Want Cheaper Solar Panels, Home Batteries or a Heat Pump? Better Act Soon
Trump’s tax bill passed by the Senate would end some clean energy tax credits after Dec. 31. Homeowners and installers are racing to meet the deadline.
Workers install solar panels at a home in San Francisco.
Photographer: Michaela Vatcheva/BloombergThe Republican-led US Senate’s passage of legislation to eliminate incentives for clean energy means homeowners likely have until the end of the year to install solar panels, batteries and heat pumps before costs soar.
The bill must still be reconciled with the House of Representatives version and signed into law by President Donald Trump. But the Senate action has dashed advocates’ hopes that it might restore some Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) subsidies, or at least give people more time to claim a 30% tax credit on the five-figure cost of installing rooftop solar and home battery storage systems. The Senate bill terminates those subsidies, along with a $2,000 tax credit for buying heat pumps, after Dec. 31 and repeals a $7,500 tax credit for the purchase of some electric vehicles after Sept. 30. A loophole that allowed carmakers to pass that savings to customers who lease EVs also would end then.