2021 ITC Step Down

In preparation for the upcoming Federal Investment Tax Credit (“Federal ITC”) step down from 26% to 22% on January 1, 2023, OpenSolar has created a new Incentive for the 2021 Federal ITC, titled “Federal Tax Credit (ITC) - 2021”, which is available for all our US pros today.

You may choose any of the following three approaches to start using this new incentive:

1. Change your default to the new incentive in advance of 2021
2. Select which ITC year to apply at the project-level while designing each system
3. Wait until January 1, 2021 when OpenSolar will make this the default for all new projects created (not recommended)

This HelpCenter article will cover each of these three approaches.

1. Change your default to the new incentive in advance of 2021

OpenSolar pros that wish to change the default Federal ITC Incentive on all new projects created prior to January 1, 2021 to the “Federal Tax Credit (ITC) - 2021” Incentive will need to go to Control > Other > Incentives, and under Actions click the edit button on the “Federal Tax Credit (ITC) – 2021” (Fig. 3).

Then turn on the Auto-Enabled, and don’t forget to hit SAVE.

To learn more about the Auto-Apply subfields, please see our help center article What is Auto-Apply.

Then you will need to turn off the Auto-Apply for the old 26 percent Federal ITC, again under Actions click the edit button on the “Federal Tax Credit (ITC)”, turn off Auto Apply enabled, and don’t forget to hit SAVE.

2: Select which ITC year to apply at the project-level while designing each system

Alternatively, if you would like to update the Federal ITC Incentive on a per project basis, you can change the Incentive by visiting Project > Design tab > Incentives and clicking Override Default Incentives and Selecting “Federal Tax Credit (ITC) – 2021” (and be sure to uncheck the 2020 ITC: “Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC)” so you don’t quote both incentives on a single project.

3: Wait until January 1, 2021 when OpenSolar will make this the default for all new projects created

The existing “Federal Tax Credit (ITC)” incentive reflects the current 26% Federal ITC.

On January 1, 2021 the OpenSolar Team will switch the default/auto-apply incentive to the new “Federal Tax Credit (ITC) - 2021” incentive.  You do not need to take any action if you choose this approach although it is not recommended since projects quoted in late December are unlikely to qualify for the 2020 ITC.

 To learn more about Incentives, please see our help center article How to Setup Incentives