Home battery installations climb despite loss of federal incentives

Home battery sales are climbing even though solar and EV sales have dropped this year. The federal tax credit that knocked 30% off the price of home batteries and solar systems expired at the end of last year, part of a Republican tax and spending law. That expiration caused a rush of battery installations in the last quarter of 2025, and sales rose again in the first quarter of 2026, reaching 673 megawatts installed nationwide. Rooftop solar has not fared the same way — installations are expected to hit their lowest level since 2020 this year.

Two things explain why batteries kept selling. Rising utility bills are pushing people toward systems, usually batteries paired with rooftop solar, that cut how much they depend on the power grid. And several states have their own incentives that are separate from the federal credit. California has offered incentives since 2023 for pairing batteries with solar and has accounted for roughly three-quarters of home battery installations nationwide in recent years. Hawaii, which has the highest electric rates in the country, started a new storage incentive program last year that drove a jump in installations this past quarter.

If you're weighing a battery for your own home, the federal 30% credit is gone, but what your state offers is worth checking — incentives vary widely, and where they exist, they appear to be enough to keep the market growing even without federal help.