The 25D Solar Tax Credit Is Over. What Homeowners Were Not Told.
As of January 1, 2026, the 30% Section 25D federal solar tax credit has officially expired.
For years, it was used as the backbone of most residential solar financing pitches.
What many homeowners are only now discovering is that the tax credit was not just an incentive.
It was a structural dependency built into how solar loans were sold.
And when the credit disappeared, so did the illusion of low-cost solar.
How Low-Rate Solar Loans Really Worked
Solar companies aggressively marketed loans with interest rates in the low single digits.
Those rates were not free.
They were subsidized by dealer fees often ranging from 25% to over 40% of the system cost.
That meant a solar system with a real market cost of $25,000 could be sold for $35,000 to $40,000 overnight.
This structure was not transparent to consumers.
It was embedded in the financing.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau flagged this exact practice, warning that solar financing often relied on inflated prices, complex loan structures, and consumer misunderstanding of long-term costs.
The 18-Month Payment Cliff Most Homeowners Missed
Many solar loans were structured with an initial teaser payment.
The pitch went like this:
Take the loan. Claim the 30% tax credit. Apply it to the balance.
What was not emphasized was the cliff.
If the homeowner did not apply the tax credit to the loan balance within 12 to 18 months, the monthly payment jumped sharply.
In many cases, payments increased by 30% or more.
The CFPB specifically cited consumer harm tied to these payment resets, especially when tax credits were delayed, reduced, or never materialized.
The Problem Now That 25D Is Gone
With the 25D tax credit expired, the math no longer works.
There is no tax credit to offset inflated system prices.
There is no buffer to absorb dealer fees.
There is no justification for artificially low rates.
Homeowners are left with overpriced systems, higher balances, and fewer exits.
This is not a future risk.
It is already happening.
Why Clear-Title Solar™ Is Different
Clear-Title Solar™ was designed to work without relying on tax credit assumptions.
There are no dealer fees.
There is no price inflation to buy down rates.
There are no payment cliffs tied to tax credit behavior.
When solar is integrated through a mortgage structure, interest is already tax deductible, just like the home itself.
The system price reflects the real cost of solar, not a financing gimmick.
Ownership is clean.
No UCC-1 liens.
No third-party solar debt.
No hidden resets.
The End of 25D Changed the Rules
The expiration of the 25D tax credit did not kill solar.
It exposed weak financing models.
Solar still makes sense when it is priced honestly, financed transparently, and owned outright.
The era of inflated pricing masked by tax credits is over.
What remains are structures built to last.
Clear-Title Solar™ is one of them.
