Is solar and battery worth it in 2026?
Key takeaways
- The 25D cash-purchase credit ended on December 31, 2025.
- The 48E credit survives for lease and PPA through 2027, which favors third-party ownership.
- Payback depends most on your rate, your sun, time-of-use pricing and how long you stay.
- Run your own bill through the calculators before deciding.
The short answer: it depends on your electricity rate, your sun and how you pay. The honest answer needs your own numbers. What changed on January 1, 2026 is the tax picture, so advice written before then is out of date.
What changed with the tax credit
The 25D residential clean energy credit, the 30 percent you claimed when you bought a system with cash or a loan, ended on December 31, 2025. If you buy a system outright in 2026, that 30 percent is no longer there. This raises the out-of-pocket cost of a cash purchase and lengthens its payback compared with 2025.
The 48E credit, which applies to third-party owned systems such as leases and power purchase agreements, survives through the end of 2027. Because the leasing company owns the system, it can claim 48E and pass part of the saving to you as a lower rate. That single difference reshapes the buy versus lease decision in 2026: cash got relatively more expensive, while lease and PPA kept an incentive.
What actually drives your payback
Four things move the needle far more than any brochure number:
- Your electricity rate. The higher your cents per kWh, the faster solar pays back, because every kWh you self-supply is worth more.
- Your sun and roof. Orientation, shade and local sun hours decide how much the panels actually produce.
- Time-of-use plans. If your utility charges much more at peak hours, a battery that shifts energy from cheap hours to expensive hours adds real savings. Run the time-of-use calculator to see how much.
- How long you stay. Payback takes years. If you may move soon, the math changes.
Run your own numbers
Generic payback claims are close to useless because the answer is local. Put your real bill into the payback calculator and compare a cash purchase against a lease, then layer in time-of-use savings if your plan has peak pricing. Five minutes with your own bill beats any rule of thumb.
What about a battery without solar?
A battery on its own does not generate power, so it does not lower your total energy use. It can still pay in two cases: on a time-of-use plan, by charging cheap and discharging at peak, and as backup, by saving you the cost and misery of an outage. Whether that math works depends on your rate spread and how often the power goes out. The sizing calculator shows how much capacity your must-run loads actually need.
When it still makes sense in 2026
Lean toward yes when several of these are true:
- High electricity rates, especially with a steep time-of-use spread.
- Good sun and an unshaded roof.
- Frequent or costly outages where you live.
- You plan to stay in the home for many years.
Lean toward no when rates are low, the roof is poor, or you may move soon. A lease or PPA can still make sense in 2026 even for a cash-shy buyer, because the 48E credit lives in the rate.
This is information to help you decide, not financial or electrical advice. Confirm any decision with a certified installer and, for the tax side, a tax professional.