In a recently released private letter ruling (available here), the IRS confirmed that residential solar energy batteries are eligible for the tax credit under Section 25D of the Code (the “Residential Solar Credit”), subject to an important and unexpected caveat.

In Priv. Ltr. Rul. 2018-03-009 (Mar. 2, 2018) (the “PLR”), the taxpayers had previously installed a solar energy system on their home and claimed the Residential Solar Credit.  The taxpayers were now purchasing a battery to integrate into their existing solar energy system.  The battery was designed such that charging would only occur when the solar energy system was producing energy and only up to the instantaneous solar power, thereby ensuring that all energy that was used to charge the battery would come from the solar energy system. The remaining useful life of the solar energy system was expected to exceed the useful life of the battery.  The taxpayers posed two questions to the IRS: (1) Is the battery a type of property that is eligible for the Residential Solar Credit and, if so, (2) will the battery remain eligible for the Residential Solar Credit even though it was installed subsequent to the year in which the solar energy system was installed.
Continue Reading Residential Solar Storage is Eligible for Tax Credit, Subject to a 100% Cliff