Commercial · Farm · Industrial
The federal solar credit ended for homeowners. It did not end for your business.
A business-owned system still qualifies for a 30% federal credit under Section 48E, plus first-year depreciation, plus Illinois Shines, plus the utility rebate. On a recent Braven project those four covered 87% of what the business paid. The credit expires at the end of 2027.
Tell us what you need
We'll tell you within a week whether the property is worth a proposal. If it isn't, we'll say so and tell you why.
A real Braven project
35 kW on a flat commercial roof, with every number from the proposal.
An actual Braven proposal from September 2026 with the customer's details removed. Nothing here is modelled or averaged.
| System | 35.4 kW DC, 25 kW AC, 60 modules |
| Estimated production | 43,357 kWh per year |
| Project cost | $132,216 |
| Federal credit, Section 48E at 30% | $39,506 |
| Illinois Shines, net of fees | $41,272 |
| Utility distributed generation rebate | $10,620 |
| First-year depreciation, cash value at 21% | $23,617 |
| Total benefit | $115,015 |
| Estimated annual electricity saving | $8,238 |
The incentives cover about 87% of what the business paid. Net cost lands near $17,200 against an annual saving of $8,238, so the system pays for itself in about two years.
Those figures assume the business has federal tax liability to absorb both the credit and the first-year deduction. A business with little liability sees a smaller benefit, possibly spread across years. Depreciation is modelled at a 21% federal corporate rate with 100% bonus depreciation and the required 50% ITC basis reduction. Your accountant should see these numbers before you sign anything. We will send them the working.
The deadline
Miss 31 December 2027 and the credit is gone.
Section 48E requires the system placed in service, meaning finished, inspected and energised, by 31 December 2027. There is no partial credit for a project that lands late.
Projects beginning construction after 4 July 2026 no longer get the extended completion window. Projects beginning in 2026 or later must also meet a Material Assistance Cost Ratio, a minimum share of non-foreign-sourced equipment; Braven sources and documents accordingly, though final eligibility depends on supplier certification at procurement.
Work backwards from that date: design, structural and electrical engineering, permitting, utility interconnection review, equipment lead times, install. Interconnection is the long pole and the utility controls it, not us. A project starting in mid-2027 is already tight.
This is the only deadline on this website. Congress set it, not us.
What we look at first
Before anyone builds you a proposal.
The bill.
Twelve months of it if you have them. Demand charges, rate structure and operating hours decide whether production lines up with consumption. A building that runs nights does not save what a building that runs days saves.
The roof or the ground.
Structure, age, membrane, ballast capacity, penetrations, access, equipment placement. If the membrane has five years left in it, you need a roofer before you need us.
The service.
Existing capacity, transformer, meter location, and what the utility will require. This is where commercial projects get expensive.
The tax position.
Whether the entity can use a credit and first-year depreciation. A business with little liability still saves on power, but the payback stretches out.
Who this fits
Warehouses and shops
Large roofs, daytime load, real electric spend.
Farms and rural property
Ground space, irrigation and drying loads, and owners who think in decades.
Owner-occupied businesses
Whoever pays the bill owns the building and can use the benefit.
Franchises and multi-site operators
One property proves the model, then it repeats.
Equipment and warranty
Tier 1 modules from Qcells, Axitec or Phono Solar. Fronius, SMA or Enphase inverters depending on the design, with SMA on the larger systems. Revenue-grade metering on every commercial job for program reporting.
25 years on the modules, 25 on the installation, 12 on the inverter, and a 25-year leak-free guarantee on every roof penetration. On a commercial membrane that last one is the warranty you care about.
Questions we get asked
Is the 30% credit really still available?
What if we lease the building?
Can you guarantee those returns?
How long does a commercial project take?
Do you do the electrical work?
Send us twelve months of bills.
We'll tell you within a week whether the property is worth a proposal, what the incentives look like for your entity, and where the schedule sits against 31 December 2027.
Tell us what you need
We'll tell you within a week whether the property is worth a proposal. If it isn't, we'll say so and tell you why.