Ground mount trellis / breezeway

[happyfunball]

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone has experience building a breezeway or trellis or whatever (to cover the house to detached garage walk) for a solar panel system.

This is in the California bay area.

I have a couple of questions:

1. Can building the actual structure be part of the federal tax credit?
2. What kinds of setbacks do the panels need to follow with regards to the structure (I've heard 3 feet thrown around a few times, but I don't know what the specifics on the "3 feet" number are)?
3. Has anyone had good success with this?

Thanks!

[foo1bar]

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone has experience building a breezeway or trellis or whatever (to cover the house to detached garage walk) for a solar panel system.
...
1. Can building the actual structure be part of the federal tax credit?

Do the people here have the answer? And if they do, would you trust an answer from an anonymous person on the internet? (I'd answer no to both those rhetorical questions.)

2. What kinds of setbacks do the panels need to follow with regards to the structure (I've heard 3 feet thrown around a few times, but I don't know what the specifics on the "3 feet" number are)?

The "3 foot" rule is for fireman access to the structure's roof to chop a hole in the roof to vent the attic in case of fire.
If it's something that's just ~8' tall, 4' wide, has no walls, and just the panels for the "roof" then I wouldn't think there'd be any need to make a hole in the "roof" of that structure.

There's been some other posts recently about "ground mount" solar - you may want to look at those, as they'd be semi-similar to what I think you're considering.

FYI, I think I have seen diagrams for building a solar-panel-for-roof car-port. So someone has at least looked at doing that.

Good luck.

[inetdog]

I have a couple of questions:

1. Can building the actual structure be part of the federal tax credit?

A. Disclaimer: I am not a tax lawyer. (IANATL)
B. Disclaimer: I am not giving you advice, just offering some speculations based on common sense. (A dangerous thing to do where the tax code is concerned.)
C. For a "traditional" ground mounted array, the entire cost of the mounting structure is eligible for tax credit, including necessary site preparation in the form of grading, etc., just as the entire cost of the racking structure and its installation are eligible for a "traditional" roof mount. And to the extent that the existing roof structure cannot properly support the array, the cost of strengthening the roof structure is eligible. Replacing the old roof before installing the panels would be a very good idea, but probably not deductible if the only reason for the work was to keep the roof from leaking.
So for a trellis type of ground mount, I would venture a guess that the cost of the structural elements needed to support the panels would be eligible, although any cost for fancy decorations which might also be part of the structure would be open to question.
D. Disclaimer: Your mileage may vary. (YMMV)

[lkstaack]

Heck, you can deduct anything on your taxes! Nothing is keeping you from deducting the cost of the car you used to haul the panels to your house. Deduct the cost of the house you had to build to host those panels too!

Obviously, what you deduct can be much different than what is deductible. Our tax code is often old or vague enough to cause legitimate differences of opinion. While many people will recommend that you "contact your tax professional", even that person's opinion may not be good enough to pass an audit. It sometimes boils down to what an IRS Auditor will accept. Sometimes different auditors have different and conflicting opinions too. So, a solar related deduction that passed one IRS audit may not necessarily pass an audit from a different auditor.

We all want to know what tax strategies and deductions have been successful. Tax professionals should have access to information concerning what has been successfully appealed or adjudicated in tax court. I would imagine that is the gold standard for what is deductible. Unfortunately, I haven't yet found that information for free on the internet.

I believe that the safest route is to read and (try to) understand the applicable tax code and then deduct what you believe to be reasonably allowable. Since I am risk adverse, I prevent audits by avoiding anything that could cause an IRS flag. As a minimum, the IRS generally limits or waives fines if they believe you were acting in good faith to comply with the tax code (though they will extract the maximum back taxes and interest).