The Internal Revenue Service issued a private letter ruling this week to an individual owner of solar panels installed in an off-site net-metered community solar garden.  In the Ruling, the Service confirmed the individual’s eligibility to claim the residential income tax credit for 30 percent of qualified solar electric property expenditures pursuant to Section 25D of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Ruling is significant in several respects:

  1. it confirms that an individual who owns only some of the solar panels and other property comprising a community solar garden may claim the credit,
  2. it appears not to require direct tracking of the electricity produced by the taxpayer’s solar panels and, instead, permits allocation of the aggregate amount of electricity produced by the array based on the number of panels owned by the taxpayer, and
  3. it does not require the taxpayer to contractually agree with the utility that the taxpayer owns the electricity produced by the taxpayer’s panels until drawn from the grid at his residence.
    Continue Reading IRS Opens Door for Community Solar Investors to Qualify for Federal Tax Credits

Federal tax benefits, such as the Section 1603 Grant, investment tax credits and production tax credits, continue to be an important driver in financing renewable energy projects.  Several of my colleagues will be discussing these tax benefits and other incentives related to project financing in a webinar hosted by Infocast on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 1:00

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the first awards of cash grants in lieu of the investment tax credit (ITC) today.  The total award value was over $502 million.  Recipients include projects in Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas.  Click here for a detailed list of the awards

On Friday, January 23, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee released his version of the economic stimulus bill.  Like its House counterpart (H.R. 598), the proposal by Chairman Max Baucus ("Chairman’s Mark") is called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009.  The Chairman’s Mark is scheduled to be considered in the Finance Committee on Tuesday

As part of an $825 billion stimulus plan to help revitalize the economy, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (H.R. 598) was recently introduced in the House of Representatives. The Bill aims to shore up tax incentives and offer new grants that would facilitate the development of renewable energy projects. Highlights of the proposed