Federal tax credits are an important tool in making solar PV systems economically viable. For a long time these tax credits have been on-again off-again, never with long term guarantee of their availability. The current congress hopes to do something about that - extending the tax credits to 2017 - but Forbes has a short article on the subject with a kicker that shouldn't be missed. Not to spoil the ending, but the irony is that Democrats own "pay as you go" rules, introduced earlier this year, put up the main hurdle to getting this extension passed. In order to extend the tax credits, Dems will have to raise tax revenue elsewhere, or cut an equivalent amount out of the budget. Oh, how nice the Republicans had it.
I take issue with the author's closing statements. The tax credits are meant not only to help finance today's deployments of wind and solar, but also to provide incentive for R&D investment in new techologies that will lower costs for future deployments. Without a long term lock on these tax credits, many companies will not invest in new technology, manufacturing plants, etc. As for finding a way to carry on, there are dozens of industries that are where they are thanks to "an assist from Uncle Sam".
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