Investment Tax Credits Will Support Solar Panel Installations at our Nation’s Schools
At the end of 2020, we wrote about our work helping to implement San Diego Unified School District’s ambitious goals to create solar energy at every one of its more than 200 school campuses as well as various administrative facilities.
Our architects are providing design criteria to be used by design/build contractors for parking lot and playground shelters topped with solar panels. If you missed our article the first time around, it’s worth a look! Just click on the hyperlink above.
As that work continues and more school districts contemplate and implement solar energy systems, we’re celebrating the financial incentives now available to these school districts through H.R. 5376, also known as the Inflation Reduction Act.
According to Solar Power World, the Act includes a 10-year extension of the solar investment tax credit (ITC) at 30% (previously 26%) for both residential and commercial/utility-scale projects, direct pay for nonprofit and governmental entities, a 30% ITC for standalone storage, manufacturing credits for solar components and much more.
PV Magazine tells its readers, “Solar power projects eligible for the full 30% tax credit can increase their tax credit by an additional 10% – to 40% in total – by purchasing domestically produced hardware.”
We’re so glad this Act will support the good work already underway at SDUSD and other school districts around the country. Even better, the increased financial support may put solar energy in reach for additional school districts.
Also of note is a schools-specific provision of the Act that protects children, with investments to monitor and reduce pollution at public schools in disadvantaged communities.
Whether designing new schools, modernizing schools or helping to power schools with solar energy, it’s hard for us to imagine investments more worthwhile than schools and the children attending them. With help from the Inflation Reduction Act, our nation’s schools can become more environmentally responsible, save money on energy and divert more operating capital to providing a first-rate education.