Last reviewed August 2026 against federal tax law, Act 10-2024 and the Oversight Board’s suit against it, Puerto Rico Energy Bureau orders on battery sharing, Department of Housing program terms, and the Green Energy Fund’s own notice page.
Quick answer: The 30% federal credit was never practically claimable by most bona fide Puerto Rico residents, because island-source income owes no federal income tax under IRC section 933, and it is now $0 for everyone whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025. What remains is a tax exemption you do not apply for, full retail net metering that is being fought over in court, a capped $15,000 government incentive that is hard to get a slot in, and one program that is actually expanding: LUMA pays $1.00 per kWh your battery sends back during a grid event. In 2026 the question here stopped being what comes off the price and became what the system earns once it is on the roof.
Several programs that once paid here no longer do, and the biggest federal number never truly applied to most island households. Below is each one with its real 2026 status and the date it was checked.
What Puerto Rico Homeowners Can Actually Get in 2026
Two of the six benefits below need nothing from you. Two need an application you may not win. One pays you over time rather than up front, and one is gone.
Puerto Rico Benefit | Where It Stands, August 2026 | What It Is Worth | What You Have To Do |
|---|---|---|---|
Net metering credit | Full retail credit in force, under legal challenge | Your excess kWh offset your next bill at the same rate you pay | Interconnect through LUMA; nothing else to file |
Battery sharing payments (CBES) | Expanding: moved from pilot to program for fiscal years 2026 to 2028 | $1.00 per kWh your battery delivers during a grid event | Enroll through an approved aggregator, not through LUMA |
Sales and use tax (IVU) exemption | In force as of August 2026 under the Green Energy Incentives Act | Removes IVU from qualifying equipment | Confirm the exemption is applied on your quote |
Property tax on the added value | In force as of August 2026 under the same Act | Stops your bill rising because of the system | Confirm treatment for your municipality with CRIM |
Programa Incentivo Solar (Vivienda) | Capped and ticketed; availability unconfirmed | 30% of the project, up to $15,000 | Win a ticket, then apply within 120 days with an approved installer |
Federal Section 25D credit | Ended | $0 | Nothing. Do not let a quote subtract it |
The 30% Federal Credit Was Never Really Available Here, and Now It Is Gone for Everyone
Section 25D, the 30% residential clean energy credit, was a credit against federal income tax, and most bona fide Puerto Rico residents owe none on island-source income under IRC section 933, so the credit was never practically claimable here even while it existed. Since Public Law 119-21 it is $0 for everyone whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025, with no phase-down and no replacement for homeowners. The one live federal credit on the island is 48E, and it belongs to third-party owners such as lease companies, priced into their offers, never paid to you.
This matters more here than almost anywhere else. Puerto Rico systems are usually sold with a battery, because a battery is the entire point when the grid is unreliable, and batteries are what made the old credit so valuable: 30% applied to the storage as well as the panels. On a $30,000 solar-plus-storage project, mainland payback pages priced that credit at roughly $9,000, and mainland-style proposals still assume $9,000 is coming back to you. For most island households it never was: with no federal income tax liability, a nonrefundable credit has nothing to offset, so a proposal subtracting it was wrong here even before 2026.
The single most expensive mistake available to you right now is signing a proposal whose savings math still includes the federal credit. Ask the salesperson to show you the payback with a $0 federal credit line. If the number they hand you does not change, the model was never itemized and you cannot trust the rest of it.
Net Metering Is Still Full Retail, and Still Being Fought Over
Puerto Rico credits your exported solar at the full retail rate, which is the most generous arrangement available anywhere in the United States and the reason solar economics here survive the loss of the federal credit at all. Act 114-2007 created the program. Act 10-2024 amended it to bar the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau from even studying a tariff change until January 2030, which puts the earliest possible change at around 2031. Just as important, customers who interconnect before any change keep their current terms for 20 years under Act 17-2019, so acting before a change locks the arrangement in rather than merely delaying the loss.
On July 26, 2024, the Financial Oversight and Management Board sued the Government of Puerto Rico to nullify Act 10, arguing that it strips the Energy Bureau of authority it is supposed to hold. The Governor and the Senate President have asked for the suit to be dismissed. It is still live.
