What is the Solar Investment Tax Credit?

The Solar Investment Tax Credit (also known as the ITC) is available for qualifying homeowners who install solar. When you go solar, you can apply for the ITC from the federal government when you file your taxes which, for some homeowners, can result in a reduced, or even zero, tax liability. The ITC was recently increased from 26% to 30% giving homeowners even more reason to go solar. That's why customers who are ready to go solar should do so while the tax credit is maximized.

The ITC is a huge part of the value proposition of solar. For example, if you go solar and finance (or purchase with cash) your system for $30,000, you could receive an income tax credit equal to 30% of that $30,000 solar system, depending on the size of your tax liability. And if you finance your system, you can be eligible for this benefit without paying ANY money down for the system. That is why you want to go solar today and take advantage of the generous federal subsidies we as consumers have available in order to support clean energy and save money.

What is Involved in Going Solar?

So what happens when you sign an agreement to go solar with power? Actually, the agreement is the hardest part! Once you sign your agreement, we do the rest. We will assign you a dedicated project manager that will keep you posted through every step of your project.

First, we will schedule your site survey. Next, we create the design that gets submitted to the City to receive a construction permit. Once the permit is received, we schedule your installation, which typically takes 1-3 days depending on the size of your system. After we finish installing the solar system on your house, we schedule the city inspector and/or your utility company to approve the installation and give you what is called “permission to operate”, or PTO. Once you have PTO, we power on your system and you can enjoy clean power for your home from sunshine. The whole process typically takes 30-60 days. Although much of that time is simply waiting for permits, inspectors and the like.

How do Solar Warranties Work?

One of the most common questions our clients ask is how a solar warranty works. There are three types of solar warranties:

The first one is on the panels. When you buy a solar system for power, those panels are typically warrantied for 25 years. What that means is they're guaranteed to work for 25 years and continue to produce power. Now, depending on the panel you buy, that production guarantee could be anywhere from 85% of the power they were producing on day one, all the way up to 92% if you opt for a higher-efficiency, premium panel.

The second type of warranty is on your inverter, which is the component of your system that transforms the energy you get directly from the sun into usable AC current that can actually power your home: turn on your lights, power your A/C, help you watch TV and all that good stuff. Your inverter is warrantied anywhere from 12 to 25 years. And a lot of times we will also include an extended option for 30 years, which really makes it a complete no-brainer.

Now the third part of the warranty covers what's called the workmanship. Our workmanship warranty is for 10 years. That means all the work that we do on your house when we're installing your solar system, when we're on your roof while you're working, when we're working inside your electrical panel. All of that work is guaranteed for 10 years to make sure that there's absolutely no issues.

25 years on the panels, 12 to 30 years on the inverter, 10 years on the workmanship warranty. Truly, we've got you covered when it comes to protecting your solar investment and making sure that it provides value to you for the long haul.