Trump Halts 30% Solar Tax Credits And REAP Grants: Can The Farm Bill Reverse It?

The Trump administration has made major changes to solar energy programs, cutting tax credits and freezing grant money that many homeowners and farmers had counted on. The changes affect both residential solar buyers and rural farmers who were planning to go solar.

The 30% federal solar tax credit for homeowners, known as 25D, ended on December 31, 2025. The One Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law on July 4, 2025, officially ended the credit. Homeowners who didn’t install solar before that deadline can no longer claim it. However, the 30% credit for solar leases and power purchase agreements, known as 48E, was extended through the end of 2027. In that case, the installation company claims the credit and passes the savings to customers through lower payments.

Farmers have also lost access to key funding. The Trump administration suspended all REAP grant awards effective March 31, 2025. REAP stands for Rural Energy for America Program. The USDA said it paused the grants to update its rules following a Trump executive order. Previously awarded grants were frozen with limited explanation provided to some recipients. USDA guaranteed loans are still being awarded during the suspension.

The administration reportedly suspended the grants citing high costs among reasons for ending support for renewable energy. Administration officials have called renewables “unaffordable and unreliable” and said they wanted to end taxpayer-funded support for what they termed unreliable energy sources. The USDA also framed the suspension around administrative priorities including energy dominance, national security, economic growth, and fiscal health.

There are also new restrictions on farm solar projects. Ground-mount solar systems reportedly larger than 50 kW are no longer eligible for the REAP Guaranteed Loan Program. The USDA said it won’t fund solar panels on productive farmland, prioritizing avoidance of productive farmland in its revised guidelines. An administration official made that announcement directly.

Since its inception, REAP has issued, as of recent reports, more than 19,000 grants totaling more than $1.8 billion to farmers, ranchers, and rural businesses for renewable energy projects. The freeze has hit Midwest and Great Plains states particularly hard, where many family farms invested in equipment after receiving promises of grant support, now facing financial strain and uncertainty with no timeline for relief.

There’s one possible path forward. The House version of the farm bill includes proposed language that would allow USDA Rural Development funds for solar on up to five acres without restrictions, and up to 50 acres if most power is used on the farm, pending a vote. But that language hasn’t been voted on yet, and it’s unclear when it might pass.

✅ Claims in this article were verified using AI-assisted fact-checking.