The solar industry, in which we at CalFinder Solar are blessed to play our part, has grown by leaps and bounds in 2008 and we are very thankful to our blog readers and the overall willpower of the world to embrace renewable energy.

Originally the idea of this post was to pick five or so blogs from last year and have a little 2008 review session – an easy enough task considering the wealth of memorable stories and products that have filled my mind and imagination in the last 12 months. Yet, when I began my own review process, I could never get far from what I perceive to be the biggest story of the year for solar enthusiasts in the United States: the renewal (or not) of federal solar tax credits set to expire at the end of 2008.

The Spring

We began covering this story way back in April when the Senate first passed the Clean Energy Stimulus Act of 2008. Here, of course, was where the excitement began. The bill passed the Senate by a large majority and it included huge incentive change for American homeowners; a removal of the $2,000 cap on residential tax credits. We were all optimistic. It seemed that just getting this bill on the Senate floor would surely be enough considering the obvious potential of the solar industry. Who could say no?

But that bill did not pass the house and the issue went back and forth between the Senate and House–with veto threats from President Bush sounding loud and defeating the purpose — for a scary amount of time. Suddenly, excitement turned to apprehension.

The Summer

In July I published a post titled Solar Rebates Set to Expire. It was mid-year (very late in the year if you’re counting on Congress to get something big done) and political posturing and powerful lobbies were effectually burying our solar hopes for 2009. That bill was called the Foreclosure Prevention Act and was a foreshadow for things to come. That bill passed Congress and was handed to the President, and still nothing happened.

The Fall (and subsequent Rise)

By the start of September the housing bubble was officially bursting and the renewable energy industry was palpably feeling the pain. Contractors, Nation On Hold For Solar Credits the headline read on September 11, 2008. The prospect of quality jobs in the near future was turning to fear over losing jobs in an already fledgling economy. Those wonderful state-funded incentives that had long been driving the solar industry were either running out of money or scaling down. We were already starting to feel the repercussions, even before the rebates actually expired and other nations were quickly asserting their dominance in the world’s energy future, all while the U.S. faltered.

And then Solar Got Bailed Out. Perhaps all you need to renew some solar tax credits in the nick of time is a monstrous, unprecedented bailout to big bankers. Yes in the first week of October 2008 the federal solar tax credits were stapled to the $700 billion bailout bill. While half that money has already (literally in many cases) disappeared, the solar credits have just come into existence.

The Solar Winter

Two big changes have dominated the discussion since the new and revised solar tax credit package passed: the removal of the residential cap, as already stated, and making the commercial tax credits available directly to utilities. The former is vital for obvious reasons. The latter point, however, is a bit more intriguing and uncertain.

In the past utilities could not directly apply for rebates. Instead they purchased clean energy to meet RPS demands from outside sources via power purchase agreements. How this new scheme will play out is interesting. At first I was happy to imagine my public utility company paying for solar installations all over the city, but then I had to give it a second thought as I imagined investor-owned utilities locking out customer distribution in favor of large power plants strictly under their control. Indeed this newfound power for utilities begs the question, “Are Utility Tax Credits Good for the Solar Industry?”

And there our roller coaster of a year ends, full of renewed excitement for the solar industry, an historic presidential election and a worsening economy: an odd hodgepodge to be sure. Much may be answered early on in Obama’s presidency, but much more will remain a mystery. I suppose we shall see when it comes time to review 2009. Here’s to another year of sunshine, growth, and fresh air.

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Posted on January 27th in CalFinder Solar by Dan.