The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the "IRA") was signed into law on August 16, 2022 and includes significant tax credit incentives for a variety of renewable energy resources that will greatly assist our community in moving towards energy independence. But how will this impact you and your decision to go solar?

The array of rebates and tax breaks will reduce the overall costs of installing solar and investing in other alternative energy resources such as electric vehicles and home batteries, allowing you to more quickly take advantage of the long-term benefits of energy independence.

While there are several new incentives that we have only begun to digest, we are excited to support our community in starting their journey to solar.

Here are some highlights of the IRA energy-specific incentives for homeowners:

• 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) on residential and commercial rooftop solar.Prior to the IRA, the tax credit was 26% for 2022 and decreased to zero by 2024. All Elevated installs completed any time during 2022 and beyond are eligible!

• Home battery and energy storage systems (with or without solar panels) will qualify for the 30% credit for the first time. Store the energy generated by rooftop solar systems for later use, say, during a blackout. This is a great opportunity to be prepared for Colorado’s fire season and reduce your reliance on the grid. This will lead to thousands in savings for homeowners and make energy independence and security easier than ever before. Depending on your local Utility’s standards and requirements, such systems also allow you to sell excess power back to the electric grid, further reducing your energy costs. In addition, you can implement a time of use program setting to pull energy from your battery instead of the grid during the peak hours to save you even more.
• Up to $7,500 tax credit for income qualified Electric Vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicle customers.For those making less than $150k annually ($300k married), now is the time to purchase an EV (and let us help you install at-home charging)! To qualify for the credit, EV sedans must be less than $55k and other vehicle types must be less than $80k. Vehicles must be assembled in North America to qualify, and eventually, all EV batteries must also be made in the U.S. from minerals mined or recycled in North America to incentivize domestic battery manufacturing. Starting in 2024, you can take this credit as a discount on the sticker price at time of purchase instead of as a tax credit the next year.
• Up to $4,000 tax credit for used EV customers.To qualify for the credit, your used electric vehicle must be at least two years old and cost $25k or less. These EV incentives are designed to make innovative technologies more accessible for middle income households.
• $8.5 billion in funding for energy efficiency and electrification in single-family and multi-family homes.These incentives will make weatherizing buildings, upgrading wiring and service panels, and installing more efficient technologies like air source heat pumps more feasible for lower and middle income households. Home improvements can have long term impacts like reduced temperature costs. And, there are more rebates, for homeowners who reduce whole-house energy use by 35%.

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Elevated was founded because we knew that supporting our community in moving towards energy independence would help preserve the kind of Colorado we want to see – and our children deserve – in the future. Reducing our community’s reliance on the grid will reduce our carbon footprint and protect the wild spaces we Coloradans call home.

With these new energy incentives, we are hopeful that more people will be able to begin their journey to solar and take advantage of the personal, and global, benefits of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

We look forward to assisting you in navigating the IRA energy incentives and finding the most cost-effective way to increase your energy independence. Please contact us to learn more about how Elevated can support your journey to solar!

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