Is there a federal tax credit for a home battery in 2026?

For a cash or loan purchase, no. The 30% residential clean energy credit (Section 25D) that covered home batteries ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. A 2026 cash or loan purchase gets no federal credit.

Can I still get 30% if I lease or use a PPA?

Sometimes indirectly. A different, commercial credit (Section 48E) can apply to the company that owns a leased or PPA system — up to 30% — but it flows to them, not onto your tax return. It may be reflected in your lease pricing; ask the provider to show you how.

Is it the same story for solar panels?

Yes. The residential Section 25D credit covered solar and batteries together, so the same December 31, 2025 cutoff applies to a residential solar purchase.

Are there any state or local incentives instead?

Sometimes. In South Carolina, a battery on its own has no state credit — but SC's 25% Solar Energy Credit (Form TC-38, up to $3,500/year, 10-year carryforward) is still available and applies if you add a qualifying solar system. Storage counts only as part of a solar install (a gray area — see SC Revenue Ruling #24-2 and a CPA). Check DSIRE for other programs.

Is there a South Carolina state tax credit for solar or batteries in 2026?

Yes for solar, no for a standalone battery. South Carolina's Solar Energy Credit (S.C. Code 12-6-3587, Form TC-38) is 25% of a qualifying solar system's cost — capped at $3,500/year, carried forward up to 10 years — with no expiration date. A battery qualifies only as part of a solar install (a gray area; see SC Revenue Ruling #24-2). General info, not tax advice — confirm with a CPA.

Is there a home battery tax credit in 2026?

Q: Didn't the 30% battery tax credit run until 2032?

That was the earlier schedule, but the residential credit was ended early — it no longer applies to systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. If a site still says '30% through 2032,' it hasn't been updated.

Short answer: if you're buying a home battery with cash or a loan in 2026, there is no federal tax credit. The 30% credit most websites still advertise — the residential clean energy credit, Section 25D — ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. If a page tells you to expect 30% back on a 2026 purchase, it's out of date.

That's worth getting right, because the credit is the single most-repeated wrong number in home-battery advice today.

What the credit was

Section 25D — the Residential Clean Energy Credit — let homeowners claim 30% of the cost of qualifying solar and battery systems (batteries of 3 kWh and up) as a federal tax credit. You paid for the system, then reduced your federal tax bill by 30% of the cost. For years that was a real, significant discount, and it's why "30% off" became the default assumption.

What changed

The residential credit was ended early. It no longer applies to systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. "Placed in service" means installed and operational — not ordered, not paid for, but actually up and running. So a battery that goes live in 2026 doesn't qualify, even if you started the process in 2025.

For a 2026 cash or loan purchase, that means $0 in federal credit. Plan around the real number, not the old one.

Why you still see "30%" everywhere

Two reasons:

Stale content. A lot of solar and battery sites wrote their "incentives" pages years ago and never updated them. The 30% figure is still sitting there, wrong.
Conflation with the commercial credit. There's a separate credit for commercial clean-energy systems (Section 48E) that still exists. Some sites blur the two, implying a homeowner can still claim 30% directly. You generally can't.

The one real exception: lease or PPA

There's a narrow path where a version of the credit still reaches a 2026 system — but not onto your tax return.

If you lease a system or sign a power-purchase agreement (PPA), a third party owns the equipment. That company may be able to claim the commercial credit (Section 48E, up to 30%) because it's a business owner, not a homeowner. The credit goes to them. It can be reflected in the lease price they offer you, but you don't file for it, and you don't own the system. If a lease or PPA provider mentions "30%," ask them to show you exactly how it shows up in your pricing.

For a straightforward cash or loan purchase — where you own the battery — there is no equivalent.

What this means for your decision

Here's the part that matters most: the credit was never a good reason to buy, and its absence isn't a good reason not to. A battery earns its keep two ways — backup when the grid fails, and bill savings if you're on a time-of-use rate. Both are still true in 2026. What's changed is that the cost is now the full cost, with no 30% cushion.

So price it on the real number. If a battery only made sense with a 30% credit that no longer exists, it probably didn't make sense — and you should know that before you spend. That's what our analyzer is for: it runs your actual bill and shows what a battery does for your home, at today's real prices, with no phantom credit baked in.

What South Carolina still offers

Federal isn't the only layer — and this is where most sites get South Carolina wrong in both directions.

For a battery on its own, there's no SC credit. The state's incentive is a solar credit, and a battery charged from the grid isn't a solar system.

But SC's residential Solar Energy Credit is very much alive — despite sites that call it dead (they're confusing it with a separate, non-residential credit that did end). Under S.C. Code § 12-6-3587 (Form TC-38), you can claim 25% of the cost of a qualifying solar energy system, capped at $3,500 per year (or 50% of your tax liability), with any excess carried forward up to 10 years — and, unlike the federal credit, it has no expiration date. The system has to be performance-certified (SRCC or a state-endorsed equivalent), which a reputable installer handles.

So where does a battery fit? Only as part of a qualifying solar install — and even then, whether specific storage costs count as equipment "used directly and exclusively for the solar energy system" is a gray area. The bottom line: add solar, and the 25% SC credit is a real, ongoing incentive; buy a battery by itself, and it doesn't apply. If you're weighing the storage-with-solar question, SC Revenue Ruling #24-2 is the state's own Q&A on this credit — bring it, and your specifics, to a CPA. (State and utility programs also change; DSIRE tracks them by ZIP.)

This is general information, not tax advice. Tax rules change and depend on your situation — confirm the current federal, state, and local rules with a qualified tax professional before you rely on them.