The honest answer is no. The Section 25D residential solar Investment Tax Credit — the 30% federal income-tax credit that anchored residential solar payback math from 2022 through 2025 — expired December 31, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Section 48E, which covers commercial systems and third-party-owned residential arrangements, continues with phase-down rules. That's a different regime, and for a homeowner buying solar in 2026, it's mostly irrelevant.
Most installer marketing has not caught up. As of 2026-04, an unsettling share of residential solar proposals still show "30% federal tax credit" as a line item — sometimes prominently, sometimes folded into the financing math where it's harder to spot. That single line can flip a 12-year payback into a 17-year payback. If your proposal shows it, the installer is either out of date or misleading.
What 25D was, and what it did
Section 25D of the federal tax code allowed homeowners to claim 30% of the installed cost of a residential solar system — panels, inverters, racking, labor, permitting fees, and qualifying battery storage — as a credit against federal income tax in the year the system was placed in service. On a $24,000 install, that meant $7,200 off federal tax liability. If the homeowner's tax liability that year was lower than the credit, the unused portion rolled forward.
The 30% credit was the difference between residential solar making sense in most of the country and residential solar making sense in maybe ten states. It expired 12/31/2025. There is no replacement. There is no extension currently before Congress. The post-ITC residential solar economy started January 1, 2026.
What is still on the table for residential homeowners
The federal subsidy is gone. State-level economics are not. Several categories of incentive survive — and in some states, they still drive an 8-12 year payback even without the federal credit.
State income-tax credits. New York runs a 25% credit capped at $5,000. Massachusetts runs 15% capped at $1,000. New Mexico runs 10% capped at $6,000. South Carolina runs a 25% credit with up to $35,000 over 10 years. These are state-level credits applied against state income tax — entirely separate from the expired federal credit.
State and utility rebates. Programs like New York's NY-Sun Megawatt Block, Illinois Shines, New Jersey's Successor Solar Incentive (SuSI), Oregon's Energy Trust residential incentive, and Wisconsin's Focus on Energy program pay direct rebates per watt installed or per system. Block-funded programs phase down as capacity is committed — the rebate available today is often smaller than it was a year ago.
Sales-tax and property-tax exemptions. Florida, Texas, New Jersey, and roughly 15 other states exempt residential solar from sales tax at purchase, property-tax assessment increase from the system, or both. The savings are real but small relative to the expired 30% federal credit — typically $1,500-3,000 on a $24,000 system, not $7,200.
SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Certificates). Active markets in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and DC. SRECs are state Renewable Portfolio Standard compliance instruments — utilities buy them from solar owners to meet RPS mandates. Pricing ranges from $50-280 per certificate depending on state. SREC income persists post-ITC because state RPS mandates persist.
Net metering. The mechanism by which exported solar production is credited against your utility bill. Full retail in Florida, Hawaii (partial), Massachusetts (active), Illinois, New Jersey. Cut significantly in California under NEM 3.0. None or wholesale-only in many southern states. Net metering is now the largest single lever in post-ITC residential solar payback math.
Why some installers still quote the expired credit
Two reasons, neither malicious. Most residential solar sales software was built between 2022 and 2025 around the 30% credit. The proposal templates, financing calculators, and customer-facing dashboards default to including it unless an admin explicitly removes the line. Software updates lag, especially in mid-sized installer shops without a dedicated tooling team.
The second reason is sales habit. A 12-year payback is a much harder sale than a 9-year payback, and the sales team that built its pitch around the federal credit doesn't have a new pitch yet. Some installers are actually not aware that 25D expired — sales reps are not tax professionals. Some installers are aware and are choosing to quote the expired credit anyway.
What to ask an installer in 2026
Ask whether the proposal includes the 30% federal residential ITC. If the answer is yes, the proposal is incorrect for a 2026 self-owned residential install. Have them remove the line and re-run the payback math. Then ask which state-level programs apply to your install by name — NY-Sun, SMART, SuSI, Illinois Shines, the state's specific income-tax credit. An installer who can name the actual surviving incentives is operating in 2026 reality. An installer who can't is selling on autopilot.
This is reference, not a quote. Run your specific numbers through the Solar Reality Check 2026 tool — it removes the federal credit by default and prices payback against the surviving state programs. For the broader post-ITC framing, see the solar hub.