Home Solar Done Right: Tax Credits, Financing Math and Red Flags Before You Sign Anything

  1. Check Whether Your Install Date Still Qualifies for the Federal Credit
    20 min

    Applies when any proposal is dated 2026 or later — or when a system is not yet energized. Federal law does not count the signature date; it counts the placed-in-service date, in practice the day the utility grants Permission to Operate and the meter starts running. Under the tax law enacted July 4, 2025, the 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) survives only for homeowner-owned systems placed in service on or before December 31, 2025.

    • Energized in 2025 or earlier — claim 30% of qualifying costs, uncapped, on Form 5695 with the 2025 return; a missed filing deadline can often be fixed with an amended return.
    • Signed in 2025, energized in 2026 — placed-in-service controls, so the credit is gone.
    • Anything installed in 2026 or later — no federal purchase credit exists. A quote still showing “minus 30% federal tax credit” on an owned system is pricing in dead law.