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Solar Tax Credit Eligibility Checker

$0 is the federal solar credit for any cash or loan purchase placed in service after December 31, 2025 — enter your dates and purchase type for your own answer.

$0 after Dec 31, 2025 (incl. storage)§25D — residential, cash or loan
~30%, claimed by the system owner, never you§48E — lease/PPA only
Ended Sept 30, 2025 (context only)§30D / §25E — EV credits

· Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A (July 2026 data) · next EIA update ~Oct 23

By SolarCostData Data Desk · · Corrections log

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Your federal credit: —

This is a screening aid, not tax advice. Confirm your own position with a tax professional and the IRS instructions for the relevant year — edge cases (main-home rules, prior carryforwards, business use of the home) are exactly what a screener cannot see.

§25D — residential, cash or loan
$0 after Dec 31, 2025 (incl. storage)
§48E — lease/PPA only
~30%, claimed by the system owner, never you
§30D / §25E — EV credits
Ended Sept 30, 2025 (context only)
§30C — charger credit
Ended June 30, 2026 (context only)
Who claims §48E on your roof
Only the lease/PPA company
What this tool is
A screening aid, not tax advice

Why this number

For a cash or loan purchase completed after December 31, 2025, the federal §25D residential credit is $0 — including for battery storage bought the same way — and the only remaining path to roughly 30% is a lease or PPA, where the third-party owner claims the commercial §48E credit, not you. This tool asks three questions — your installation completion date, your purchase type, and your system type — and returns which statute applies to you and what it means in dollars. It is a screening aid, not tax advice; confirm your own situation with a tax professional and the IRS instructions before you file.

The question has a hard, date-shaped answer now — and much of the internet still gives you 2025’s. Three inputs settle yours.

The rules this screener applies, in one table

Federal residential energy credit status by ownership, system type and placed-in-service date
You…Placed in serviceFederal creditStatute
Own it (cash/loan), solar or solar+batteryby Dec 31, 202530%, on that year's return§25D
Own it (cash/loan), any residential systemafter Dec 31, 2025$0§25D expired
Own it, battery only (≥3 kWh)by Dec 31, 202530%§25D
Lease / PPA (provider owns it)any date$0 claimed by you; provider may claim ~30%§48E

Ended earlier, for completeness: the §30D new-EV and §25E used-EV credits (September 30, 2025) and the §30C home-charger credit (June 30, 2026). The full credit guide walks each one with IRS sources.

The three questions that decide it

Completion date sets which side of December 31, 2025 you’re on for §25D; purchase type (cash/loan vs. lease/PPA) sets whether you or a third party would ever be the one claiming a credit at all; and system type matters because storage bought outright by a homeowner is treated the same as solar under §25D, while third-party-owned storage can instead fall under the commercial §48E rules the lessor claims.

What ended, and when

Section by section, in the past tense: §25D, the residential solar and battery credit, ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025 — a cash or loan buyer completing installation after that date gets $0. §30D (new EV) and §25E (used EV) ended for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025 — adjacent context this checker doesn’t verdict on. §30C, the EV charger credit, ended for property placed in service after June 30, 2026. None of these have been extended as of this writing; treat any pitch that says otherwise as describing a repealed schedule.

The lease/PPA nuance, honestly

On a lease or PPA, a third-party company — not you — owns the equipment on your roof, and it is that company who may claim the commercial §48E investment credit (worth roughly 30% to them), subject to its own qualification under the statute. A good provider prices some of that value into your rate; a bad one keeps all of it. Either way, you are never the one claiming §48E — and no purchase, cash or loan, puts you anywhere near it. This is a screening aid, not tax advice; confirm your own situation with a tax professional and the IRS instructions.

How we calculated this

A rule table, not arithmetic: purchase or loan with placed-in-service after 31 Dec 2025 → §25D $0; lease or PPA → the third-party owner may claim §48E (your benefit is only what the contract passes through); standalone battery follows the same ownership split; state credits apply only in AZ, HI, MA, NM, NY, SC. The verdict is the row your answers land on.

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.

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