeyCap": null,  
      "state": "CA",  
      "percentCostCap": null,  
      "percentCostCapKey": {  
        "keyName": null  
      },  
      "paymentCap": 0,  
      "paymentDuration": 1,  
      "incentivePaidTo": "tenantOrOwner",  
      "projectTypeExclusive": false,  
      "applicabilities": [],  
      "summary": "Established by The Energy Policy Act of 2005, the federal tax credit for residential energy property initially applied to solar-electric & solar water heating. Other key revisions included an 8-year extension of the credit to 12/31/2016; the ability to take the credit against the alternative minimum tax; & the removal of the $2000 credit limit for solar-electric beginning in 2009. The credit was further enhanced in February 2009 by The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, which removed the maximum credit amount for all eligible technologies placed in service after 2008. A taxpayer may claim a credit of 30% of qualified expenditures for a system that serves a dwelling unit that is owned & used as a residence by the taxpayer. If the installation is at a new home, the \"placed in service\" date is the date of occupancy by the homeowner. Expenditures include labor costs for on-site preparation, assembly or original system installation, & for piping or wiring to interconnect a system to the home.",  
      "requirements": "A taxpayer may claim a credit of 30% of qualified expenditures for a system that serves a dwelling unit that is owned & used as a residence by the taxpayer. Expenditures include labor costs for on-site preparation, assembly or original system installation, & for piping or wiring to interconnect a system to the home. The bill extends the 30% ITC for residential solar property for eight years through December 31, 2016."  
   },
     /* more incentives */
     ]}

Get One Incentive

This endpoint retrieves a particular incentive by incentiveId.

Resource URI

GET /rest/v1/incentives/{incentiveId}

Request Parameters

Example

GET /rest/v1/incentives/3163702

{  
  "status": "success",  
  "count": 1,  
  "type": "Incentive",  
  "results": [  
    {  
      "incentiveId": 3163702,  
      "masterIncentiveId": 3163702,  
      "tariffCode": "None",  
      "incentiveName": "Residential Solar Energy System Equipment Tax Credit",  
      "lseId": 100287,  
      "lseName": "State of New York Incentives",  
      "serviceType": "SOLAR_PV",  
      "customerClass": "RESIDENTIAL",  
      "startDate": "2012-08-01",  
      "endDate": null,  
      "isExhausted": false,  
      "projectType": "solarPv",  
      "incentiveType": "taxCredit",  
      "rate": 25,  
      "rateUnit": "PERCENTAGE",  
      "documents": null,  
      "jurisdiction": "state",  
      "quantityKey": {  
        "keyName": "systemCost",  
        "displayName": "System Cost",  
        "description": "Cost of the solar system in USD. ",  
        "quantityUnit": "USD"  
      },  
      "quantityKeyCap": null,  
      "state": "NY",  
      "percentCostCap": null,  
      "percentCostCapKey": {  
        "keyName": null  
      },  
      "paymentCap": 5000,  
      "paymentDuration": 1,  
      "incentivePaidTo": "tenantOrOwner",  
      "projectTypeExclusive": false,  
      "applicabilities": [  
        {  
          "applicabilityKey": "systemSizeDcW",  
          "displayName": "System Size DC W",  
          "description": "Size of the solar system in Watts DC",  
          "maxValue": 25000,  
          "quantityUnit": "W"  
        }  
      ],  
      "summary": "Enacted in August 1997, this personal income tax credit originally applied to expenditures on solar-electric (PV) equipment used on residential property. The credit, equal to 25% percent of the cost of equipment and installation, was expanded in August 2005 to include solar-thermal equipment. The solar-thermal provisions apply to taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2006. The credit is capped at $5,000 for solar-energy systems placed in service on or after September 1, 2006. In August 2012 the credit was amended yet again to allow it to be claimed for systems installed under lease or power purchase agreements (PPAs) of at least 10 years in length. For third-party owned systems, the residential homeowner may claim a tax credit in the amount of lease or PPA payments made during the taxable year, for up to 15 years.",  
      "requirements": "Systems must be new and in compliance with all applicable performance and safety standards. Electricity generation systems must be grid connected. Systems must comply with the 25 kW capacity limit on residential. The solar energy system must use solar radiation to produce energy for heating, cooling, hot water, or electricity for residential use.  The system must also be installed and used at your principal residence in New York State."  
    }  
  ]  
}  

Get Incentive Applicabilities

Get a list of properties representing the universe of applicabilities, restricted by the specified parameters. This can be used by developers entering new markets in order to know exactly what data they’ll need to gather from their customers to in order to find and calculate incentives properly. This endpoint accepts many of the same parameters as Get Incentives.

Resource URI

GET /rest/v1/incentives/applicabilities

Request Parameters

Example

The following example request will retrieve all of the applicabilities that you might see in the state of California for solar incentives.

GET /rest/v1/incentives/applicabilities?zipCode=95448&projectType=solarPv&customerClasses=RESIDENTIAL

{  
  "status": "success",  
  "count": 2,  
  "type": "IncentiveApplicability",  
  "results": [  
    {  
      "applicabilityKey": "systemOwnership",  
      "displayName": "System Ownership",  
      "description": "If incentive requires the system to be owned by the Host or Third Party to qualify.  ",  
      "choices": [  
        {  
          "displayValue": "Host",  
          "value": "host",  
          "dataValue": "host",  
          "likelihood": null  
        },  
        {  
          "displayValue": "Third Party",  
          "value": "thirdParty",  
          "dataValue": "thirdParty",  
          "likelihood": null  
        }  
      ]  
    },  
    {  
      "applicabilityKey": "systemSizeAcW",  
      "displayName": "System Size AC W",  
      "description": "Size of the solar system in Watts AC",  
      "quantityUnit": "W"  
    }  
  ],  
  "pageCount": 25,  
  "pageStart": 0  
}  
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