Senate Approves Solar Energy Tax Credits

The New Energy Reform Act of 2008 enjoyed overwhelming support in a 93-2 decision yesterday by the U.S. Senate. The bill would extend federal residential and commercial solar energy tax credits for the next eight years.

The proposed tax credits would cover 30% of project cost of new solar installation projects. A significant change from current tax credits is the removal of the $2000 cap on residential systems. This would make solar energy more affordable for homeowners. Since the typical home installation runs around $10,000, this would cut the average homeowner's cost by $1,000.

Because Wisconsin has strong state-funded incentives in place (see Focus on Energy's website on our links list), Wisconsin homeowners would enjoy incentives covering approximately 50% of system costs.

First, though, the bill has to be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. Sounds like a good opportunity to write your representative!

Fortunately, the House is on the ball and has set up an easy way to do it. Just go to https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml and select your state and zip code. You'll be taken to your own representative's web site, where you can ask them to support renewable energy by supporting the New Energy Reform Act. Just look for their contact page (you'll need to type in your contact info, including zip+4.) It's easy, only takes a minute, and you'll have done your good deed for the day!