Category Archives: Commercial Solar

The 2023 solar tax credit for businesses

The best solar incentive is the federal investment tax credit (ITC). This is true both for home- and business owners: by providing you a credit on your taxes equal to 30 percent of the cost of your solar panel system, the ITC provides a significant benefit to anyone looking to add solar. For the most part, the business solar (and storage) ITC works nearly exactly the same way as it does for homeowners, with a few key nuances. In this article, we’ll explain what you need to know about the ITC for businesses in 2023.

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Q&A with Sunstone Credit

When homeowners go solar, there are a few different ways to finance your project: you can pay with cash, take out a loan, or choose to lease your system. When businesses or nonprofits go solar, cash often isn’t an option given the size of the investment, so having an attractive range of financing options becomes even more important. And often, the only businesses that can access financing are larger organizations, leaving small-to-midsize businesses struggling to find a reasonable solar financing solution. Sunstone Credit has solved that gap by, in their own words, providing “flexible financing solutions for businesses of all sizes,” making it easier for your business–or nonprofit!–to install a solar system. We sat down with Sunstone Credit to learn more about their background, offerings, and advice for businesses looking to go solar.

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Blue Planet Energy’s hybrid PPA: what you need to know

One of the largest barriers to more solar development at the commercial level–from dentist offices to large manufacturing facilities–is a lack of accessible financing options. This is particularly true for projects that include batteries, and even more so the case for the budding world of microgrid projects.

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What’s on your business’s electricity bill?

Electric utility costs can represent a significant portion of annual operational expenditures for businesses. While there are many ways to reduce how much your company spends on electricity (like solar!), the first step to reducing your electricity bills is to understand what’s on them: what are the components of your electricity bill, how do they impact the price you pay for electricity, and what can you do to reduce those costs?

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Should your business invest in energy storage?

Energy storage is a great option for commercial properties looking to cut energy costs and improve reliability. With storage prices decreasing in recent years, state and federal incentives to install storage, and increasingly complex–and pricey!–electricity rate schedules for businesses, there’s never been a better time to install solar and storage at your business. To help you decide whether storage is right for your organization, here’s a rundown of how storage works and the primary reasons that businesses are installing storage.

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Lagunitas understands the benefits of solar for businesses

As the cost of solar continues to fall, more and more homeowners are adding it to their properties – but did you know that commercial and industrial (C&I) businesses are also able to reap the benefits of solar? In fact, the incentives for businesses to go solar are often even better than for homeowners! Lagunitas, a popular California brewery, recently joined the growing list of businesses to go solar and has been enjoying all of the benefits that it has to offer, both from a financial and community perspective. We sat down with the brewery to learn more about their experience going solar.

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Solar incentives for businesses in 2021

It’s not just homeowners that can take advantage of the benefits of solar: commercial and industrial businesses can also participate in the clean energy revolution by installing solar–and storage!–on their properties. In fact, in many cases, the incentives for businesses to invest in solar are even better than they are for homeowners. If you are a business looking to explore your solar options, here are the key incentives to be aware of in 2021.

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Bonus depreciation: what you need to know

As a business looking to go solar in the US, the best incentives available to you are tax incentives. Between the investment tax credit (ITC)–which works the same for businesses as it does for homeowners–and depreciation benefits at both the state and federal level, you can expect to receive half of what you pay for solar back as tax benefits. While the ITC has been around for a long time, and its success is well documented, bonus depreciation is a newer incentive that can provide nearly as large of a tax benefit as the ITC.

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