Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/492070
APRIL 1-7, 2015 UCW 23 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Dear EarthTalk: What's going to happen to the U.S. solar industry when the federal solar investment tax credit expires next year? — Victoria Chase, Washington, DC In the U.S., a new solar project was installed every three minutes in 2014, and jobs in the solar industry rose from 15,000 employees in 2005 to nearly 174,000 today. This substantial growth is in large part thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005's 30 percent Investment Tax Credit for commercial and residential solar energy systems. In 2007, after only one year of implementation, the ITC led to the doubling of installed solar electric capacity. In 2008, Congress passed an eight-year extension of the ITC, allowing solar to become the fastest growing energy source in the U.S. Solar has also become much more affordable: The average installed cost per watt has dropped from around $7.50 in 2009 to $2.89 in 2013. After December 2016, the ITC solar cred it wi l l drop from 30 percent to 10 percent and the resident ial cred it wi l l drop to zero —un less Congress extends th is deadl ine. Large compan ies are current ly mak ing sign if icant solar investments before the solar tax cred it deadl ine arrives. In Februar y 2015, Apple announced that it wou ld spend $848 mi l l ion over 25 years to buy 130 megawatts of electricit y from First Solar's Cal iforn ia Flats Solar Project in Monterey Count y. The project, wh ich wi l l occupy 2 ,90 0 acres of land in Cholame, Cal iforn ia, is the solar industr y's largest-ever corporate power pur- chase agreement. "Apple's commitment was instrumental in mak ing this project possible and will signif icantly increase the supply of solar power in California," said Joe K ishk ill, First Solar's chief commercial off icer. "Over time, the renewable energy from California Flats will provide cost savings over alternative sources of energy as well as substantially lower environmental impact." Two weeks after Apple's announcement, Google announced that they would be mak ing a $300 million investment with SolarCity, America's largest solar provider, for residential solar projects across 14 states and the District of Columbia. The SolarCity fund, which totals $750 million, is the largest of its k ind ever created for residential solar power. "We're happy to support SolarCity's mission to help families reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs," said Sidd Mundra, Renewable Energy Principal at Google. "It's good for the environment, good for families and also makes good business sense." Duke Energy has also played a major role in catapulting solar energy in North Carolina, which ranked third among states during the third quarter of 2014 in installed capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Duke Energy's $500 million solar expansion plan includes their recent approval to build three solar farms in eastern North Carolina that will total 128 megawatts of capacity. "These projects will help provide signif icant amounts of cost-effective renewable energy to benef it our customers," said Rob Caldwell, Duke Energy's senior vice president for distributed energy resources. To allow solar to continue to soar, the 2016 U.S. Budget includes propos- als "to reform and renew tax credits that incentivize the deployment of wind, solar, and carbon capture sequestration technologies." Ken Johnson, chief spokesman for SEIA, says that his group plans to lobby Congress to extend the credit. "That's our top priority for this session of Congress," he said, adding that developers across the solar industry are "trying to do as much as possible before it drops to 10 percent in 2017." CONTACTS: First Solar, w w w.f irstsolar.com; Solar City, w w w.solarcity.com; Duke Energy, w w w.duke-energy.com; SEIA, w w w.seia.org. EarthTalk® is produced by Doug Moss & Roddy Scheer and is a registered trademark of Earth Action Net work Inc. View past columns at: w w w.earthtalk. org. Or e-mail us your question: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Solar's Uncertain Future From the Editors of E - The Environmental Magazine Caption: Visitors check out First Solar's array of photovoltaic panels outside of San Luis Obispo, California. Credit: Russ Ferriday, FlickrCC. Advertising to Grow Your Business www.upandcomingweekly.com For effective advertising call 910.484.6200 today!