Solar Energy System and Cogeneration System Personal Property Tax Credit
If you install a solar system in the District, such as solar PV or solar thermal water or space heating, the system is exempt from DC personal property tax, which lowers your ongoing tax costs. The exemption applies to systems that use exclusively solar energy, so confirm your system qualifies with the DC Office of Tax and Revenue.
You can tell DC customers that solar PV, solar thermal, and cogeneration systems that produce both electricity and useful heat or steam are exempt from personal property tax, which improves project economics for residential, commercial, and industrial buyers. Solar systems must use exclusively solar energy as defined in D.C. Code § 34-1431, and cogeneration systems must produce both electric energy and useful energy for heating, cooling, or industrial or commercial use.
This is a personal property tax exemption created by B19-0749 in December 2012 for solar and cogeneration systems in the District, covering residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. The law requires the Chief Financial Officer to transfer $120,000 from the Renewable Energy Development Fund to the General Fund's unrestricted fund balance each fiscal year starting in FY2013 to offset the revenue impact. The broad statutory definition of solar energy covers PV, solar thermal, and other technologies using solar radiation.
Program details
- Program ID
- 5245
- Effective
- 7/25/2012
- Last updated
- 3/20/2026
Eligibility
- Sectors
- commercial industrial residential
- Technologies
- solar water heat solar space heat solar thermal electric solar thermal process heat solar photovoltaics combined heat & power
Program summary
The District of Columbia Council created a personal property tax exemption for solar energy systems and cogeneration systems within the District by enacting B19-0749 in December of 2012. Systems using exclusively solar energy as defined in D.C. Code § 34-1431(14) are exempt from personal property tax; provided, that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Chief Financial Officer shall transfer $120,000 from the certified revenues deposited in the Renewable Energy Development Fund established by § 34-1436 to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia and shall recognize the $120,000 as local funds revenue in fiscal year 2013 and in each subsequent fiscal year.
Eligible solar systems Solar energy is defined by D.C. Code § 34-1431 to mean "radiant energy, direct, diffuse, or reflected, received from the sun at wavelengths suitable for conversion into thermal, chemical, or electrical energy, that is collected, generated, or stored for use at a later time". This seemingly broad definition can include solar photovoltaics (PV), solar thermal, or any other energy technology that uses solar energy.
Eligible cogeneration systems are defined as those which "produce both electric energy and steam or forms of useful energy which are used for industrial, commercial, heating or cooling purposes".
Contact & resources
- Contact email
- jessica.brown@dc.gov
Please verify current program details with the administering agency before making any financial decisions.
