Policy shifted. The clock ran out. As of December 31, 2025, the 30% federal residential solar tax credit for homeowner-owned systems ended for new purchases.
The reps who win in 2026 won’t be the ones mourning the old incentive. They’ll be the ones who can still put 2–3 new installs a week on the board because they built a system, not a streak.
This blog builds on the insights from the Solar Masterclass and updates it for the post-credit world:
Originally, the Inflation Reduction Act set the 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit (Section 25D) to run through 2032 for qualifying installations.
In 2025, Congress changed course.
On July 4, 2025, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) was signed into law. Among many other things, it terminated the 30% residential solar tax credit for homeowner-owned systems at the end of 2025.
The IRS FAQs now spell it out plainly:
Section 25D – Residential clean energy credit: “The credit will not be allowed for any expenditures made after December 31, 2025.”
Practically, that means:
If a homeowner’s system was installed and paid for by Dec 31, 2025, they can still claim the 30% credit when they file taxes.
If they start a new homeowner-owned system in 2026, there is no federal 30% credit under 25D.
Certain third-party-owned systems (leases/PPAs) can still tap 48E credits through 2027, with the tax benefit going to the system owner, who may pass it through in pricing.
Your market, your pricing, and your pitch have to assume no 30% residential credit going forward.
The people most exposed in 2026 are the ones who built their whole income on:
One big $10–15k commission each quarter
Hoping nothing goes wrong with the roof, main panel, lender, or installer
The operator mindset in 2026 is different:
“How do I keep 10+ installs a month coming in without leaning on the tax credit crutch?”
“Which markets still work on pure bill math?”
“What needs to change in my system, not my stress level?”
If you build a machine that sells 20+ accounts a month through a process, OBBB is noise in the background, not the thing that decides if you eat.
This part is simple: electricity prices drive your opportunity more than whatever is happening on C-SPAN.
High-rate states where solar still pencils, even if the credit tightens:
You’re often looking at 30¢/kWh or more, with parts of California in the mid-30s, 40s, or even 50s. That bill pressure creates a strong case for solar, as long as you don’t structure the deal poorly.
Lower-rate states with tighter math:
You can still close in those markets, but you’re:
The important point most people overlook: you don’t have to live in a high-rate state. You can sell into high-rate states. That’s where remote prospecting and call centers come in.
A decade ago, building your own solar call center meant writing big checks for data.
Emmanuel’s early data costs looked like this:
That was a real barrier to entry. If you weren’t already closing 20–30 deals a month, it was hard to justify.
Now the math is very different. You can pull tens of thousands of homeowner data for a few hundred dollars. Emmanuel’s pulling around 30,000 records for roughly $200 using built-in homeowner data. That’s less than half a cent per record in the right plan tier.
In practice, that means remote prospecting is no longer reserved for big operators. A small team in one city can call into California, New England, Hawaii, New York, and other high-rate markets. You can test new markets without spending $5,000+ per list.
At a high level, think of it like this:
The edge isn’t “we have data”; the edge is:
If you’re still only selling where you live, and that state has cheap power, you’re making the work harder than it needs to be.
Here are Emmanuel’s actual numbers so this stays concrete.
Team structure:
One month of performance:
The following month: nearly identical results.
Costs (approximate):
Economics:
This setup doesn’t depend on a perfect pitch. It depends on:
That discovery call is the part most teams skip.
Most teams run this process:
Then they blame no-shows and “bad leads.”
Emmanuel’s team adds one extra step that changes outcomes:
3-call structure that works:
On the discovery call, you:
Behavior works in your favor here. People are more likely to follow through on something they’ve already invested time in.
By the time the closer shows up, the homeowner has already:
On the other side, if they:
That’s useful information. It tells you:
The discovery call isn’t just admin. It’s where you:
There’s a lot of conversation about “which country is best.” That’s not the main driver of results.
What teams are seeing work well right now:
Strong sources of callers:
Latin America, especially Mexico, because:
You can find these reps by:
Effective operators hire for coachability more than “years in solar” and prefer to train from scratch rather than unteach bad habits. They pay hourly, so callers aren’t desperate or spammy, and they pay per sit, not per “set,” so quality actually matters.
Set = an appointment booked. Sit = the appointment that actually happens (the closer meets with the homeowner, in-person or on Zoom).
Managers:
On scripting, you want to acknowledge common objections instead of pretending they don’t exist.
Example opener in a saturated market:
“Hey, I’ll be quick. You’ve probably had a lot of people pitch you on solar already, right?”
Once they agree, you’ve:
Then you explain why you’re actually calling and why their utility’s rate path makes it worth checking if they qualify now.
There’s no universal “good” close rate, especially now that markets behave differently without a homeowner credit. Skill, state, utility, and process all matter.
But your core numbers in 2026 are the same:A solid target once you’re dialed in:
~1 closed deal per caller per week
If you’re below that, walk the chain:
In a world where the 30% homeowner credit is gone, the teams who treat this like an actual business, with real KPIs and continuous improvement, will beat the ones waiting for the “good old days” to return.
If you want a solar business that can handle policy swings instead of being controlled by them, here’s a straightforward path forward:
Pick two high-rate states and commit.
Build your math around states where electric rates are already painful.
Build a small, sharp remote team.
Think 3–5 callers and 1–2 closers, not 20 uncoordinated setters.
Lock in the three-call structure.
Set → discovery → close. No discovery and no bill means they don’t get a prime appointment slot.
Pay for real outcomes.
Hourly + per sit for callers. Strong per-deal pay for closers. No rewards for ghost appointments.
Review numbers weekly and adjust one lever at a time.
Fix discovery if sits are weak. Fix training and proposals if close rate is weak. Fix targeting if cost per sit is high.
Policy will keep changing. Power costs will keep rising. The question is whether you build a machine that can work through that, or you react to every new headline.
If you don’t want to piece this together on your own, join us in the Solar Masterclass.
Inside the masterclass, we go deeper into:
The goal is that you leave with a concrete playbook to keep adding 2–3 new solar customers a week, even as the 30% tax credit and financing landscape evolve.