Federal Tax Credit for Solar Energy
Tapping the sun for power just feels good -- solar power doesn't pollute, reduces our use of coal and other fossil fuels, and thereby helps reduce your individual carbon footprint. But it's also five times as expensive as electricity from coal and other sources.
To encourage Americans to use solar power, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy run the Energy Star program, which, among other projects, offers tax credits for solar-powered appliances.
If you install Energy Star-approved solar-power systems before the end of 2016, you can claim 30 percent of the cost as a tax credit for the year you installed it.
As a credit, you take the amount directly off your tax payment, rather than as a deduction from your taxable income. You can claim the credit for your primary residence, a vacation home, and for either an existing structure or new construction. Other than the cost of the system, there's no limit to the dollar amount of the credit.
You can't claim a credit for installing solar power at rental properties you own.
The exception is if you also live in the house for part of the year, and use it as a rental when you're away. You'll have to reduce the credit for a vacation home, rental or otherwise, to reflect the time you're not there. If you live there for three months a year, for instance, you can only claim 25 percent of the credit: If the system cost $10,000, the 30 percent credit would be $3,000, and you could claim a quarter of that, or $750.
To claim the credit, you must file IRS Form 5695 as part of your tax return; you calculate the credit on the form, and then enter the result on your 1040.
If you end up with a bigger credit than you have income tax due -- a $3,000 credit on a $2,500 tax bill, for instance -- you can't use the credit to get money back from the IRS. Instead, you can carry the credit over to the following tax year. Energy Star states that you should be able to carry the credit over as far as 2016 if need be.
Energy Star also offers the 30 percent credit for residential wind turbines, geothermal heat pumps and fuel cells. You can also claim a credit for such Energy Star-approved products as wood stoves, insulation and non-solar water heaters if you installed them between Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2010. The maximum you can claim under this credit is $1,500.
