I can’t imagine what legitimate tax provision the solar salesman might’ve had in his head, assuming that he wasn’t just spouting random hogwash to close the sale. The credit is available to the homeowner who pays for the system, not the installer. It can’t be transferred to a family member unless they owned the home with you.
This is an opportunity to do some creative financial planning. For example, if you have a traditional IRA, you could roll it over to a Roth IRA which will be a taxable event. That tax can be applied against the credit and then all of your future withdrawals from the Roth IRA will be tax-free. If you are still working and you are contributing to 401(k), you could switch your contributions to a Roth 401(k). This will increase your taxable income, which again could be applied against the tax credit and the designated Roth 401(k) account will be tax free when you withdraw it. If you have other investments, you could sell them to cash out on the capital gain and then buy new investments which will have a higher cost basis and less capital gain in the future when you sell them. However, make sure that you wait at least 30 days before buying or re-buying the same or substantially similar investments.