What that means for a decision you are making this month. Nobody selling you panels knows how the case ends, and anyone who tells you the terms are locked until 2031 is describing the statute, not the outcome. Two things are worth doing. Ask, in writing, what happens to your quoted savings if export credit moves to a lower rate. And weigh storage more heavily than you otherwise would, because a battery converts your production into power you use yourself, which no tariff decision can take away.
The One Program Here That Is Growing Pays You After the Install
LUMA’s Customer Battery Energy Sharing program borrows capacity from home batteries when the grid is short, and pays for it. The Puerto Rico Energy Bureau approved its move from pilot to full program covering fiscal years 2026 through 2028, with more participants and more energy required. While almost every other benefit on this page has shrunk or ended, this one was expanded.
The customer performance incentive is $1.00 for every kWh your battery delivers during an event. You do not sign up with LUMA. You sign up through an approved aggregator, and five companies hold those contracts: Fortress Power, Sonnen, Sunnova, Sunrun and Tesla. Your actual payment terms come from your contract with the aggregator, not from the program, which is why two neighbours with identical batteries can be paid differently.
| Question To Put To Your Installer | Why It Decides Money |
|---|---|
| Which aggregator would enroll me, and are you certified with them? | Not every installer works with every aggregator. Equipment that cannot enroll earns nothing here. |
| How much of my battery gets reserved for grid events? | Capacity promised to the grid is capacity unavailable to your house during an outage. |
| What did participating customers earn last year, in dollars? | A rate per kWh is not an income figure until someone tells you how often events are called. |
| Can I leave the program without losing my warranty? | Enrollment is a contract with a third party layered on top of your equipment. |
Battery earnings depend on which company installs the system and which aggregator they work with, so the installer choice and the incentive question are the same question here. Enter your ZIP code and we will match you with companies serving your municipality.
See which installers work with a battery aggregator near you
The $15,000 Incentive, and Why a Slot Is Harder To Get Than the Money
The Department of Housing runs Programa Incentivo Solar with federal CDBG mitigation money. It covers 30% of the project up to $15,000, which makes it the largest single benefit still theoretically available to a homeowner here. The catch is not the amount. It is the queue.
- It runs on tickets, not applications. The round that opened on August 10, 2023 released 6,000 tickets: 4,000 online, 1,000 by phone and 1,000 at registration centers. A ticket is permission to apply, not an award.
- The clock starts when you get one. You have up to 120 calendar days from receiving a ticket to submit a complete application.
- You need the installer before you apply. Applicants must hold an installation contract with a company authorized by the program. Choosing your installer is step one, not step three.
- It is income-tested. Eligibility is set against HUD’s Area Median Family Income for Puerto Rico, so the bands move as that figure moves.
- Work already started disqualifies you. Applicants must not have begun installing a renewable system.
One thing we could not confirm. Current ticket availability is not posted where a homeowner can check it, so do not count the $15,000 until you hold a slot in writing. Call 1-833-234-2324 or check incentivosolar.pr.gov before you count on it, and never sign a contract whose price only works if this incentive comes through.
Two Exemptions That Need No Application
The Green Energy Incentives Act of 2010, Act 83-2010, is the framework behind the quiet benefits. Qualifying renewable equipment is exempt from sales and use tax, so the IVU should not appear against the hardware on your quote. Check that it does not, because the exemption is only worth something if the seller applies it. Both exemptions sit inside a tax framework the legislature is actively debating reforming, so confirm both are still in force on the date you sign.
The same framework exempts the value a solar system adds to your home from property tax, which matters in a market where a battery-backed roof is a genuine selling point. Property tax here is administered by CRIM rather than by your municipality directly, so confirm the treatment with CRIM for your address rather than assuming it is automatic.
Programs You Will Still See Advertised That Are Not Paying Out
These still appear in sales decks and on out-of-date pages. Each one was real. None of them is a reason to sign anything in 2026.
- The Green Energy Fund, up to 40% for systems under 100 kW. Created by Act 83-2010 and still described on its own website. When we opened that site on August 16, 2026, the most recent announcement was a set of orientation sessions in November 2017 and an incentive window opening December 6, 2017. Nothing since. Treat a quote that counts on it as a quote that counts on nothing.
- Programa Acceso Solar, free rooftop solar and storage. The Department of Energy launched it on February 7, 2024 aiming at up to 30,000 households, and took applications from February 22, 2024 until January 2026, when it announced the end of the program. More than 6,000 households did receive systems, and those stay in place. New applicants cannot join.
