ENERGY NEWS

Federal Solar Tax Credits Extended for 8 Years, US Poised to Become Largest Solar Market in the World
October 03, 2008

Industry Leaders Forecast Dramatic Growth in the U.S. Solar Market by 2016 with Extension of Credit

WASHINGTON – Today, by a vote of 263 to 171, the U.S. House of Representatives passed historic legislation that extends the 30-percent federal investment tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations for 8 years. This landmark legislation is part of H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, designed to address the U.S. financial crisis. It is the most significant federal policy ever enacted for the solar industry. President Bush has vowed to sign the bill into law. The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday night.

“This bill is a major step in our long journey toward energy independence and ensures that solar energy will be a significant part of America’s energy future,” said SEIA president Rhone Resch. “This long-term extension of the solar tax credits will create a domestic solar industry with hundreds of thousands of jobs while providing clean, affordable, carbon-free energy to millions of American families, businesses, and communities.”

“On behalf of the 60,000 Americans employed by the solar energy industry, we would like to thank Leaders Reid and McConnell and Senators Baucus, Grassley, Cantwell and Ensign for their dogged support of the solar tax credit extension. In the House we are thankful to Leaders Pelosi, Hoyer, Boehner, and Blunt, and Chairman Rangel, Ranking Republican McCrery and Rep. Camp among many others who have long worked to bring solar energy to the mainstream. These leaders have broken through partisan politics and have provided a bright future for solar energy in the United States,” said Resch.

“By passing this bill, Congress has finally given the solar energy industry ‘policy certainty’ that will attract investment, expand manufacturing and lower the cost of solar energy to consumers,” said Roger Efird, SEIA chairman and president of Suntech America, a leading Chinese solar power manufacturing company. “This will allow companies like mine to move forward with expansion plans to serve the growing U.S. market.”

“This bill puts the sun to work for every American,” added Resch. “And by 2016, we expect solar energy to be the least expensive source of electricity for consumers.”

The solar investment tax credit (ITC) provisions will:

· Extend for 8 years the 30-percent tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations;

· Eliminate the $2,000 monetary cap for residential solar electric installations, creating a true 30-percent tax credit (effective for property placed in service after December 31, 2008);

· Eliminate the prohibition on utilities from benefiting from the credit;

· Allow Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) filers, both businesses and individuals, to take the credit;

· Authorize $800 million for clean energy bonds for renewable energy generating facilities, including solar.

The solar tax credits were originally enacted in the 2005 and have created unprecedented growth in the U.S. The amount of solar electric capacity installed in 2007 was double that installed in 2006.

“Over the last 2 years, these tax credits have turned the solar industry from a small, cottage industry into an economic engine for America. Electricians, plumbers, roofers and construction workers can now get back to work. These jobs are the backbone of the American economy and the solar industry is creating them at a time when they are needed the most,” said Resch.

According to a new economic study by Navigant Consulting, Inc., the 8-year extension of the ITC will create 440,000 permanent jobs and unleash $325 billion in private investment in the solar industry. This study did not factor in elimination of $2,000 monetary cap on the residential credit, so the actual job creation and investment could be even greater.

“This is a big boost for the residential market in particular, allowing homeowners to contribute to our nation’s energy independence,” said Efird. “It also opens the floodgates for building large, utility-scale solar power projects that need longer timeframes to complete.”

To date, there are 27 such utility-scale solar power projects totaling 5,400 megawatts of power in various stages of development; most were on hold due to uncertainty surrounding the expiring tax credits.

Because solar energy components are manufactured near their markets, this extension will create manufacturing and installation jobs in all 50 states. The states that will enjoy the largest economic boost are California, Florida, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

Similarly, the economies of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and the rest of the Great Lakes region will grow significantly as a result of the extension. This area of the country has suffered greatly from a huge decline in jobs in the automotive and traditional manufacturing industries.

According to the same study, more than 28 gigawatts of electricity will be produced from solar energy by 2016 – enough to power more than 7 million homes.

