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The Section 48/48E commercial ITC is still available for CT projects beginning construction before July 4, 2026. The third-party system owner claims 30% base + bonus adders up to 70%. Stack with MACRS depreciation (20% bonus in 2026 only), CT Green Bank C-PACE financing, and RRES Buy-All at $0.3289/kWh locked 20 years.
Base ITC
30%
Max ITC w/ Adders
50-70%
MACRS Bonus 2026
20%
RRES Buy-All
$0.3289/kWh
Two Critical Deadlines for CT Commercial Solar
July 4, 2026: Section 48/48E ITC requires construction to begin before this date (5% safe harbor applies). December 31, 2026: MACRS 20% bonus depreciation expires — drops to 0% in 2027. Projects placed in service after 2026 lose the enhanced first-year write-off. See residential solar costs
Section 25D (residential solar ITC) expired December 31, 2025. Homeowners who purchase solar with cash or a loan receive $0 in federal tax credits. This page covers the commercial Section 48/48E ITC, which is still active through July 4, 2026 for the third-party system owner. RSIP is also dead — replaced by RRES in 2022.
The commercial ITC is the cornerstone of CT commercial solar economics. The base 30% credit can be stacked with bonus adders for qualifying projects.
Maximum combined ITC: 50-70% depending on project qualifications
Available for all commercial solar projects beginning construction before July 4, 2026. The third-party system owner claims the ITC, not the installer.
Panels, inverters, and racking manufactured in the US. Must meet prevailing-wage requirements. FEOC compliance required after July 4, 2026.
Projects in census tracts with closed coal mines/plants, brownfield sites, or communities with fossil fuel employment above thresholds. Several CT sites qualify.
+10% for projects in low-income census tracts or on Indian land. +20% for projects in qualified low-income residential buildings or benefiting low-income households.
Who Claims the Commercial ITC?
The entity that owns the solar system claims the ITC. If the business buys the system with cash or a loan, the business claims the credit. If a PPA provider, lessor, or C-PACE financing company owns the panels, that third party claims the ITC and passes the benefit through lower rates. The installer never claims the ITC — only the system owner does.
MACRS allows businesses to depreciate commercial solar over 5 years. In 2026, a 20% first-year bonus accelerates the write-off. This bonus drops to 0% in 2027 — making 2026 the last year with enhanced depreciation.
| Year | Standard 5-Year MACRS | With 20% Bonus (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1LARGEST DEDUCTION | 20.00% | 36.00% |
| Year 2 | 32.00% | 25.60% |
| Year 3 | 19.20% | 15.36% |
| Year 4 | 11.52% | 9.22% |
| Year 5 | 11.52% | 9.22% |
| Year 6 | 5.76% | 4.60% |
At 21% corporate tax rate. Pass-through entities use individual rates (up to 37%), increasing the benefit.
2027: Bonus Depreciation Drops to 0%
Projects placed in service after December 31, 2026 lose the 20% first-year bonus. The standard 5-year MACRS schedule still applies, but Year 1 deduction drops from 36% to 20% of the depreciable basis. For a $400,000 system, that means $13,600 less in Year 1 tax savings.
Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) rules affect which components qualify for the domestic content bonus and, critically, the construction start deadline for the base ITC.
You do not need to complete the project by July 4, 2026. You only need to begin construction. The easiest path is the 5% safe harbor:
Commercial solar costs decrease significantly with scale. These are all-in prices including equipment, engineering, permitting, installation, and interconnection.
$1.80–$2.55/W
<100 kW
Example System
50 kW rooftop
Gross Cost (before ITC)
$90,000-$127,500
Best For
Retail, restaurants, small offices, auto shops
$1.40–$1.90/W
100-500 kW
Example System
250 kW warehouse
Gross Cost (before ITC)
$350,000-$475,000
Best For
Warehouses, schools, mid-size manufacturing
$1.10–$1.50/W
>500 kW
Example System
1 MW ground-mount
Gross Cost (before ITC)
$1,100,000-$1,500,000
Best For
Industrial, municipal, ground-mount, carport
Prices as of February 2026. Based on commercial solar project data for Connecticut. Does not include battery storage. Sales tax exemption (6.35%) is additional savings. Actual cost depends on roof condition, structural engineering, and utility interconnection requirements.
Connecticut’s C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) program, administered by the CT Green Bank, lets commercial property owners finance solar with zero upfront cost. Repayment is made through a special assessment on the property tax bill.
No upfront capital required
Repaid through property tax bill over 20-25 years
Transfers to new owner if property sells
Non-recourse (attached to property, not borrower)
Does not appear on corporate balance sheet
Covers 100% of project costs including soft costs
CT Green Bank administers the program
Available statewide for eligible commercial properties
C-PACE + ITC: When the C-PACE financing company or a third-party developer owns the system, they claim the Section 48/48E ITC and pass the savings to the property owner through lower assessments. If the property owner retains ownership, they claim the ITC directly against their tax liability.
The RRES Buy-All tariff provides a guaranteed revenue stream of $0.3289/kWh locked for 20 years. This is especially attractive for third-party owned commercial systems.
Third-party systems / PPA
Based on CT average solar production of 1,300 kWh/kW/yr. Revenue is to the system owner, not the building owner in a PPA structure.
Connecticut provides two powerful state-level exemptions that apply to commercial solar installations, stacking on top of the federal ITC and MACRS.
All solar equipment is exempt from CT’s 6.35% sales tax. This is an immediate, upfront savings at the time of purchase.
Permanent exemption. Form CERT-140 provided at purchase.
Solar installations add $0 to assessed property value. With CT commercial property tax rates averaging 2.0-3.5%, this exemption saves thousands annually over the system lifetime.
