| Congress Enacts Stimulus Bill |
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What's in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for you? There are some real improvements to the existing incentives for residential and business renewable energy projects included in this stimulus package. Caps on tax credits for wind power and solar hot water have been removed, leaving the federal tax credits for solar PV, wind power and solar hot water all the same at a straight 30%. Businesses have had a hard time justifying building renewable energy systems lately when they have no profits and therefore no tax burden to offset. ARRA now offers the options of an Investment Credit or a grant, all of which are set at 30% of the installed price. An important fact to know about this is that the 30% number is generated after other incentives such as utility company rebates are taken out. Although this bill is now law, we still need to see how much money Congress actually allocates to cover its mandates. The tax credits aren't negotiable by Congress, but the grants are, so stay tuned if you're interested in the grant end of this. Take a look at the following two articles at RenewableEnergyWorld.com and COSEIA.org for a more detailed look at this bill: "President Obama Signs Stimulus Package into Law" "U.S. Stimulus: Boon or Boondoggle for the Solar PV Market?" |
