South Carolina · Energy · SC-SOLAR-001
Solar / Small Hydropower / Geothermal Equipment Credit
Publication revised September 24, 2026. Sourcebook page 247.
Credit amount / calculation
25% of qualifying system cost subject to per-facility and liability limits; 10-year carryforward.
Business fit and eligible activity
Potentially relevant to qualifying non-biomass energy systems installed at a mill. Qualifying production, feedstock or energy technology; ordinary wood residuals are not automatically eligible.
Eligibility and practical use
The first screen is technical: what is being produced, how is it measured, who owns the qualifying property, and does the statute recognize the feedstock or technology? A biomass boiler, combined heat and power project, residuals conversion line, or fuel project should be tested against the exact statutory feedstock and emissions rules rather than the ordinary meaning of "renewable."
Illustrative business benefit
A wood-products plant develops a $3 million qualifying energy project. If the full amount were eligible at the stated 25% base rate, the nominal credit would be $750,000 before wage/apprenticeship rules, bonuses, transfer rules, emissions tests, or other program conditions. The company should not count the credit until the technology and feedstock are confirmed as qualified.
Timing / first action
Tax-year claim: document the eligible expense, hire or placed-in-service date and meet any separate certification deadline. Verify the technology, ownership, feedstock, emissions, and registration requirements before treating the project as credit-eligible.
Official sources
Related programs
Abandoned Building Revitalization Credit
Credit based on qualified rehabilitation expenditures
Useful where a mill rehabilitates a qualifying abandoned industrial building; notice must precede expenditures.
Capital Investment Credit
0.5% to 2
Directly relevant to mills placing qualified manufacturing and productive equipment in service.
Employer Child Care Program Credit
50% of eligible child-care startup costs
Forest-products employers establishing or operating qualified child care programs can claim a state credit.
Clean Electricity Investment Credit (Internal Revenue Code §48E)
Generally
Potentially relevant when a forest-products facility owns qualifying zero-emission generation or energy-storage property.
Clean Electricity Production Credit (Internal Revenue Code §45Y)
Production-based
Alternative to the investment credit for owners/operators of qualifying clean-electricity facilities; potentially relevant to qualifying on-site generation.
Clean Fuel Production Credit (Internal Revenue Code §45Z)
Per-gallon or gallon-equivalent credit based on the
Potentially relevant only if a forest-products business actually produces qualifying transportation fuel.