The federal residential solar tax credit is gone. Public Law 119-21 terminated it, and the IRS treats the expenditure as made when the installation is completed rather than when you paid for it, so a system bought in 2025 and finished in 2026 gets nothing at all. Any quote still showing a 30 percent credit is quoting a rule that has expired. A 200-amp panel upgrade runs $1,300 to $2,500.
| Service | Typical |
|---|---|
| Electrical panel upgrade to 200 ampsNational range | $1,300 to $2,500 per panel |
| Residential solar installationNational range | $15,000 to $33,869 per system, before any incentive |
Ranges last checked September 2026. They come down automatically when they are due to be rechecked.
Every figure above comes from a named source we can link to, with the date we last checked it. We publish ranges rather than single prices because a range is what a provider will actually give you: the same job moves with what is being worked on, the materials, how hard it is to get at and how busy the trade is locally. Treat these as the order of magnitude to expect before you call, not as a quote.
The figures here are national. Where a source publishes figures state by state, the state pages carry that local figure instead of this one. We do not scale a national number by a multiplier of our own invention.
Every range carries a review date. When that date passes the number comes down until it is rechecked, rather than sitting here undated.
The Residential Clean Energy Credit under section 25D of the tax code was terminated by Public Law 119-21, signed on 4 July 2025. The IRS fact sheet issued on 21 August 2025 states that the credit will not be allowed for any expenditures made after 31 December 2025.
The trap is in how an expenditure is dated. Under section 25D(e)(8) an expenditure is treated as made when the installation is completed, not when the money changed hands. A homeowner who signed and paid a deposit in 2025 for a system commissioned in 2026 does not get a partial credit. They get none.
One honest caveat about the sourcing. The IRS fact sheet uses an expenditures test. The IRS consumer-facing page on the same credit uses a placed in service test, which is a different standard, and that page still carries legacy text describing a phase-out beginning in 2033 which the statute has overtaken. Where the agency's own pages disagree, this page follows the fact sheet issued specifically about the new law, and flags that the consumer page has not caught up.
What survives is not nothing, but it is different. Lease and power purchase arrangements may still reach the business-side credit under section 48E, because the owner of the system in those structures is the company rather than the household. That is a materially different transaction from buying a system, and anyone being offered it should understand which one they are signing.
There is no federal electrician license. States license, and they generally do it in tiers built on documented on-the-job hours rather than on a single exam. California, as one worked example, certifies electricians working for a licensed C-10 contractor and sets the hour requirements by specialty: 8,000 hours for a general electrician, 4,800 for a residential electrician, 4,000 for fire, life and safety, 4,000 for voice, data and video, and 2,000 for non-residential lighting.
Two things follow for a homeowner. The number of hours behind a credential is a real distinction rather than a formality, and a residential certification is not a general one. And because the specifics differ state by state, the licensing answer belongs on your state page rather than here. This page does not claim every state uses the same tiers, because that was not something the sources checked could establish.
Worth knowing where solar sits in this: in California the C-10 electrical classification expressly covers solar photovoltaic cells, so solar work is electrical work rather than a separate trade.
On solar, ask the installer directly what tax treatment they are assuming in the quote, and get the answer in writing. A quote built on a 30 percent credit is a quote built on a rule that no longer exists, and the difference is thousands of dollars.
Ask when the system will be commissioned rather than when it will be delivered. Completion is the date the tax rules turn on.
If you are being offered a lease or a power purchase agreement, ask who owns the system, who claims any credit, what happens at the end of the term, and what happens if you sell the house.
On electrical work, ask which certification the person doing the work holds, not just whether the company is licensed. Those are two different questions and in some states two different credentials.
On a panel upgrade, ask what happens if the existing wiring does not meet code once the panel is open. That is the common change order and it is invisible beforehand.
Solar is sold in the home more than almost anything else on this site. The FTC Cooling-Off Rule gives three business days on a sale made at your home, and the seller must refund within ten days.
No. Public Law 119-21 terminated the Residential Clean Energy Credit, and the IRS states it will not be allowed for expenditures made after 31 December 2025.
No. Under section 25D(e)(8) the expenditure is treated as made when the installation is completed, not when you paid. There is no partial credit.
Because the IRS consumer-facing page still carries legacy text the statute has overtaken, and it uses a placed-in-service test where the fact sheet about the new law uses an expenditures test. This page follows the fact sheet and notes the disagreement.
Lease and power purchase arrangements may still reach the business-side credit under section 48E, because the company owns the system rather than the household. That is a different transaction from buying one, and worth understanding before signing.
Before incentives, $15,000 to about $34,000 depending on system size. EnergySage gives $2.60 a watt and a $31,135 average on a 12 kilowatt system; Solar.com gives $2.50 to $3.50 a watt and $15,000 to $25,000.
About $1,300 to $2,500. Upgrading 100 to 200 amps runs $1,300 to $1,600 and a new 200-amp panel $1,800 to $2,500, over an eight to ten hour job.
Yes, from the state, and generally in tiers based on documented on-the-job hours. California requires 8,000 hours for a general electrician and 4,800 for a residential one. The requirements differ by state, so check yours.
Yes, within three business days under the FTC Cooling-Off Rule, and the seller must refund within ten days.