Is there a federal solar tax credit in 2026?

Not for a home you live in. Section 25D does not apply to systems installed after December 31, 2025. Rental and business property may qualify for the Section 48E credit if placed in service by December 31, 2027; confirm it with a CPA.

Does the credit still apply to home batteries?

No. Battery storage was part of Section 25D, and it ended on the same date. A battery installed at your home in 2026 carries no federal homeowner credit.

I installed solar in 2025. How do I claim it?

File IRS Form 5695 with your 2025 return. A tax professional confirms the amount for your situation.

Can a landlord claim a solar tax credit?

Not under Section 25D. The IRS says a landlord who does not live in the home cannot claim it. Solar on rental property may qualify for Section 48E if placed in service by December 31, 2027; confirm with a CPA.

Federal tax credit

The Federal Solar Tax Credit in 2026

Name: AJ Long Electric
Address: 2724 Dorr Ave, Suite 102, Fairfax, VA, 22031, US
Telephone: (571) 444-6886

For a home you live in, the federal solar credit is $0 on any system installed after December 31, 2025. The installation date controls, not the contract date or the payment date. Rental and business property is a separate credit with its own deadline.

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Answer first

The short answer

There is no federal solar tax credit for a homeowner's system installed in 2026. Section 25D, the Residential Clean Energy Credit, does not apply to expenditures made after December 31, 2025, and the statute treats an expenditure as made when the original installation is completed. A system that was contracted or paid for in 2025 but finished in 2026 gets nothing.

The credit follows the installation date. A deposit paid in 2025 does not move a 2026 installation back into 2025.
Batteries are included in the cutoff. Battery storage was part of Section 25D, and it ended on the same date.
Rental and business property may qualify for a different credit, Section 48E, if the system is placed in service by December 31, 2027. Confirm it with a CPA.
Our $2.40–$2.85/W cash band never assumed a credit, so the price you compare is the price you pay.

What changed, in the statute's own words

Section 25D used to run through 2034. The 2025 federal tax law, Public Law 119-21, rewrote the termination subsection so the credit does not apply to any expenditures made after December 31, 2025. Before the change, the cutoff was tied to property placed in service after December 31, 2034. That is a nine-year difference, and it is why so many calculators and older proposals are wrong today.

The timing rule is the part homeowners miss. Under 25D(e)(8)(A), an expenditure is treated as made when the original installation of the item is completed. The IRS page for the credit says the same thing from the other side: you claim the credit for the tax year the property is installed, not merely purchased, and the credit is not available for property placed in service after December 31, 2025.

New construction has its own rule. For a home being built or rebuilt, 25D(e)(8)(B) treats the expenditure as made when the owner's original use of the home begins. A new home with solar that you move into in 2026 carries no homeowner credit either.

Section 25D for a home you live in
Situation	Federal homeowner credit
Installation completed in 2025	Claimed on the 2025 return with IRS Form 5695
Contract signed or deposit paid in 2025, installation completed in 2026	None
Installation in 2026 or later	None
Battery added to an existing array in 2026	None
New home with solar, first occupied in 2026	None

Sources: 26 U.S.C. 25D(h) and (e)(8); IRS, Residential Clean Energy Credit.

Rental and business property is a different credit

The homeowner credit never covered rentals. The IRS page for Section 25D says a landlord or other property owner who does not live in the home cannot claim it. Solar on a rental house or a business building falls under Section 48E, the clean electricity investment credit, because 48E applies to property that can be depreciated, and a rental can be depreciated while your own residence cannot.

Section 48E has its own clock. Solar starting construction now must be placed in service by December 31, 2027 to qualify, and battery storage is excluded from that cutoff. A system on rental or business-owned property may qualify if it meets that deadline and the rest of the statute. The credit follows ownership of the system, not who pays the electric bill. Confirm eligibility with a CPA before you count on it.

The commercial solar tax credit for rental and business property

What still lowers the cost of a home system in 2026

The federal line is gone, and the state and local incentives are not. Dominion customers keep one-to-one net metering over a 12-month period, and the State Corporation Commission's April 30, 2026 order confirmed that customers, not the utility, own the renewable energy certificates their arrays create. NOVEC members net meter under their co-op's own rider. Fairfax County waives the residential solar permit fee and exempts certified solar equipment from real estate tax for five years.

The cash price is where the decision starts. Rooftop solar in Northern Virginia installs for $2.40–$2.85/W, and a typical 8 to 12 kW array is $19,000–$34,000. Those numbers never included a federal credit, so they did not change when the credit ended.

How to spot an out-of-date proposal

Read the price lines before the savings chart. A proposal for a home you live in that subtracts a federal credit from a 2026 installation is showing a number no one can reach. The same goes for a monthly payment built on a loan that expects the credit to pay down the balance in the first year.

Leases and power purchase agreements are a separate conversation. The leasing company owns the equipment, so its tax position is its own business. Judge a lease on the terms you sign: the payment, the escalator, who owns the array and the SRECs, and what happens when you sell the house.

A federal credit line on a 2026 home installation
A net-of-credit price used as the headline number
A loan that assumes a lump-sum paydown from a tax refund
Payback math that starts from the post-credit price

Compare solar proposals line by line

Straight answers

Questions

Is there a federal solar tax credit in 2026?: Not for a home you live in. Section 25D does not apply to systems installed after December 31, 2025. Rental and business property may qualify for the Section 48E credit if placed in service by December 31, 2027; confirm it with a CPA.
I signed my solar contract in 2025. Do I still get the credit?: Only if the installation was completed in 2025. The statute treats the expenditure as made when the original installation is completed, so a 2025 contract or deposit on a system finished in 2026 gets no credit.
Does the credit still apply to home batteries?: No. Battery storage was part of Section 25D, and it ended on the same date. A battery installed at your home in 2026 carries no federal homeowner credit.
I installed solar in 2025. How do I claim it?: File IRS Form 5695 with your 2025 return. A tax professional confirms the amount for your situation.
Can a landlord claim a solar tax credit?: Not under Section 25D. The IRS says a landlord who does not live in the home cannot claim it. Solar on rental property may qualify for Section 48E if placed in service by December 31, 2027; confirm with a CPA.

Sources

Next step

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