Time is running out for US consumers to get money back for rooftop solar installations, electric vehicles, energy efficient appliances and more after President Donald Trump and Republicans slashed clean energy out of the tax code last month.
And the potential savings are steep.
The federal tax credit alone takes $9,000 off the cost of rooftop solar for the average customer, according to estimates from EnergySage, an online marketplace that connects customers to solar installers in their area.
Consumer interest in tax credits spiked soon after Trump signed the spending bill into law.
“We’ve seen an all time high in customer inquiries over the past month, so demand is up significantly,” Emily Walker, director of insights at EnergySage, told CNN. The marketplace saw a 205% year-over-year increase in homeowners working with contractors to get solar panels on their roofs, in some cases adding batteries as well.
But if consumers want to take advantage of tax credits, especially for solar, batteries, heat pumps and home insulation, they need to act quickly, Walker said.
“Installations don’t happen overnight and in order to claim the tax credit, the system does have to be completed by the end of this year,” she added. “It’s a very compressed timeline, which is why our advice to homeowners right now is to get quotes, start the process right now, or you could miss out.”
Some states are trying to get the word out as well. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission recently published a website detailing all state and federal consumer rebates for clean energy, putting the information in a central location. They had 1,400 visitors to the site in just the first few days, said commission director Rebecca White, and plan to do in-person outreach to communities soon.
“What we want is for people to take advantage of what they’re eligible for,” White said. “If you’re interested in lowering your bill, electrifying your home, moving to an electric vehicle, there is just a ton out there and some of it does go away at the end of the year.”
Here’s what you need to know while there’s still time to jump on savings.
There is an income limit for this tax credit – see more information here on who qualifies.
Electric vehicle tax credits expire soonest; consumers will need to buy a vehicle by September 30 in order to receive $7,500 off a new EV (see which models qualify here), or $4,000 off a qualifying used EV. It’s the shortest timeline, but these are also the easiest credits to get as they’re automatically deducted from the vehicle’s sticker price, rather than through a tax break the following year.
In Colorado, the state with the most EV sales in the country, about 60,000 vehicles are being sold per year, said Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office. Toor said the state doesn’t track how many vehicles were bought with the federal tax credit discount, but he expects most of them are.
Some dealerships in Colorado are advertising the closing window to get the tax credits with a countdown clock on their websites, Toor said.
“If you’ve been thinking about buying an electric vehicle, it is likely that the best deals you’re going to get for a while will be between now and September 30, so it is time to pull the trigger and buy that vehicle,” he said.
Toor said that while he’s concerned about the end of federal tax credits, “they’re pretty clearly the vehicles of the future, and it’s pretty clearly where the global automotive industry is going.”
Goes towards rooftop solar, battery panels, solar water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, small wind turbines and more. There is no income cap for this tax credit.
This tax credit helps cover 30% of the cost of clean energy that generates power for your home or feed into a utility’s net metering program. Importantly, in order to qualify for the tax credit under the GOP tax bill’s new timeline, the system must be installed by the end of the year.
It takes around two to three months to put solar on your roof, Walker said.
However, there is more homeowner legwork needed when preparing to install solar panels. The most important place for homeowners to start is by researching costs in their area and getting multiple quotes from contractors, Walker said.
“You want to make sure that you’re not paying more for solar right now, which would negate the benefit of receiving the tax credit,” she said.
Goes toward energy efficient appliances such as heat pumps, water heaters and boilers, biomass stoves, home insulation, better insulated windows and doors. There is no income cap for this tax credit.
This tax credit gives homeowners up to $3,200 each year to help cover the cost of these appliances or insulation upgrades. Homeowners can also use the tax credit to pay for an energy audit to see where their homes are wasting energy and how to make them more efficient.
Federal data released last year showed most people were using this credit to help pay to better insulate their homes.
“If you have that furnace in your basement that you know is near the end of its useful life, this is the moment to not wait for that thing to go out in the middle of the winter,” said Zach Pierce, head of policy at the home electrification nonprofit Rewiring America. “Get that process moving so that you can get on that schedule before the end of the year.”
Some electric vehicle buyers have more time to claim a tax credit to help pay for buying and installing a charger in their homes.
This credit pays for 30% of the cost of a home EV charger, up to $1,000, but only applies to consumers in census-designated low income communities.
