Direct Pay · Nonprofits, churches, schools and governments
No tax bill? You still get the 30%.
For decades the federal solar credit skipped the organizations that needed it most, because you cannot take a credit against taxes you do not pay. Since 2023 the Treasury pays it out instead, in cash, to churches, nonprofits, schools, cities and counties. It ends for any system not running by December 31, 2027.
Of the installed cost of the system, as a direct payment from the U.S. Treasury after the project is placed in service and claimed. Not a deduction, not a loan, not a grant application.
Who qualifies
If you do not file a tax return, this is for you.
The law calls them "applicable entities". In practice it is every building in the community that runs on donations, dues or public money.
501(c)
Nonprofits and churches
Houses of worship, charities, YMCAs, community centers, clubs and associations. Any organization exempt under Section 501(a).
Gov
Cities, counties and districts
Municipal buildings, fire and police stations, libraries, water plants, parks and recreation facilities. Fire districts and other special districts too.
K-12 & higher
Schools and colleges
Public school districts, private and charter schools, and private colleges and universities. Big roofs, daytime loads, decades of ownership.
More
Co-ops and tribes
Rural electric cooperatives, tribal governments and their subdivisions, and Alaska Native corporations are applicable entities as well.
Municipalities
Palm Coast has already done it twice.
When the City of Palm Coast built Fire Stations 22 and 26, it put roughly 180 kW of Solar-Fit panels on each roof. The estimate is $22,000 to $25,000 a year in avoided electricity, per station, for buildings that have to run around the clock regardless.
The Southern Recreation Center followed: 95.5 kW, an estimated $537,508 over 25 years. Public buildings own their roofs for decades, carry daytime loads that match the sun, and now get 30% of the cost back from the Treasury. The math was already good. Direct Pay made it obvious.
Nonprofits and churches
Every dollar not spent on power is a dollar for the mission.
A church, a Y or a fellowship hall pays the same electric rate as a warehouse and has fewer ways to raise the money. Solar retires that bill for the life of the building, and Direct Pay covers 30% of the cost up front, from the Treasury, not the congregation.
We have done this for the Holly Hill YMCA, the Pictona pickleball complex, Stetson University and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of St. Augustine. Same crews, same equipment as our commercial work, and we will sit down with your treasurer or CPA on the paperwork.
How it works
Build it, register it, file once, get paid.
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Step 1 · This month
Free analysis
Your building, your bill, your board's timeline. Real numbers including the 30%, no cost.
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Step 2 · 4–8 weeks
Approval, contract, design
We present to the board, council or vestry if that helps. Engineering and financing options follow the yes.
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Step 3 · 2–5 months
Permits and interconnection
County permitting and FPL or Duke approval. The stage nobody controls, and the reason to start early.
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Step 4 · Before December 31, 2027
Built and placed in service
Installed, inspected, energized. This is the line that cannot slip.
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Step 5 · Before you file
Register the project with the IRS
A one-time pre-filing registration through the IRS Energy Credits Online portal. It returns a registration number for the return.
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Step 6 · That tax year
File, then get paid
Your annual return (Form 990-T for most organizations) with Form 3468 and the elective payment election. The Treasury pays the 30% after processing.
We handle steps 1 through 4 end to end and walk your treasurer or CPA through 5 and 6. We are installers, not tax advisers; the filing is yours, and we will make sure it has everything it needs.
Worth knowing
Four details that matter.
<1 MW
No domestic-content penalty
Projects under one megawatt are exempt from the domestic-content reduction that can trim the payment on very large systems. Nearly every rooftop we build qualifies.
0%
Florida sales tax
Certified solar equipment is exempt from Florida sales tax for everyone, tax-exempt or not. Built into the quote.
+
Batteries count too
Energy storage earns the same credit, and keeps it beyond the 2027 solar sunset. A fire station or shelter with batteries is the point.
Cash
Not a grant
No competition, no application cycle, no scoring. Build a qualifying system, file the return, receive the payment. It is written into the tax code.
Resilience
The buildings a community runs on should not go dark.
Fire stations, shelters, water plants, churches that open their doors after a storm. Solar plus storage keeps them running when the grid does not, and Direct Pay covers 30% of both. That is the version worth building.
Free analysis
Bring your last twelve months of bills. We bring the numbers.
One conversation with the people who built the fire stations. We look at the building, the bill and the calendar, and come back with the system, the savings, the 30% payment and whether the runway to December 2027 still works for you. If it does not, we will say so.
- No cost and no obligation
- We will present to your board, council or vestry
- Same crews and equipment as our commercial work
- Fifty-plus years in Volusia, Flagler and St. Johns