Education · Updated July 2026
The 30% credit is gone. Your savings aren't.
The One Big Beautiful Bill rewrote the rules for home solar. Most sales pitches haven't caught up. Here's what actually changed, what still works, and every incentive still on the table in California, Texas, and Connecticut — in plain English.
The One Big Beautiful Bill — signed July 4, 2025
What died. What survived.
The homeowner purchase credit (§25D)
For 20 years, homeowners who bought solar with cash or a loan claimed a federal tax credit — most recently 30%. The new law ended it with no phase-down: buy a system in 2026 and the federal credit is $0. Anyone still promising you "30% back from the IRS" on a purchase is selling last year's rules.
The lease & PPA credit (§48E)
When a company owns the system on your roof — a lease or power purchase agreement — that company can still claim the federal credit and pass the savings to you as lower monthly payments. Systems generally must be running by December 31, 2027. The window is real, and it's closing.
The timeline that matters
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July 4, 2025
The One Big Beautiful Bill becomes law
Federal solar incentives are restructured. New foreign-sourcing (FEOC) rules begin favoring American-made panels.
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December 31, 2025
Homeowner purchase credit ends
The 30% Section 25D credit expires for cash and loan purchases — no phase-down, no extension.
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July 4, 2026
Construction-start cutoff passes
Projects that began construction by this date locked in a longer credit window. For everything after, the deadline below is what counts.
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December 31, 2027
The lease/PPA window closes
Third-party-owned systems must generally be placed in service by this date to capture the federal credit. After this, the federal chapter of residential solar incentives ends.
What this means for you
Two ways to go solar. Both still save money.
We show you both sets of numbers in your quote — real math, side by side. No steering, no last-year's-rules sales pitch. See the full own-vs-company-owned comparison →
Own it — EnFin financing
Buy with $0 down.
You own the system outright, financed through EnFin by Qcells — the lender under the same umbrella that builds your panel. No federal credit anymore, but you keep 100% of the energy savings, every state and utility incentive below, and the added home value. Often the strongest long-term math. $0-down financing is subject to credit approval.
Lease it — through 2027
Let the federal credit lower your payment.
With a lease or PPA, the system owner claims the remaining federal credit and passes it through as a lower monthly rate — often the cheapest way into solar right now. Delivered through Trio's ecosystem, backed by partners like Sunrun, the nation's largest third-party solar owner. Window closes December 31, 2027.
State guide
California
California pays little for the solar power you export — which changes the strategy, not the outcome. Under NEM 3.0, the winning play is pairing panels with a battery so you use your own power instead of selling it cheap and buying it back expensive.
Net billing — batteries are the strategy
Exported power earns roughly 5–10¢/kWh while grid power costs 30–50¢. A battery flips the math: store your solar by day, run on it at night, and dodge peak rates. We size storage into every California quote.
SGIP battery rebates (income-qualified)
General SGIP budgets closed at the end of 2025, but the Equity and Equity Resiliency tracks still pay major battery rebates for income-qualified households and homes in high-fire-risk/outage-prone areas. Waitlists apply — we check your eligibility.
Property-tax exclusion — deadline Jan 1, 2027
Solar adds value to your home, but California won't reassess your property taxes for it — for qualifying systems installed before January 1, 2027. One more reason the clock matters.
The federal pass-through still works here
California's high electric rates make the lease/PPA math especially strong — the system owner claims the federal credit and your monthly rate beats the utility from day one.
State guide
Texas
Texas has no state income tax and no statewide solar program — instead it has a property-tax exemption, utility rebates that vary by territory, and a deregulated market where the right buyback plan meaningfully changes your savings. Local knowledge is the incentive here.
Property-tax exemption
Solar raises your home's value, but Texas law bars appraisal districts from taxing that added value. You keep every dollar of the equity gain.
Austin Energy solar rebate
Austin Energy customers can earn a $2,500 rebate for going solar (with their required education course). Other munis and co-ops run their own programs — we check yours.
Oncor & utility battery incentives
Oncor territory offers substantial incentives for solar-plus-battery systems. Programs open and close by budget cycle — part of your quote is checking what's live in your service area right now.
Solar buyback plans
No statewide net metering — but in deregulated areas, retail providers compete for your excess solar with buyback plans. Picking the right plan is free money; we help you compare.
State guide
Connecticut
Quietly one of the best solar states in America. Connecticut still credits your exported power at full retail rate, pays real money for batteries, and exempts solar from both sales and property tax.
RRES netting tariff
Under Residential Renewable Energy Solutions, every kWh you export earns a bill credit at the full retail rate — and credits roll over indefinitely. They never expire, never reset. This is what net metering looked like everywhere before it didn't.
Energy Storage Solutions battery rebate
Upfront battery incentives up to $16,000 — with higher rates for income-qualified households, underserved communities, and homes with frequent outages (Grid Edge customers get +50%).
Sales-tax exemption
Solar equipment is 100% exempt from Connecticut sales tax — roughly $2,000 saved on a typical system before installation even starts.
Property-tax exemption
The value solar adds to your Connecticut home is permanently exempt from property-tax assessment. Your home is worth more; your tax bill doesn't move.
One more thing
The remaining credits favor American panels.
The new law's foreign-sourcing rules mean systems built on heavily imported supply chains can lose federal credit eligibility. Every system we install uses Q.TRON panels built by Qcells in Georgia — traceable, American-made, and designed for the new sourcing rules. See where your panels come from →
This page is education, not tax advice. Incentive programs change, budgets run out, and eligibility depends on your income, utility, and address. Your quote maps the specific incentives you actually qualify for — and we handle the paperwork for every one of them. Verified against federal law (H.R. 1, 2025) and state program documentation, July 2026.
Incentive questions
Straight answers.
Is the 30% federal solar tax credit really gone?
For homeowner purchases, yes. The One Big Beautiful Bill ended the Section 25D residential credit on December 31, 2025 — cash and loan purchases in 2026 receive no federal credit. But the commercial credit (Section 48E) still applies to leased and PPA systems through 2027, and the savings pass to you as lower payments.
How do I still benefit from federal incentives in 2026?
Through third-party ownership — a lease or power purchase agreement. The system owner claims the federal credit and passes the savings to you as lower monthly payments. Systems generally must be placed in service by the end of 2027, so the window is closing.
What solar incentives does California still offer?
Under NEM 3.0 net billing, batteries are key to maximizing savings. SGIP battery rebates remain for income-qualified and outage-prone households, and California's property-tax exclusion covers qualifying systems installed before January 1, 2027.
What solar incentives does Texas offer?
Texas exempts 100% of solar's added home value from property tax, several utilities offer rebates (like Austin Energy's residential solar rebate and Oncor's battery incentives), and retail providers in deregulated areas offer solar buyback plans.
What solar incentives does Connecticut offer?
Connecticut is one of the strongest solar states: Residential Renewable Energy Solutions credits exported power at full retail rate with credits that roll over indefinitely, Energy Storage Solutions pays $250–$600 per kWh upfront for batteries (up to $16,000), and solar equipment is exempt from both sales tax and property tax.
We'll map every incentive you qualify for.
Federal, state, utility, local — checked against your actual address and income, built into your quote, paperwork handled. Free, in 48 hours.
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