If you sell solar, the rules just changed.
As of Jan 1 2026, homeowners will no longer be able to claim the 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit for solar systems that are placed in service after Dec 31, 2025. A lot of teams are feeling that shift in their pipeline.
Some operators are already slowing down and blaming policy. Others are tightening up their lists, scripts, and KPIs, and still booking a healthy number of appointments in a post-tax-credit market.
This post is for the second group.
Here’s where things stand now.
For homeowners who buy their systems, the 30% federal residential solar tax credit (Section 25D) is no longer available for new customer-owned installs that begin construction after December 31, 2025.
Older projects that met the start-of-construction rules are generally grandfathered in under prior guidance, but new deals you sell today do not get that 30% credit.
For leases, PPAs, and many commercial projects, tax advantages still exist under the business energy credit rules, usually at 30%, but they depend on when the project starts construction and when it’s placed in service, with current timelines running out around 2027 in most cases.
In those setups, the credit flows to the system owner (the company or fund), and you pass the benefit through via pricing.
So your story shifts:
The game didn’t end. It changed. Your job now is to build urgency around the levers that still matter, rates, local programs, pricing windows, financing, and focus that urgency on people who already raised their hand.
On our DealMachine Solar Masterclass, we brought in operators from all angles, people like Preston Shrieve (New Ways, 100+ solar call centers built), Eric Bowman (EPC in Central Texas with around 150 reps and 20 dealers), Wesley (scaled an in-house call center after starting in digital marketing), along with Mario, Zurich, Maurice, Paul, Carl, and others at different stages of the journey.
Different markets. Different models. Same core truth:
Most solar companies are sitting on a lot of opportunity inside their dialers and CRMs.
That opportunity looks like:
Those aren’t cold prospects. They’re people who already picked up the phone and often already heard your pitch.
On a fresh lead list, maybe 10 out of 100 will ever answer the phone. When you build a list only from people who’ve already answered, your answer rate, talk time, and appointments per hour all jump.
Before the tax-credit change, the urgency story was “maximize local incentives or financing promo windows before they close in 2026.” After the change, the urgency story becomes rate hikes, remaining local incentives, co-op pricing windows, or financing changes, but the structure stays the same.
Here’s what happened with one domestic call center in South Texas that Preston worked with leading up to the tax-credit cutoff. The numbers are from that period, but the system still applies today with updated messaging.
Their “normal” month:
Then June hit and they dropped to 167 appointments. Dials were there. Results weren’t.
Preston went into:
Totals:
He merged callbacks + follow-ups into a single list:
5,240 records, all people who had already picked up at least once.
This is what I’d call a high-performance solar callback list.
At that time, the urgency story was tied to the 30% tax-credit deadline. Going forward, your urgency can be tied to utility rate increases, co-op pricing windows, remaining state/utility incentives, or lender promos, same framework, different “why now.”
Here’s the structure they used:
“Hey John, it’s [Name] with [Company]. We spoke before. The only reason I’m reaching back out is [specific change or deadline]. We’re helping some of your neighbors update their numbers while this is still available. Do days or evenings work better for you?”
Key pieces:
Today, you just plug in a different, honest reason:
Same skeleton, updated story.
They tested this by comparing two time windows.
Before (June 15 – July 5):
After (July 6 – July 15), using only the callback/follow-up list with urgency scripting:
Key jumps:
The takeaway for the post-tax-credit world: who you call and why you call matters more than how many “new” leads you buy.
You don’t need a new lead vendor for this. You need a better process for the leads you already paid for.
Pull the last 6–12 months of:
Export and merge them into a single list, something like:
“Post-Tax-Credit Solar – Callbacks & Follow-Ups”
These will often be your fastest, highest-converting appointments because you’re calling people who already pick up.
Next, pull from your CRM:
Tag these as Rehash. This group gets a slightly different script focused on value and pricing, not just incentives.
Example co-op-style angle:
“We talked back in June and it wasn’t the right time then. Right now we’re running a solar co-op — multiple homeowners going at once so we can secure equipment in bulk and improve pricing. You’re not in that group, but since we already spoke, we can extend that pricing for you to compare. We do need to lock counts by [day]. Would days or evenings be better?”
That’s how you turn “not now” into “show me the numbers,” even without a federal tax credit.
If your dispositions are sloppy, this strategy dies after the first pass.
You want clear tags like:
Train your reps to use these every single day. You’re not just working today’s leads — you’re building the lists you’ll lean on six months from now.
If you change dialers or CRMs and don’t export:
…you’ve thrown away a future campaign that could have booked you hundreds of high-converting solar appointments in a tougher market.
Back everything up before you move. You’ll be glad you did.
