Update on December 28: The President has passed the federal spending plan, and all solar aspects are intact. 

The extended renewable energy tax credit has been included in the $1.4 trillion federal spending plan and the $900 billion COVID-19 virus relief spending bill. The solar investment tax credit (ITC) is planned to be reduced from 26% to 22% in 2021 and will remain at 26% for two years. The wind power industry also received limited production tax credits.

This means that solar projects in all market segments (residential, commercial, industrial, utility scale) that will be constructed in 2021 and 2022 will still be able to receive a 26% tax credit. By 2023, the tax credit in all markets will be reduced to 22%, the residential market will be reduced to 0%, and the commercial and utility markets will enjoy a permanent 10% credit starting in 2024.

You can check the language updates of the commercial/utility market from pg. The 2439 and residential solar market started at pg. 2448 is here. 

The expansion of ITC has been supported by many people outside the industry, including congressional leaders and a group of bipartisan mayors. In the past few years, various bills have been proposed to try to extend the solar ITC, but no progress has been made. Although attempts have been made to obtain investment credit for energy storage devices, the expenditure plan does not include any items involving batteries.

SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said: “After our country has fallen into a public health and economic disaster, we are very pleased to see Congress stepping up to provide Americans with some relief.” "This pandemic has caused immeasurable losses to American families. We sympathize most deeply with those who have lost loved ones and financially suffered due to the ongoing crisis. In the next few years, we have the opportunity to build a stronger, A more reliable and fairer American energy economy, and the action taken by Congress today is a useful down payment."

Some energy storage language is included in the expenditure and rescue plan. The Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act authorizes the federal government to invest $1 billion in energy storage research and development within five years.

Comments from Kelly Speakes-Backman, CEO of Energy Storage Association:

"In addition to elevating energy storage to the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary, cross-functional R&D priority, the BEST Act also establishes a new competitive funding program for states, utilities, and private companies to deploy in various applications Energy storage. This demonstration project promotes energy storage technology innovation and grid operations, and lays the foundation for future energy storage deployments to protect our power infrastructure from interruptions because it achieves a zero-carbon energy supply portfolio. We look forward to it. Work with the Department of Energy and Congress to ensure that this important program is fully funded and operated effectively.

"The inclusion of the Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act as part of the year-end expenditure and relief plan further demonstrates the bipartisan and bicameral support for energy storage to improve the reliability and flexibility of the grid."

Kelly Pickerel has more than ten years of reporting experience in the US solar industry and is currently the editor-in-chief of Solar Power World.

I contacted H&R Block and the representative stated that whenever you add additional panels or more batteries, you can claim that they are new installations and equipment.

Do you have a source of assertion that it can only be declared in the original installation, and cannot be declared after adding new content?

Your tax professional knows best.

I have a Generac backup generator, which runs on propane during a power outage. Can a solar system be installed with battery storage together with a backup generator? I realized that if the grid is interrupted, battery storage can provide some power. In addition, if my generator is going out of power, can the generated energy be stored in the battery?

Since swell energy installed it, I have never used the 26% aITC tax credit. Am I deducting about 3 years of trucks in 2020?

Yes. You have up to 5 years to apply for tax credits.

Since my ship qualifies as a second home, I assume that the letter of credit applies there. In addition to the cost of the panel itself, what can I deduct? Controller? Arched installation panel? Can the battery store energy? The battery cable?

I don't believe you can use credit on "Second Home". The 2013 language regulation of the IRS: "[We] require that qualified energy efficiency improvements and residential energy properties be installed in or on residential units owned and used by taxpayers as the taxpayer's main residence." Please consult a tax professional.

Hi Kelly, can the 26% tax credit this year be applied to a second residence, such as an RV?

I don't believe you can use credit on "Second Home". The 2013 language regulation of the IRS: "[We] require that qualified energy efficiency improvements and residential energy properties be installed in or on residential units owned and used by taxpayers as the taxpayer's main residence." Please consult a tax professional.

The last sentence in the description of "Qualified Solar Power Asset Cost" in IRS Form 5695 states that the house does not have to be your main house. It has the same language for solar water heaters, wind energy and geothermal.

Please refer to the provided link https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i5695.

