Michigan solar incentives in 2026, honestly

Most of what you will read about solar incentives online is out of date. Pages written in 2024 still say you get 30% back on your taxes, and plenty of installers have not updated their advertising. Here is the current picture, as of August 2026.

The residential federal tax credit is gone

The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit, Section 25D of the tax code, gave homeowners 30% of the cost of a solar system back as a credit against their federal taxes. It expired on December 31, 2025.

It did not step down to 26%, and then 22%, the way earlier versions of the credit did. It ended. To have qualified, a system had to be installed and placed in service on or before that date.

If somebody is still quoting you a price with “after the 30% credit” math on it in 2026, that quote is wrong, and it is wrong in the direction that costs you money.

What this means practically: a residential system that would have had a seven or eight year payback in 2025 has a longer one now. Not an infinite one, and not the same one on every roof. Whether it still works depends on your rate, your usage, your roof orientation, and shading, which is exactly why we start every design with your last twelve months of usage rather than a rule of thumb.

The business credit is still here

Commercial projects are a different story. The Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit, Section 48E, is still available to businesses.

The structure is a base credit with a substantially higher rate available to projects that meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. There are also timing rules tied to when construction begins and when a system is placed in service, plus sourcing restrictions on certain components that can disqualify a project entirely.

Those rules are specific enough, and change often enough, that the only honest thing to say on a web page is this: the credit exists for businesses, the timelines are real, and we confirm in writing what applies to your specific project before you sign anything. If you are considering a commercial array, the timing question is worth a conversation sooner rather than later.

Depreciation, for businesses

A commercial solar array is a depreciable asset. Between accelerated depreciation and the investment tax credit, the effective cost to a business is meaningfully lower than the sticker price. Your accountant is the right person to run that math for your situation, and we will give them whatever project documentation they need.

What Michigan itself offers

Michigan does not have a statewide solar tax credit or a statewide rebate program for homeowners. What Michigan has is a distributed generation program that governs what your utility pays you for the energy your array sends back to the grid, and that is worth understanding properly because it drives how big your system should be.

We wrote that up separately: how Michigan credits the energy your array exports.

There is also financing through Michigan Saves, the statewide clean energy financing program, for both residential and commercial projects.

What we would rather you take away

The disappearance of the residential credit changed the arithmetic. It did not end residential solar, and it did not make it a bad idea everywhere. It made the difference between a good roof and a mediocre one much larger than it used to be.

That is a reason to get a real design rather than a rule of thumb, and a reason to be suspicious of anyone selling you on urgency. We would rather tell you your roof is not a good candidate than sell you a system that never pays for itself.

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Nothing on this page is tax advice. Incentive rules change and depend on your specific situation. Confirm anything here with your accountant before making a decision.