A lot of teams obsess over the perfect “post-tax-credit script” and ignore the first 10 seconds of the call. That’s backwards.
Here’s the checklist Preston gives reps moving from doors to phones:
1. Louder intro than feels normal
You sound quieter in the prospect’s ear than you think. Confident volume cuts down on hang-ups.
2. No pause after the name
Don’t do: “Hey John… (pause)… this is Anna with BrightSky Solar…”
Do: “Hey John, this is Anna with BrightSky Solar, we spoke before…”
3. Short, plain-English pitch
No corporate jargon. One clear reason to talk now: higher rates, co-op pricing, local incentives, financing changes, etc.
4. Same-day / next-day mindset
“We’re opening up a few spots as early as tomorrow, are days or evenings better?”
5. Treat callbacks as priority, not leftovers
Callbacks, follow-ups, and rehashes are not “extra work.” They are the work.
In a post-tax-credit world, these basics matter even more because the easy “30% off” hook is gone. The way you run the call has to carry more of the weight.
Preston’s take after building 100+ call centers is straightforward. Domestic teams usually:
In some cases, five strong domestic reps can replace 20–25 overseas reps.
That doesn’t mean overseas or nearshore teams can’t work. If your main goal is low cost per dial and more volume, overseas can be effective. Nearshore markets like Mexico and South America are especially strong if you want to go after Spanish-speaking homeowners at scale.
Just be clear with yourself: Are you building a high-performance, targeted team, or a high-volume, low-cost engine? Your staffing should match that.
At a basic level, you’re choosing between:
Most important rule:
Don’t chase the fanciest dialer. Use the one you’ll actually run every single day.
AI is improving, but here’s the practical breakdown:
AI is useful for:
AI is not yet a full replacement for:
In a tighter, post-tax-credit market, your biggest gains will still come from better lists, better scripts, and better training, with AI handling repetitive follow-up in the background.
This is where DealMachine comes into play.
Top solar callers in our community are using homeowner data with filters like:
Virtual operators like Emanuel are mapping high-energy-cost areas, pulling homeowners from those zones, using dialers instead of door knocking, and focusing only on people who can actually say “yes.” You don’t have to live in the market to win the market. You need better data and a repeatable solar prospecting system.
Cost per appointment feels important, but it can mislead you, especially after a policy change.
You’ll get a clearer picture of your solar sales performance from:
When the South Texas team switched to the callback/follow-up list, all these numbers moved in the right direction while total calls went down. That’s exactly what you want in a tougher market: better output from fewer dials.
Here’s a simple checklist you can execute in the next 7 days:
You don’t control federal policy. You do control what you do with the leads and data you already have.
Q1: How can I keep selling solar after the 30% tax credit ends?
Lean on your callbacks, follow-ups, no-shows, and rehashes instead of chasing only new leads. Build lists from people who already picked up, and base your urgency on things like rising utility rates, co-op pricing windows, remaining local incentives, and current financing programs, not federal credits that no longer apply.
Q2: What’s the best script to book solar appointments in a post-tax-credit market?
Keep it simple:
“Hey [Name], it’s [Rep] with [Company]. We spoke before. The only reason I’m reaching back out is [specific change, rate increase, new program, pricing window]. We’re updating numbers for homeowners in your area while this is available. Are days or evenings better?”
Q3: Should I still buy solar leads now that the big federal credit is gone?
You can, but if you’re not aggressively working callbacks, follow-ups, and rehash lists, you’re leaving money on the table. Most teams can add a lot of appointments just by reworking the data already in their dialer and CRM.
Q4: Can AI replace my solar appointment setters now that margins are tighter?
Not yet. AI can help with texting, email nurturing, and simple workflows, but live outbound calling still converts best with trained humans, especially when you’re building urgency around more nuanced stories than “30% off.”
Q5: What KPIs matter most now that the 30% credit is gone?
Prioritize appointments per hour per rep, contact ratio, talk time, and conversion on qualified contacts. Those numbers tell you if your process still produces profitable installs in a post-tax-credit market.
The 30% residential tax credit going away for new homeowner-owned installs changes the math, but it doesn’t end the game.
Teams that will keep winning in solar will:
Do that, and you’ll stay in control of your pipeline, even when policy isn’t on your side.
If this was helpful and you want to go deeper on real scripts, live KPI breakdowns, and what’s working right now in virtual solar sales, jump into the next DealMachine Solar Masterclass.
We meet weekly with operators who are actually doing this in the field, call centers, virtual teams, EPCs, and solo closers, so you can see what’s working and how others are adapting to the post-tax-credit market in real time.
This blog post does not constitute professional business or legal advice and is for informational purposes only.