- The wider Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund. On September 30, 2025 the Department of Energy redirected $365 million that had been earmarked for solar and storage toward grid repairs instead. The money moved from rooftops to the network.
This is the part of the picture that most affects what you should do next. When the up-front subsidies thin out, the value shifts to how well the system is built and how much it earns, and that comes down to which company installs it.
Who Will Likely Not Qualify for Anything Beyond the Exemptions
Being told plainly that you are not eligible is more useful than a page of possibilities. If any of these describe you, plan on net metering, the tax exemptions and battery earnings, and nothing else.
- You are leasing the system or signing a power purchase agreement. You do not own the equipment, so ownership-based benefits belong to the company that does.
- Your household income is above the Vivienda program’s band. The $15,000 incentive is income-tested and the exemptions are not, so above the line you simply keep the exemptions.
- You already started the installation. The Vivienda program excludes applicants whose renewable system is underway.
- You are buying panels without storage. No battery means no CBES enrollment and no $1.00 per kWh, and on this island it also means no power during an outage.
- You are in a condominio and the roof is common property. Consent and access run through the association, which decides your timeline before any program does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which incentives you can reach depends on your municipality, your utility account and the company you hire. Enter your ZIP code and we will match you with vetted Puerto Rico installers who can tell you what applies to your roof.
Find out which incentives apply to your roof
Full retail net metering, a sales and use tax exemption and a property tax exemption on the added value, and payments of $1.00 per kWh through LUMA’s Customer Battery Energy Sharing program if you have a battery. The Department of Housing incentive worth up to $15,000 exists but runs on a capped ticket system, so confirm availability before counting on it.
Yes. Section 25D is $0 for systems you buy and own that are whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025, and Puerto Rico has no separate version of it. If a proposal still subtracts 30% from your cost, the savings figures on it are wrong.
LUMA’s program pays $1.00 per kWh your battery delivers during a grid event, but your actual income depends on how often events are called and on the contract you sign with your aggregator rather than with LUMA. Ask your installer what participating customers earned last year in dollars, not just the rate.
The statute bars the Energy Bureau from even studying a change until January 2030, with the earliest possible change around 2031, and customers who interconnect before any change keep their terms for 20 years under Act 17-2019. Still, the Financial Oversight and Management Board sued in July 2024 to nullify that law and the case has not been resolved. Treat the terms as current rather than guaranteed, and ask what your savings look like if the export rate falls.
Not as a new applicant. Programa Acceso Solar took applications from February 2024 until January 2026, when the Department of Energy ended it, and more than $365 million was redirected to grid repairs. Households already installed keep their systems.
Accepting a payback number built on incentives that no longer pay: the expired federal credit, the Green Energy Fund rebate that has not opened a window since 2017, or a Vivienda ticket nobody has confirmed you can get. Ask for the math with each of those set to $0 and see what is left.
References & Research Sources
EcoGen America reviewed federal tax guidance including the IRC section 933 exclusion, Puerto Rico’s net metering and energy statutes, the oversight board’s live challenge to Act 10-2024, Energy Bureau and LUMA program materials, and Vivienda program terms for this page. Sources were accessed August 21, 2026, unless another date is listed.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions (Public Law 119-21). Termination of the Section 25D residential credit for property whose installation is completed after December 31, 2025. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). IRC section 933, bona fide residents of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico-source income of bona fide residents is excluded from federal income tax, which is why the nonrefundable 25D credit was rarely claimable on the island. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. Act 114-2007 (net metering), Act 10-2024 (study deferred to January 2030), and Act 17-2019 (20-year grandfathering of interconnected customers). Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. Complaint seeking to nullify Act 10-2024, filed July 26, 2024, and related FAQ. The live legal challenge to the netting statute. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Puerto Rico Energy Bureau. Approval of Customer Battery Energy Sharing for fiscal years 2026 to 2028. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- LUMA Energy. Customer Battery Energy Sharing program materials, performance incentive and approved aggregators. Program mechanics and enrollment path. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Puerto Rico Department of Housing (Vivienda). Programa Incentivo Solar terms, ticket allocation and intake status. Round announced August 10, 2023; current availability by phone at 1-833-234-2324. Accessed August 21, 2026.
- Government of Puerto Rico. Act 83-2010, the Green Energy Incentives Act. The IVU and property tax exemptions for qualifying renewable equipment. Accessed August 21, 2026.