Due to the high electricity price and the fairly generous EV-A usage time plan, it allows to charge the car at night at a price of 12 cents per kWh, while getting 24 on the day with the largest solar power generation, at mid-peak and full-peak per kWh For 48 cents. As early as 2015, we deliberately increased the power of the solar system to 10kW, when we replaced the first gasoline car with an electric car, because we knew that in the end both would be the case. This is earlier than expected in 2016. Now we have moved from a generous EV-A plan to a less generous EV2-A plan, which means that more solar energy production is included in off-peak periods. Fortunately, in March of this year, we were able to afford three powerwalls to support the system. Instead of donating electricity during off-peak hours, we now store them and use them in Zhongfeng and Quanfeng. Basically, we started from the afternoon The internet is disconnected from 3 o'clock to midnight.

Thanks for your insight, many people from the power company say that the plains states still insist on using old fossil fuel power plants. Sooner or later, they will also be affected by the "stranded asset" interest rate case. The current move seems to be to eliminate coal and add natural gas turbines to make up for the difference. With the on-line of solar photovoltaic and wind power, energy storage will kill natural gas turbines at some point because the Peaker plant again filed a lawsuit to raise electricity prices to recover "stranded assets."

As more individuals and even communities install solar photovoltaics, utility companies will propose more electricity plans with soaring rates. An example of California’s TOU is the plan to soar after the peak solar photovoltaic power generation period of the day, usually from 4pm to 9pm every day. In Plains State, TOU is the lower rate from 11pm to 6am which is considered off-peak hours. The reason for these areas is to try to push people to use electricity late at night and early in the morning. In the world of daily work, most people cannot (just) reduce or start using within these time frames. The benefit of energy storage is the ability to program the unit to store energy during the day and night and time transfer to the latter, or it can charge the battery pack during off-peak hours and use this energy in the early morning before the solar photovoltaic starts. Good production Power supply.

As we have seen in California, even areas where solar photovoltaic and wind power account for nearly 25% have not reduced electricity costs. The IOU utility company will find a time of day and plan to raise interest rates to make up for their "lost income." Over time, being able to program around this "game plan" will become more critical.

Please clarify: The project referred to in this article is "...start construction in 2021 or 2022...". The original credit language meant "put into use" (meaning operable). which one? In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy's guidelines specifically pointed out that the cost may include storage devices powered by solar systems, but the post on the site lamented that the battery does not have anything. which one?

The project must start construction in 2021 and 2022 and be fully completed before 2025 to receive a 26% credit. And ITC's 2020 update does not include stored languages. We published how the storage system utilizes ITC here: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2019/04/how-a-battery-can-be-eligible-for-the-itc-today-and-possible future /

If I now have a 6 kW system and add another 2-3 kW in 2022, can I get a second federal tax credit on my 2022 tax return, or can I only apply once?

Can only be claimed once.

Hi, for further clarification, if you have obtained credit on the system in the past and added a new panel, I think you can apply for credit on the new panel, right?

You can only apply for a tax credit once at the first installation, but please consult a tax professional.

I contacted H&R Block and the representative stated that whenever you add additional panels or more batteries, you can claim that they are new installations and equipment.

Do you have a source of assertion that it can only be declared in the original installation, and cannot be declared after adding new content?

Just to clarify that this extension also applies to Tesla batteries. Is it correct?

If the battery is installed with a solar system

Tesla told me this because I installed it in January. This is the first article that appears during search verification. This is good news for sustainable energy! Thanks Kelly Pickrell.

Confirm that since the signing of the stimulus package, ITC has been extended to 2021 and 2022?

Yes, as stated in the article.

Isn't this a matter of obtaining the right of veto? Does this still work?

The ITC extension is still valid. Everything in the above story is fact.

Solid research, Kelly! Thanks for sharing the relevant parts of the bill. I was initially worried that the extension would only apply to commercial projects. However, Section 25D mentions residential projects... good news for many of my clients :-)

I believe it was signed last night, right?

How do you sell "solar energy" to customers who have not paid any federal taxes, that is, senior citizens on SS?

