Pennsylvania schools still pursuing solar projects despite federal tax credit rollbacks

September 5, 2025
WHYY

By Sophia Schmidt

Dozens of schools in Pennsylvania seem to be sticking with plans to install solar panels on their roofs, despite the rollback of federal clean energy tax credits in President Donald Trump’s signature budget bill.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Trump signed in July ends several energy tax credits early, including one that many schools plan to use to slash the cost of solar installations under Pennsylvania’s new Solar for Schools program.

None of the schools that received grants through Solar for Schools have informed the state they are pulling out of the program due to the federal rollbacks, said Penny Ickes, spokesperson for Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development. One district in Berks County returned grant funds to the state, but did not specify why, Ickes said.

“While things are ever-evolving in D.C., it is our understanding that the schools … will be able to access those federal tax credits and be able to save even more money,” said Pennsylvania state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, who sponsored the Solar for Schools legislation.

Pennsylvania’s Solar for Schools program awarded its first round of grant funding to 74 schools this spring. The program helps districts pay for the up-front costs of solar installations that will lower their utility bills in the long term.

Districts were expected to use the state money to take advantage of a federal solar tax credit, which became available to schools for the first time through former President Joe Biden’s climate law.

Fiedler’s office had said that by combining the state grants with the federal tax credit, schools could install solar arrays for free or a fraction of the usual cost.

Rooftop solar tax credits to expire with enough time for schools to install panels
Despite fears that Congress would pass a bill that would have killed the tax credits before the end of the year, a version of the tax bill that ultimately became law gives districts until next summer to start building their projects or start running them by the end of 2027, to still claim the credit.

“That’s not a rush,” said Micah Gold-Markel, founder of Philly-based solar energy installer Solar States. “We can get solar projects started in as little as two weeks. So, to start construction in a year and finish it in two years, that’s easily doable.”

The School District of Philadelphia is still pursuing its Solar for Schools projects, said spokesperson Christina Clark. The district plans to install solar panels at W.B. Saul High School, Northeast Community Propel Academy, Andrew Hamilton Elementary School and Murrell Dobbins CTE High School.

Some districts struggle to afford necessary upgrades
The Upper Darby School District received roughly $2 million from Solar for Schools to install solar on the roofs of six schools. District officials told WHYY in June they would also need the federal tax credit in order to afford the projects.

The new tax credit deadlines are doable for the district, but would likely mean starting work on buildings before students go home for the summer, Marvin Lee, Upper Darby’s director of operations, told school board members last month.

The bigger challenge would be paying to replace the buildings’ roofs, which would need to be done before solar panels could be installed, officials said. The state grant, federal tax credit and a rebate from PECO would reduce the costs of the solar arrays to under $1 million, with a payback period of just three years. But replacing the roofs could cost over $4 million and take much longer to pay off.

“It sounds really good until we talk about the roofing costs,” Lee said.

Upper Darby School Board members voted to advise the district administration not to pursue the solar projects.

 

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