Solar Lattice

Program

US federal investment tax credit

ID
prog:us-federal-itc
IRI
https://solarlattice.org/kb/prog/us-federal-itc
Status
active
Also known as
ITC, investment tax credit, federal business energy ITC, Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit
Category
Incentive
Program kind
incentive

The ITC is a US federal tax credit. It came into force in 2005 and is set out in Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code. Project owners or investors who install designated renewable energy generation equipment can qualify for it. It is a one-time, dollar-for-dollar cut in tax owed. It does not pay for interconnection or some other soft development and financing costs. It is not a rebate, so the homeowner does not get a check for a share of the purchase price at tax time. One guidebook gives the rate as 26% in 2020, stepping down to 22% in 2021 and 10% in 2022, and notes that the rules change often and may be modified or extended. For storage paired with solar, the batteries have to be charged from solar following the ITC guidelines to capture the full credit. Storage vendors count the ITC as a value stream in several US markets.

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Claims

applies_to

c1 drafted · lead United States proposed

Federal tax credit under Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code, available to project owners or investors that install designated renewable generation equipment.

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