100% exclusion, permanent. At 2.5% avg rate over 25 years, saves 62.5% of system cost in property taxes.
Two deadlines converge in 2026 — the Section 48/48E construction start (July 4) and the MACRS bonus depreciation expiration (December 31). Every month of delay reduces your incentive stack.
Site assessment, engineering, and financing
Equipment procurement, permitting, C-PACE application
Begin construction (5% safe harbor)
Complete installation, interconnection
MACRS bonus drops to 0%
Real numbers showing how the ITC, MACRS, RRES Buy-All revenue, and electricity savings combine for CT businesses of different sizes.
50 kW rooftop
Payback
5.1 yr
25-Year Value
$211,000
250 kW warehouse
Payback
3.3 yr
25-Year Value
$1,155,000
1 MW ground-mount
Payback
2.2 yr
25-Year Value
$4,866,000
Assumptions: CT average production 1,300 kWh/kW/yr. Electric rate $0.29/kWh with 3% annual increase. MACRS at 21% corporate rate. Mid-size example includes energy community bonus (+10% ITC). Large-scale example includes domestic content + energy community bonuses (+20% ITC). RRES Buy-All at $0.3289/kWh locked 20yr. Sales and property tax exemptions included in 25-year value.
Four primary financing structures for CT commercial solar, each with different implications for who claims the ITC.
Business claims ITC + MACRS
Business claims ITC + MACRS
Depends on ownership structure
Third-party owner claims ITC
$2.60-3.10/W, city-by-city pricing
Netting vs Buy-All tariffs explained
Solar financing options in CT
All CT solar & heat pump guides
Free assessment for your business
National commercial solar guide
Yes. The Section 48/48E commercial Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is still available for commercial solar projects that begin construction before July 4, 2026. The base rate is 30%, with bonus adders for domestic content (+10%), energy community (+10%), and low-income projects (+10-20%) that can stack up to 50-70%. This is different from the residential 25D credit which expired December 31, 2025. The third-party system owner (developer, financing company, or business if they purchase directly) claims the ITC, not the installer.
The entity that OWNS the solar system claims the Section 48/48E ITC. If a CT business buys the system outright with cash or a loan, they claim the ITC on their federal tax return. If the project uses a PPA, lease, or C-PACE structure where a third-party developer/financing company owns the panels, that third party claims the ITC and passes the benefit to the business through lower rates. The installer never claims the ITC -- only the system owner does. Nonprofits and tax-exempt entities (schools, municipalities) can benefit through PPA/lease structures where the for-profit owner claims the credit.
C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) is a financing mechanism administered by the CT Green Bank that allows commercial property owners to finance solar installations with no upfront capital. The loan is repaid through a special assessment on the property tax bill over 20-25 years. C-PACE is non-recourse (attached to the property, not the borrower), transfers to new owners if the property sells, and does not appear on the corporate balance sheet. It covers 100% of project costs including soft costs. C-PACE rates are typically 5-7% fixed.
The RRES Buy-All tariff pays $0.3289/kWh locked for 20 years for all solar production exported to the grid. This is particularly attractive for commercial third-party owned systems (PPA/lease) because the system owner gets a guaranteed revenue stream. For a 250 kW system producing approximately 325,000 kWh/year, Buy-All generates about $106,900/year in revenue. Combined with the Section 48 ITC and MACRS depreciation, this creates a very attractive investment for commercial solar developers in CT.
The Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) deadline is July 4, 2026. After this date, solar projects using components manufactured by foreign entities of concern (primarily certain Chinese companies) may lose eligibility for the domestic content bonus (+10% ITC adder). More critically, the Section 48/48E ITC requires projects to begin construction before this date. "Begin construction" means either starting physical work of a significant nature OR paying/incurring at least 5% of total project costs (the 5% safe harbor). Projects should order equipment and execute contracts well before July 4.
MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System) lets businesses depreciate commercial solar over 5 years for tax purposes, even though panels last 25+ years. In 2026, there is an additional 20% first-year bonus depreciation on top of the standard MACRS schedule. The depreciable basis is reduced by half the ITC amount (e.g., with 30% ITC, depreciable basis = 85% of cost). In 2027, bonus depreciation drops to 0%, so only the standard 5-year schedule applies. This makes 2026 the last year with enhanced first-year write-offs.
Yes. Connecticut offers both sales tax exemption (6.35%) and property tax exemption for solar installations on commercial properties. The sales tax exemption applies to all solar equipment at the time of purchase -- on a $400,000 commercial system, that saves $25,400 immediately. The property tax exemption means the solar system adds $0 to your assessed property value. With CT commercial property tax rates averaging 2.0-3.5%, this exemption saves thousands annually over the 25+ year life of the system.
A typical CT commercial solar project takes 6-12 months from initial assessment to operation. The timeline includes: site assessment and engineering (2-4 weeks), financing/C-PACE application (4-8 weeks), permitting and utility interconnection (4-8 weeks), equipment procurement (4-12 weeks), installation (2-8 weeks depending on size), inspection and interconnection (2-4 weeks). To capture the 20% MACRS bonus depreciation and begin construction before the July 4, 2026 FEOC deadline, businesses should start the process no later than Q1 2026. The 5% safe harbor allows you to meet the deadline by paying 5% of total cost before July 4.
The Section 48/48E ITC (30-70%), MACRS 20% bonus depreciation, and RRES Buy-All at $0.3289/kWh create a narrow window of maximum value for CT commercial solar. Both deadlines converge in 2026.
We analyze your property, utility territory (Eversource or UI), tax situation, C-PACE eligibility, and project timeline to maximize your incentive stack. No RSIP fluff, no expired 25D claims — just real commercial numbers.
Call for immediate commercial solar consultation