Note: In addition to its RPS, Wisconsin has a clean energy goal of having 100% of its electricity come from carbon-free sources by 2050. This is an executive action rather than a legislatively-set requirement. Further information is available here.

In October 1999, Wisconsin enacted Act 9, becoming the first state to enact a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) without having restructured its electric utility industry. The RPS sets a total goal of 10% of all electric energy consumed in the state coming from renewable energy sources, with different percentage requirements for each electric provider (investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and electric

The SunWatts Program offers home and business owners incentives for purchasing solar water heating systems. SSVEC will pay an incentive of 50 cents for every kilowatt-hour saved over traditional water heating in the unit's first year of operation based on the OG-300 rating. Systems must meet all program requirements. See the website above for complete details. 

Under Iowa's methane gas conversion property tax exemption, real and personal property used to decompose waste and convert the waste to gas, collect the methane or other gases, convert the gas to energy, or collect waste for these purposes is exempt from property tax. This section was formerly written to only apply to facilities operated in connection with or in conjunction with a publicly-owned sanitary landfill. 

For facilities that are not connected with or in conjunction with a publicly-owned sanitary landfill, the exemption may only be claimed if the facility is placed in service between January 1, 2008, and December

In Iowa, the market value added to a property by a solar or wind energy system is exempt from the state's property tax for 5 full assessment years. Residential geothermal systems are exempt for 10 years. Eligible systems include:

• a system of equipment capable of collecting and converting incident solar radiation or wind energy into thermal, mechanical, or electrical energy and transforming these forms of energy by a separate apparatus to storage or to a point of use which is constructed or installed after January 1, 1978;
• a system that uses the basic design of the building to maximize solar

Active solar heating and cooling systems may not be assessed at more than the value of a conventional system for property tax purposes. This law applies only to active solar systems and does not include any land or structural elements of buildings, such as walls and roofs, or other equipment ordinarily contained in a building. Specifically, a "system" includes all controls, tanks, pumps, heat exchangers and other equipment used directly and exclusively for the conversion of solar energy for heating or cooling. Systems placed on residential, commercial and industrial property are eligible for this exclusion.

In 1999, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) adopted a rule, Goal for Renewable Energy (P.U.C. Substantive Rule 25.173), that sets the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) based on a bill enacted by the Legislature as part of restructuring in Texas (see S.B. 7). Texas’s RPS mandates 5,000 megawatts (MW) of new renewables be installed in Texas by 2015 (for a cumulative net capacity of 5,880 MW of renewable energy, or 5.4% of the state's summer net capacity in 2012) and sets a target of 10,000 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2025. 

According to the annual

Puerto Rico offers a 30% tax deduction (up to $1,500) for expenses incurred in the purchase and installation of solar equipment to heat water for residential use. "Solar equipment" is defined as "any equipment capable of using solar energy directly or indirectly to heat water, whether such equipment is bought or manufactured by the taxpayer, provided that the same is operating." The deduction applies to those who lease or own the residential property.

An individual who claims the solar equipment deduction must enclose with his or her tax return a certificate stating that the solar equipment has been approved by

Note: S.B. 448 of 2021 extended this property tax abatement to include energy storage systems paired with eligible renewable energy systems.

New or expanded businesses in Nevada may apply to the Director of the State Office of Energy for a property tax abatement of up to 55% for up to 20 years for real and personal property used to generate and store electricity from renewable energy resources including solar, wind, biomass*, fuel cells, geothermal or hydro. Generation facilities must have a capacity of at least 10 megawatts (MW), and must plan to be in operation for at least 10 years

In Wisconsin, any value added by a biogas, or synthetic gas energy system, solar-energy system, or a wind-energy system is exempt from general property taxes. The exemption applies regardless of whether the equipment is deemed real property or personal property.

A fact sheet on this exemption is available: https://www.revenue.wi.gov/DORFAQ/renewable-energy.pdf

A link to the request form for this exemption is available: https://www.revenue.wi.gov/DORForms/pr-303.pdf

Eligible Technologies

A solar-energy system is defined as "equipment which directly converts and then transfers or stores solar energy into usable forms of thermal or electrical energy, but does not include equipment or components that would be present as

The Texas property tax code allows an exemption of the amount of 100% of the appraised property value increase arising from the installation or construction of a solar or wind-powered energy device that is primarily for the production and distribution of thermal, mechanical, or electrical energy for on-site use and devices used to store that energy.

Solar energy devices installed or constructed on or after January 1, 2014, used for a commercial purpose are subject to the cost method of appraisal, and the depreciated value must be calculated using a useful life of 10 years or less (H.B. 2500