When Is the Right Time to Go Solar? Sooner than later…Why, you ask? It’s because The Federal Solar Tax Credit (also known as the Investment Tax Credit or ITC) will decrease from 30% down to 26% after 2019. What’s more? The ITC is scheduled to decrease down to 0% for residential installations by the year 2024. Here is a breakdown of the Investment Tax Credit in 2019 and the years following:
Solar Tax Credit
Step Down Schedule
Year Tax Credit
2019 30%
2022 26%
2023 22%
2024+ 0%*
*Beginning in 2024, the residential portion of the Solar Tax Credit will be eliminated entirely.
A 10% tax credit will remain for commercial and industrial projects only.
You may be asking exactly what the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is and what it can do for you or your finances. The ITC allows you to deduct 30 percent of the cost of installing a solar energy system from your federal taxes. The ITC applies to both residential and commercial systems, and there is no cap on its value. Thanks to the ITC, the average installer will save over $5,000 on the cost of going solar in 2019.
Not only do federal tax credits help make the overall cost of solar installations lower, but in doing so, they shorten your solar payback period as well. The solar payback period is the amount of time it takes for your solar installation to produce enough electricity to equal your initial investment. After the solar payback period, your energy production becomes positive savings.
So, when is the right time to go solar? The answer is, NOW.
If you’re still not sure whether now is the right time to install money-saving solar energy panels on your home or business, we invite you to check out our Frequently Asked Questions, or our Residential Solar Energy page for more info.
Want to learn even more about your commercial or residential solar power cost-saving potential? We invite you to contact one of our resident nerds directly by email at info@nerdpower.energy.
The brainy team at Nerd Power is here to assist you from start to finish with all your solar power needs.