If Pacific Power bills your home in Oregon, you qualify for an Energy Trust of Oregon cash incentive on a new solar system. It is paid to your contractor and comes off your project price, so there is nothing for you to file. This page covers what it pays, what you have to do to qualify, and which Oregon incentives people still ask about that are no longer available.
How much is the Pacific Power solar incentive?
$2,500 per home, on a system of at least 2 kW-DC. It is a flat amount per home, not a rate per watt. If a quote shows you a per-watt Energy Trust figure, it is working from an old rate sheet.
Energy Trust pays different amounts to the two utilities it serves. Portland General Electric customers get $3,500. Around the Portland metro the boundary between the two does not follow city lines, so it is worth checking your bill rather than assuming from your address.
| Offer | Pacific Power | PGE |
|---|---|---|
| Solar for Homes (standard) | $2,500 per home | $3,500 per home |
| Solar Within Reach (income-qualified) | $0.85/W, up to $5,250 | $1.25/W, up to $7,500 |
| Battery storage (standard) | $288/kWh, up to $3,600 | $400/kWh, up to $5,000 |
| Minimum system size | 2 kW-DC | 2 kW-DC |
Solar Within Reach pays considerably more
Solar Within Reach is the income-qualified version of the same program, and for Pacific Power customers it pays $0.85 per watt up to $5,250 rather than the flat $2,500, with a larger battery incentive on top. The income limits are set by county and household size and reset every June 1. They run higher than most people assume, and a great many households who write themselves off actually qualify. Checking costs nothing.
What you have to do to qualify
Use an Energy Trust trade ally contractor. This is the one that catches people out. Only a trade ally can reserve the incentive, and the reservation has to be approved before anything is installed. A contractor who is not on that list cannot get you the money at all, and cannot add it back afterwards. Sunbridge Solar is a trade ally.
Beyond that: the system must be new, UL-listed, grid-tied and net-metered, meet all applicable codes, and carry warranties on the equipment. Your roof also has to meet Energy Trust’s solar access standard, which is measured as total solar resource fraction and sits around 75%. A heavily shaded roof may not qualify no matter who installs it, and we will tell you that before you pay for a design.
Business, farm and non-profit customers
Energy Trust runs a separate commercial offer for Pacific Power customers: $0.10 per watt up to $10,000 for solar, and $300 per kWh up to $9,000 for battery storage. Projects are capped at 360 kW-AC with the same 2 kW-DC minimum. There is also development assistance of up to $2,000 toward a solar feasibility study and up to $3,000 toward a battery study.
Commercial projects can still claim the federal investment tax credit, which the residential credit no longer offers. Talk to your tax adviser about the timing and the sourcing rules, because both changed in 2025.
How net metering works with Pacific Power
A two-way meter measures the difference between what you draw from the grid and what your panels send back. Excess generation is credited to your account as kilowatt-hours at full retail rate, not as cash, and carried forward against your later use. Residential systems up to 25 kW are covered under Pacific Power’s Oregon Schedule 135.
There is an annual reset, and it matters more than most people expect. Credits still unused after the March billing period go to the utility’s low-income assistance program rather than being paid out to you. That is why we size a system to what you actually use across a year rather than to how much roof you have. Surplus you bank in July is worth full value in January. Anything left at the reset is gone, and you paid for the panels that made it.
What is no longer available
These come up constantly, and older pages across the internet still list them as live. They are not.
The federal residential tax credit has ended. The 30% residential credit (Section 25D) is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025. The trigger is when the system is placed in service, not when you sign. Anyone still showing you a step-down table running to 2032 or 2034 is quoting a schedule that was repealed. See what changed.
Oregon has no state solar tax credit. The Residential Energy Tax Credit ended on December 31, 2017 and was never replaced.
The Oregon Department of Energy rebate is closed. It reopened on June 15, 2026 with $1.1 million in repurposed funding and was reserved almost immediately. It opens episodically when the legislature funds it, and we will tell you if a window appears.
USDA REAP grants are paused. The program is not accepting Renewable Energy Systems applications for the 2026 fiscal year. Guaranteed loans continue. See the REAP page for where it stands.
Comparing offers? Our Energy Trust incentive comparison tool puts every offer side by side, residential through commercial, for both utilities.
Want the number for your address?
We will confirm which utility serves your meter, check your roof and a year of your bills, and put a written quote in front of you with the Energy Trust incentive shown as its own line rather than buried in a total. It is free and there is no obligation.
Request a written quote, or read the full Oregon solar incentives picture.