The North Carolina Solar Center and Meister Consultants Group have released a report under the SunShot Solar Outreach Partnership on current state practices associated with the assessment and taxation of PV equipment. Property Taxes and Solar PV Systems: Policies, Practices, and Issues is intended as a resource for industry stakeholders, property owners, and state and local government officials involved in the administration of property taxes.

Property taxes can represent a significant ongoing cost for PV system owners, and under some circumstances may prove to be a determining factor in whether or not a facility is built. Many states have adopted policies specifically addressing how different types of PV systems should be valued for property tax purposes. However, the other states have not adopted such policies, and even explicit policies sometimes fail to fully address the myriad of different circumstances present in the current PV market. The frequent lack of clarity presents challenges for both owners of PV systems and government officials involved in the administration of property taxes, as each seeks to ascertain the appropriate treatment for solar PV systems and understand the implications it holds. The report covers how different states classify, assess, and tax PV property, the relative burden of property taxes in different jurisdictions, issues which complicate the assessment and taxation process, and strategies for resolving these issues.