With tax season upon us, there is much uncertainty about the incentives for installing rooftop solar panels, especially for those who don't owe taxes.
A financial expert shared the exciting news that those sweet incentives can carry over.
The scoop
As EnergySage's clip featuring Alix Langone explains, incentives for installing solar panels are facing an uncertain future amid the current administration's pause on funding the Inflation Reduction Act.
But as the video's caption observed, "You can still cash in on solar tax incentives!"
While you still need to file for the tax credit the year you go solar, let's say 2024, and claim the credit on that year's taxes, you can roll over the credit to 2025's filing and beyond when you do owe taxes. In fact, you can keep rolling it over for several years until 2034.
How it's helping
Solar power is a clean, renewable energy source, and it's also super cheap, so it offers something for everyone. For the environmentally mindful, it helps reduce harmful pollution and dependency on dirty fuels.
For the frugal, it can lead to huge savings on their bills, which amount to tens of thousands over the panels' lifetime. They're also a boon to the local economy, with Texas one of the most enthusiastic solar states in the union.
Better yet, solar equipment will only become more affordable over time, so it's little wonder that an increasing number of Americans across the political spectrum are interested in installing rooftop solar panels. The main obstacle to more widespread adoption is the initial cost, which the federal tax incentives help with.
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Along with this helpful explanation, EnergySage also offers some useful tools for getting started with solar energy.
What everyone's saying
The topic of rolling over tax credits often comes up on social media. For example, a Redditor on r/solar asked, "Do I claim it for $0 rebate and roll 100% over to next year? Is that allowed?"
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The cost of installation 💵 One commenter responded, "The tax credit can be rolled over for several years — in full or any unused portion of it."
Since the recently passed "Big Beautiful Bill" ended these incentives early, with the new deadline being Dec. 31, 2025, taxes filed in 2026 for the 2025 year will be 100% safe for redeeming any such credit, but so far it is somewhat unclear if there could be issues with rolling the credit over into any following years, so it's best to plan on redeeming it all if your tax witholding total exceeds the total of the credits you'd earn from the solar project, which typically range from $5,000 to $11,000.
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On a different but related thread, a commenter had expressed optimism that the incentives would stay in place: "The tax credit IMO is not going anywhere. The Inflation Reduction Act had overwhelming bipartisan support and is favored by the banking industry pretty heavily. If it goes away I'll eat my shoe."
Unfortunately, they will have to now eat their shoe, as the tax credit is officially going away at the end of December. Solar projects can take 12 weeks to complete, so now is the time to explore your options through a site like EnergySage if you want to take advantage of up to around $10,000 in tax credits.
Given the huge savings and popularity of the incentives, hopefully, moccasin macaroons won't be on that Redditor's menu anytime soon.
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