US rooftop solar companies are bracing for devastation

One of the biggest rooftop solar installers in the US may face major layoffs and need to “shrink back to the size of a mom and pop” if Congress approves a Republican plan to eliminate, by the end of the year, the tax credit that shaves up to 30% off the cost of household solar systems, one of the company’s executives warned.

Killing the tax credit so rapidly would be tantamount to a death sentence for much of the residential solar industry, Ben Airth, policy director at Freedom Forever, told Semafor. The Senate is expected to vote on the “Big Beautiful Bill” as soon as this week, legislation that would scale back many tax benefits for clean energy, but hit rooftop solar with an especially rapid elimination. Analysts project that the measure would cause the amount of rooftop solar installed in the US to fall in 2026 by more than half compared to its 2024 level.

“We’re in such limbo right now, and limbo is costing us jobs,” Airth said. “The industry will contract back to where it was in the mid-2000s.”