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Federal tax credit for home solar may be on the way out

A photo of a sign in front of a building. The sign says "A2Zero" and "This home is powered by the sun and yours can be too! Learn more about solar power and Solarize group-buys by visiting www.a2gov.org/solar."
Elinor Epperson
A sign on a home that's part of a public project to run a community on solar energy.

If having rooftop solar panels on your home has been on the back burner for a while - you might want to consider moving it to the front burner.

The current budget reconciliation bill in Congress would end the federal tax credit for a home solar installation by the end of this year.

The credit is currently 30% of the amount of a home solar panel installation, which amounts to thousands of dollars for homeowners who buy the rooftop panels.

Justin Carpenter is Director of Policy with the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council.

He said the tax credit helped many families in Michigan and nationwide be able to afford solar panels.

Losing the credit would also hurt the solar industry, he said, along with industries which make materials for the solar industry and the overall economy.

"This has been a burgeoning market over the last few years — longer than the last few years — and this would do tremendous damage to it," said Carpenter.

The budget bill also would terminate many other clean energy provisions that are part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Tracy Samilton covers energy and transportation, including the auto industry and the business response to climate change for Michigan Public. She began her career at Michigan Public as an intern, where she was promptly “bitten by the radio bug,” and never recovered.
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