How do you spend your SS check? Spend money on monthly electricity bills. If the answer is "not so much", then your roof does not need so much solar photovoltaic power generation. Let’s see if Trump’s tariffs on solar photovoltaics will be written off, or will they be “used up”? The money to pay for groceries or homeowners insurance or medical supplement insurance is better than ordinary electricity bills. There are still energy efficiency programs funded by local utility companies, and these programs may actually have a substantial one-time subsidy for the AC output of solar photovoltaic systems installed on the roof. http://www.dsireusa.org has a program divided by state or zip code to see what is available.

And Larry White) Some questions to ask yourself when considering solar energy are: "Am I tightening my house as much as possible?" In addition, "How often does my roof need to be replaced?" and "Do I plan to do any Will it affect the renovation or addition of the panel placement?" After answering these questions, consider solar energy. Large-scale systems have some economies of scale (for example, parts and labor for one inverter plus 6 panels and one inverter plus 30 panels). Although one reason for adopting solar energy is "this is the right approach," incentives are usually effective enough to make it a purely business decision. Because we have designed and owned a passive solar house before, we are proficient in passive solar technology, so we "picked low-hanging fruits" when designing/building this house so that it can be efficient and good for rooftop solar Prepare. The business case makes sense. Our 22-panel system is at or near net zero (depending on the year).

Everyone’s situation is different. this is ours. We have a traditional IRA that can be converted to a Roth IRA to generate taxable income. Every November, when the tax software of your year is launched, we will buy it and run "scenarios" to help us decide the amount to be converted that year. Since we can carry forward the solar credit for a total of five tax years (we start in 2018 and can spread it to 2022), we try to convert enough traditional IRA funds to use approximately one-fifth of the credit each year , While keeping our AGI down, because the taxability of SS is related to AGI. Doing this well is like threading a needle. It is true—solar energy is a tough sale for people who cannot generate taxable income, and they may not have lived in their homes long enough to benefit from the return (we were all about 70 years old at the time of installation). The lender (MN) here does not have much experience in solar energy, so they don't know how to evaluate solar houses. We replaced the expired HELOC with a new HELOC in January 2020, and the evaluator gave us an estimate of $0 for our system, although it was well integrated visually and had a performance record by then, so There is no real evidence that solar energy increases property value (our decision to use solar energy takes into account incentives, but ignores any potential value increase). The best overall recommendation? If older people are interested, please provide them with information about your products and current incentives. It is recommended that they consult their financial advisors to learn how to make your solar energy quantity suitable for their specific financial situation and follow up with them in time. Enter. Solar energy is a promise; it is not for everyone.

Really need to update this title with "Maybe..."

This government is as square as a soup sandwich.

Has Trump signed the bill into law?

Thought it was a certain thing, but no, he hasn't.

This is good news! Hope this will stimulate the solar industry more and get rid of this pandemic more powerfully than before!

Thank you, there are some comments that section 25 dealing with the residential sector is not included in the bill.

"This pandemic has caused immeasurable losses to American families. We express our deepest sympathy to those who have lost their loved ones and those who have suffered financial hardship due to the ongoing crisis."

It sounds like she thinks everything is almost over. Our Covid-19 infection has surged, and the number of people who die from Covid-19 every day is more than the 9/11 Petronas Twin Towers terrorist attacks, and it is predicted that if people don’t start wearing masks, maintain social distancing, continue to demand and expand the group, then New Year’s Eve will what happened? Go to the Sovereign Indian Nation Casino and welcome the new year like last year? We have predicted that half a million people will die in the summer, and the government is expected to save 6.7 billion U.S. dollars each year for those who have already paid social security payments and will stop receiving or will never receive it. It is impossible to eliminate cattle herds worldwide.

You are definitely SolarMan. Sticking to this topic, I am glad to see that the extension period has been extended for another 2 years, which is amazing for those who wish to install solar panels. However, I do agree that we need to start taking Covid-19 infection more seriously.

For my solar panel company in California, we take extreme measures to ensure that everyone feels good, is not infected with the virus 6 feet away, and always wears a mask. If we can take the necessary measures to prevent infection, I think almost everyone and company can do that too.

I am worried that some travel bans in foreign countries will be lifted and a new wave of infections will spread. It seems that another type of Covid-19 has recently been discovered in England and Africa. I believe that in the next few years, all of us will regularly process infection statistics, keep our distance, wear masks, gloves, and disinfect our living quarters.

A new normal, and science is trying to eliminate the wrinkles of this epidemic.

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