So after all the back and forth, it's still ambiguous. Assuming one had an old install, does one fall under the rules/guidelines of previous tax policy or the new IRA? I would assume old installs fall under old policy.
These 3 articles state pretty much the same thing and sounds like you need to solar charge 100%. People should do their own research and even though Jeremy3292 isn't worried to grid charge off-peak and export all on-peak, he is doing a post IRA battery install so that might be different from your case.
During the latest round of Pineapple Express storms, I have been tempted to grid charge to top off my Powerwalls. So I did some poking around to add my 1 cent to the debate.
WARNING: IANAL! I’ve read municipal codes, IETF RFCs, and code diffs on github
I am going to put some arguments in favor of grid charging by debunking a key argument against it.
References:
26 USC 25D: Residential energy efficient property
Text contains those laws in effect on January 3, 2022
- Pre-IRA where no mention of batteries.
26 USC 25D: Residential clean energy creditText contains those laws in effect on January 5, 2023
- Post-IRA where “qualified battery storage technology expenditures” was added.
Myth: “My batteries were installed pre-IRA, so I am beholden to the version of the law that didn’t cover battery storage”
Bust: My Powerwalls were installed in 2022. That means they would have been pre-IRA and I should have received the 26% credit. BUT… by the time I filed my taxes in April 2023, TurboTax claimed 30% credit!!! No IRS corrections were made.
If my pre-IRA batteries fell under the effect of the post-IRA laws. Then, my batteries should be fully recognized by the law too!
In my case of 2022 Powerwalls, since I claimed my 30% against the post-IRA laws. Even if I follwed the myth and was beholden to the law I got the credit from, I guess I am beholden to the new 2023 laws!
This is my strongest argument. Here’s a few more.
Q: Was the IRA Retroactive, Prospective, or a Clarification?
I’m going to argue that it’s moot.
If
Retroactive: I think it is. Both with my tax credit example. AND if look at “(g) Applicable Percentage” Congress was very careful to split the 26% period
because the changes were intended to be retroactive and they didn’t want folks with 2020 and 2021 vintage batteries asking for another 4%
Pre-IRA:
For purposes of subsection (a), the applicable percentage shall be-
(1) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2016, and before January 1, 2020, 30 percent,
(2) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2023, 26 percent, and
(3) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2022, and before January 1, 2024, 22 percent.
Post-IRA becomes:
For purposes of subsection (a), the applicable percentage shall be-
(1) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2016, and before January 1, 2020, 30 percent,
(2) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2022, 26 percent,
(3) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2021, and before January 1, 2033, 30 percent,
(4) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2032, and before January 1, 2034, 26 percent, and
(5) in the case of property placed in service after December 31, 2033, and before January 1, 2035, 22 percent.
Prospective: Let’s assume the law was “from 2023 onward”. One could argue that the IRA could have successfully audited you all the way until January 4th, 2023 and won! But can they really charge you for a crime that is no longer criminal
now?
Put another way, if you were illegally grid charging before 1/5/2023, then you still better lay low!
Clarification: There is a strong case that the IRA didn’t “change the law”, it merely clarified a shortcoming that the PLA “hacked” around.
Essentially, the PLA treated Powerwalls like a capacitor in the solar inverters. They were an integral part of the solar system. The 100% solar part was to distinguish it from any other battery in your house. That was the best hack they could come up with until Congress could clarify.
However we’d like to think of Congress today, whoever wrote the IRA were not stupid or unwilling to admit a mistake. They clarified that battery storage counted towards the clean energy credit. PERIOD.