I have to admit that to me, the instructions seem to be misleading, and I don't trust the sentence "No costs relating to a solar panel or other property installed as a roof (or portion thereof) will fail to qualify solely because the property constitutes a structural component of the structure on which it is installed..." I have a client who had to replace his entire roof and the contractor also told him if he installs solar panels he can claim the entire roof, however the roof is very large and the panels would only make up about a quarter of the entire roof. There is nothing special about the roof that it had to be replaced soley to accommodate the solar panels.
It concerns me that the recommended answer is "Yes" based on all things and I am not convinced that, should the client get audited, the roof would be disallowed. I called the IRS preparer hotline, and since it is not tax filing season yet, they are not answering tax guidance and reference the website. Which brings me back to the ambiguity of the rules. It seems the roof would be an energy credit, limited to the $500 and the 30% would only apply to the solar portions. If anyone can shed further light on what I'm interpreting here, please weigh in? I am struggling with advising my clients to proceed with the project since his decision is based on including the roof in the credit.
