Federal solar credit · what changed
Updated 09 Aug 2026 · Sourced to Public Law 119-21, IRC §25D and §48E
Not on a system you buy. The homeowner credit — Section 25D — ended for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025. A cash or loan purchase in 2026 gets zero federal credit. The 30% still exists under Section 48E, but only a business can claim it, which means it reaches homeowners solely through a lease, PPA or prepaid arrangement where the company owns the equipment.
On 4 July 2025 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was signed into law. Inside it was the early termination of Internal Revenue Code Section 25D — the Residential Clean Energy Credit. That is the 30% homeowners had been claiming on their own tax returns. It was scheduled to run through 2032. It ended for any system placed in service after 31 December 2025.
There was no phase-down to 26% and then 22% the way the previous law laid out. It went from 30% to zero on 1 January 2026.
§25D terminated for systems placed in service after 31 Dec 2025 · Public Law 119-21
The IRS treats a system as placed in service when it is fully installed, operational and capable of generating electricity — not when you signed, and not when you paid a deposit. If your system went live on or before 31 December 2025, you can still claim the 30% on your 2025 return using Form 5695. Unused credit carries forward to later tax years.
If it went live in 2026, there is nothing to claim.
Section 48E — the Clean Electricity Investment Credit — is the business-side equivalent, and it survived. It is claimed by whoever owns the equipment. When a finance company owns the panels on your roof under a lease, a power purchase agreement, or a prepaid arrangement, that company claims the 30% and is supposed to price your payment accordingly.
The industry calls this third-party ownership, or TPO. In 2026 it is the only path by which federal credit value reaches a residential rooftop. That is not a preference or a sales angle. It is the structure of the law.
4 July 2026 was the begin-construction safe harbor for Section 48E. Projects that began construction on or before that date kept the longer completion window. Projects that begin construction after it generally must be placed in service by 31 December 2027 to claim the credit at all.
This matters to you as a homeowner because it determines whether your provider’s pricing is durable. A company that safe-harbored equipment ahead of the date has credit-backed inventory to work through. A company that did not is working against a hard 2027 completion wall. Ask which one you are dealing with.
Projects claiming Section 48E also have to meet content-sourcing thresholds — a minimum share of the equipment value coming from non-restricted manufacturers, starting at 40% for projects beginning construction in 2026 and rising in later years. Those rules do not apply to a system you buy outright, because a homeowner-owned system in 2026 is not claiming any federal credit. It is the provider’s problem, not yours, but it is a reasonable thing to ask about because it affects whether their credit holds.
You do not need to know any of the above to protect yourself. You need one question: am I buying this system, or leasing it?
If the answer is buying, and the words “thirty percent tax credit” appear anywhere in the pitch, the statement is false. That is your signal to end the conversation, regardless of how good everything else sounds. A company that is wrong about the single largest number in the proposal is not a company you want holding a twenty-five-year obligation on your roof.
Not for a system you buy. Section 25D ended for systems placed in service after 31 December 2025. Section 48E remains at 30% but is claimed by a third-party owner under a lease, PPA or prepaid arrangement, who passes the value through in your payment.
Yes, if the system was placed in service on or before 31 December 2025. File Form 5695 with your 2025 return. Unused credit carries forward.
No. A loan-financed system is still a system you own, and owned systems get no federal credit in 2026. The credit follows ownership of the equipment, not how you paid for it.
An arrangement where a finance company owns the equipment on your roof and you pay for the power or lease the system. Because the company owns it, the company claims Section 48E and prices your payment with that value included.
It was the begin-construction safe harbor date for Section 48E. Projects starting after it generally must be placed in service by 31 December 2027 to qualify, which compresses the timeline and can affect the pricing you are offered.
Mostly no. State rebates, performance payments and SREC markets are administered independently of the federal credit and largely continued. Ask any rep to name the specific programs in your state and utility territory.
Tell me where you are and roughly what you pay. I come back with what is actually available in your utility territory, which structure fits, and what to watch for in the paperwork. No rep at your door.
If you sell solar
Every homeowner in your market is confused about the same thing at the same time, and almost nobody is explaining it on camera. Here is the whole argument, and what to do about it →