Businesses can still access the 30% tax credit. 30% of the total cost of the system can be written off over multiple years of your business’s tax liability.

Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) is the standard IRS method for depreciating business and investment property, allowing you to deduct 18% of the total solar installation cost.  It accelerates deductions, allowing you to write off larger portions of an asset’s cost in its early years—reducing your immediate tax liability.  We encourage you to talk to a tax professional about the available incentives.

The Colorado Enterprise Zone (EZ) Investment Tax Credit allows commercial businesses to claim a state income tax credit equal to 3% of qualified investments in renewable energy property, including solar power systems. The system must be located within one of Colorado’s designated Enterprise Zones and used exclusively for that business for at least one year.

With ONLY these 3 credits, our commercial clients have reduced their total solar system cost by 49% (see chart below)

A solar installation allows businesses to lock in electricity costs at or below today’s rates. Energy prices are expected to rise more dramatically than ever before due to rising fuel costs, energy requirements for artificial intelligence, regulatory changes, grid modernization, and extreme weather. 

When you purchase a solar system, you are essentially purchasing 30 years’ worth of your business’s energy at today’s rates.Think of it in terms of gasoline:  If you had the opportunity to purchase 30 years’ worth of gasoline in 1996, you would still be filling your car with gasoline at $1.10/gallon!

A quick experiment: take your average monthly energy bill, multiply it by 12 to get a year’s worth of energy, then multiply that by 30 years. The number you see is how much you will pay for 30 years of energy if the price never goes up. When the price increases, which it always does, your price for “renting” energy will be significantly higher than the number on your calculator! For example, in the past 30 years, Colorado has seen its electricity prices increase an average of 2.9% annually, with sharper rises expected in future years. If your monthly energy bill is now $150 (using Colorado’s average 2.9% annual electricity price increase), in 30 years, your monthly energy bill will be $343.67, and you will have spent $84,261 to “rent” energy from the utility.

Sales tax exemption: Colorado exempts state sales tax on the purchase of solar energy equipment.  Reducing upfront costs and increasing your ROI.

Property Tax Exemption: Colorado excludes the value of your solar PV system when assessing your commercial property value.  

Colorado Energy Storage Credit: Colorado still offers a 10% tax credit on equipment used specifically for energy storage i.e. Hybrid inverters, batteries, and associated warranties.

Customers with grid-tied solar electric systems accumulate a bank of energy credits that they can pull from at night or in months with inclement weather.

Multiple customers over the years have reported that their businesses stay up to 10 degrees cooler in the summer because of the air gap between the roof and the solar panels.  The panels heat up instead of your roof, which will keep the interior overall at a lower temperature.

When we perform reinstallations, it’s obvious that the area under the solar system is often in MUCH better shape. Roof planes without solar are always much more sun-damaged and weather-damaged than the roofs with a solar system. The sun degrades roofing materials much more rapidly when not covered by a solar array.

Solar has a solid ROI compared to other investments. Business owners still see a positive internal rate of return (IRR) often comparable to or better than other improvements or long-term savings instruments. Depending on current energy usage, our commercial clients have seen an ROI in as little as 6-years.