“Success has not come easy. It required a strategic campaign that included dedicated SEIA staff, a committed board, and active membership all focused on one goal. It took seven votes in the House and 10 votes in the Senate, but in the end, Congress came through. This effort has established SEIA as a major energy player on Capitol Hill,” said Resch. “We have a lot of opportunity in front of us and will be back next year to work on critical issues such as transmission infrastructure, renewable electricity standards, and combating global warming.”

http://seia.org/cs/news_detail?pressrelease.id=217

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Solar Boom in Kitsap County

By SEAN ROACH
Bainbridge Island Review Reporter
Oct 15 2008

It may have been freezing and wind-whipped Saturday, but Stan Brown was out in his sunglasses admiring the clear sky.

“The weather is great... we picked a great day,” he said.

Brown was the organizer behind this year’s Kitsap County solar tour, which wrapped up last weekend. The event corresponded with an announcement by Puget Sound Energy that – for the first time ever – civilian solar-power plugged into the grid had produced more than 1 megawatt of electricity.

Kitsap County is now fourth behind Jefferson, King and Whatcom counties for civilian-produced solar power with 43 homes and businesses plugged into the grid.

On average, PSE customers with solar arrays produce from 25 to 50 percent of their electric power needs from the sun.

“Overall they still need electricity coming from the grid, but there are plenty times when they are feeding green power to the grid,” PSE representative Andy Wappler said. “That allows us to then produce a little less energy from other sources, less water through the dam. We can also sell surpluses to other areas.”

According to Wappler, the benefit of the 1 megawatt mark is significant because it proves solar energy can meet growing energy consumption demands.

“The real benefit isn’t that it will generate energy that can go elsewhere,” he said. “If everyone were doing it, we would meet our areas growth without having build more sources of power.”

PSE expects that the demand for energy will increase by 40 percent over the next 20 years. It’s possible, Wappler said, to offset that increase with solar power.

There are a growing list of incentives to attract solar investment. PSE’s net-metering program allows customers to be credited for any electricity they are producing that is in excess of the electricity they are consuming. The customer can then draw on those credits during winter. PSE also offers production metering, in which homeowners pay for their electricity but receive cash payments each year based on kWh generation – in excess of $86,557 this year, divided among all PSE solar producers.

Richard Pederson, a Poulsbo resident, was part of the tour and received a $450 check for 10 months of solar production. He decided to invest in solar technology instead of keeping his money in Wall Street.

“We had our money invested in markets and we sat down and said let’s invest in our property so if we sell we can get (our money) back,” Pederson said. “We decided to use some money we had invested and bought the (photovoltaic) system. As of last Friday we would have lost that money if we kept it in the market.”

Pederson’s model, a 5.32 KW photovoltaic system, cost him $37,000 to install and is capable of producing 5,000 KW hours a year. He admits it is an expensive start-up cost, but one that is worth it in the long run.

“It’s expensive, there’s no doubt about it,” Pederson said. “But if everyone who could afford to do it, did it, that is a huge amount of energy not putting carbon into the atmosphere.”

Besides the boon to the environment, the government recently signed into law new solar incentives.

As part of the $700 billion bailout legislation passed two weeks ago, the Senate added measures that increase the incentives for homeowners to invest in solar energy. Under the regulations, civilians can claim a 30 percent income-tax credit on all expenses attributed to renewable energy investment. Previously that credit was limited at $2,000.

“We expect that will cause a 70 percent increase in home (solar power) in the next year,” Wappler said.

An example of these incentives is the Valley Farm House on Valley Road. Conceived by Bainbridge resident Lisa Martin, the home produced more energy than the house used this year. In the future the house will average about $1,000 worth of energy expenses and $1,200 in production revenues from the state. Despite the current high-cost of solar, Kitsap residents can still buy in to the solar revolution, Martin said.

“There are constant advancements, photovoltaics that are house shingles, embedded cells, film, there are unbelievable technology advances,” Martin said. “We are still at the infancy of this technology and it is extremely reliable.”

For those who can’t afford an expensive photovoltaic system, a simple start-up solar hot water system can reduce energy expenses immensely, Martin said. Saturday, even in the wind’s chill, the sun heated water in the house to 130 degrees.

“People talk about the rain and cloudy skies in Washington,” Brown said. “But this proves that solar does work here.”