What ended, and when
| Credit | What it covered | Rate | Last date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25D Residential Clean Energy | Solar panels, solar water heaters, wind, geothermal heat pumps, fuel cells, batteries | 30% | Expenditures made (installation completed) by 31 December 2025 | IRS |
| 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement | Heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, biomass stoves; insulation, windows, doors, audits | 30%, up to $2,000 a year for heat pumps and water heaters, $1,200 for the rest | Property placed in service by 31 December 2025 | IRS |
| 45L New Energy Efficient Home (builder) | Qualifying new homes | — | Homes acquired by 30 June 2026 | IRS FAQ |
| 45Y / 48E for wind and solar facilities (business) | Clean electricity facilities | — | Placed in service by 31 December 2027, or construction begun by 4 July 2026 | IRS Notice 2025-42 |
The IRS FAQ is explicit on timing for 25D: paying on or before 31 December 2025 does not keep the credit if installation was completed after that date.
What it means for a 2027 job
- Compare quotes at full price. A quote or sales page that still subtracts "30% federal credit" for a 2027 install is out of date. Ask the installer to remove it and show the net after any local rebate only.
- Leases and PPAs. The 48E clock runs to 31 December 2027 for solar facilities. If you are offered a lease or power purchase agreement in 2027, ask whether the price assumes a federal credit, and what changes if the system is not placed in service by 31 December 2027.
- Carryforward is still worth filing. If you installed a system by the end of 2025 and could not use all of the 25D credit, the IRS says the excess carries forward to future years.
- Local money did not end. Utility rebates are separate from federal credits. 2026 programs we have written up: SMUD heat pump rebates, Austin Energy AC and heat pump rebate, OUC rebates in Orlando and heat pump incentives in Bend. Check each program's page for its 2027 amounts before you sign.
Solar and HVAC permits in cities with local programs
| City | Solar permits | Usual solar job value | HVAC permits | Usual HVAC job value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento County (unincorporated) | 2,001 | $25,200 | 7,937 | $15,268 |
| Elk Grove | 3,735 | $9,234 | 4,434 | $16,000 |
| Cape Coral | 1,034 | $30,378 | 5,015 | $8,570 |
| Boulder | 1,489 | $21,000 | 4,460 | $10,572 |
| Orlando | 1,015 | $25,266 | 8,269 | $8,484 |
The filed value is what the contractor wrote on the permit, before any credit or rebate. For what a system costs, see solar panel installation cost and solar lease vs buy.
What you can do in five minutes
Ask each installer for a quote with no federal credit line, then open your city's compare page and check how many solar permits the firm filed in its latest twelve months of data and how many reached final.
What this page does not cover
This is not tax advice; the IRS pages and your preparer decide what you can claim. State tax credits are not covered. Our permit data runs to September 2026, so it shows the market before and during the end of the credits, not 2027.
How we know this
Credit rules are quoted from the IRS's FAQs on the 2025 law's changes to 25C, 25D and 45L, its Residential Clean Energy Credit and Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit pages, and Notice 2025-42, all read 26 October 2026. Permit counts and usual filed values are from each city's open permit data over the window on its compare page (October 2023 to September 2026 for most; Cape Coral from January 2025).
Numbers come from Sacramento County building permits on single-family, duplex and townhouse homes in the unincorporated county (the County's Accela permit layer); City of Elk Grove TRAKiT building permits on single-family, duplex, mobile-home and ADU homes; City of Cape Coral building permits (the city's open permit table starts January 2025); City of Boulder construction permits; City of Austin issued construction permits; City of Orlando building permits for one- and two-family homes, data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
See every Sacramento County solar installer by permit record →
Questions
- Is there a federal tax credit for solar panels in 2027?
Not for a homeowner who buys the system. The IRS says the residential clean energy credit (25D) "will not be allowed for any expenditures made after December 31, 2025", and an expenditure counts as made when installation is completed.
- Is there a federal tax credit for a heat pump in 2027?
No. The energy efficient home improvement credit (25C), which paid 30% up to $2,000 a year for qualified heat pumps and water heaters, is not allowed for property placed in service after 31 December 2025.
- Can I still use a solar credit I could not use up?
The IRS says you can carry forward any excess unused residential clean energy credit and apply it to tax in future years. That covers systems installed by the end of 2025, not new ones.
- What happens on 31 December 2027?
Under the 2025 law, the 45Y and 48E business credits end for wind and solar facilities placed in service after 31 December 2027, unless construction began by 4 July 2026 (IRS Notice 2025-42). These are business credits, not the homeowner credit.
- Is there still a credit for a new energy-efficient home?
Not for homes acquired after 30 June 2026. The IRS says the 45L credit, which goes to the builder, "will not be allowed for any qualified new energy efficient home acquired after June 30, 2026."
- How many solar permits are filed without the credit?
Our data runs to September 2026. Over the window, unincorporated Sacramento County issued 2,001 solar and battery permits and Elk Grove 3,735; we have not yet tested whether filings fell after the credit ended.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- The best month to start electrical, HVAC and solar work (by city)
- Home improvement costs in Boulder, CO (2026): what 9 kinds of jobs were filed at
- Home improvement costs in Elk Grove, CA (2026): what 12 kinds of jobs were filed at
- How to finance a roof, heat pump or solar: FHA, USDA, PACE and state loans compared
- Solar panel installation cost in 2026: what solar permits show in 20 cities
For one city
- FAQs for modification of sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W, and 179D under Public Law 119-21 (OBBB) — IRS (accessed 2026-10-26)
- Residential Clean Energy Credit — IRS (accessed 2026-10-26)
- Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit — IRS (accessed 2026-10-26)
- Notice 2025-42: Sections 45Y and 48E Beginning of Construction — IRS (accessed 2026-10-26)