Well, something good came out of that Bailout bill… hopefully a lot of Americans were paying attention when they extended the ITC/PTC (Tax credits) for 1 and 8 years.

This means that solar production is really going to ramp up very soon (as it was about to expire at the end of this year, solar energy companies seemed to be slowing down and even laying off workers in anticipation of the worst if the bill wasn’t passed) and we are going to get a lot more investments and money pouring into solar and clean energy initiatives.

Here’s the summary of the bill HR 1424 . I think for most of us homeowners, the relevant portion is the extension of the Residential Solar Investment Tax Credit which extends a 30% tax credit for 8 years as well as removes the cap of $2,000… so it really becomes a full 30% credit on your returns on whatever you spend including materials and labor!  Pretty nice! 

This really makes me optimistic for the future of America as this makes small steps into making America less dependent on foreign sources of energy.  I sincerely hope more Americans make use of this credit and we see more solar panels being installed in homes in all states – not just in California.

Btw, If you want to see the full bill, see this link.  It’s a bit boring to read unless you’re used to these types of documents but you’ll get all the details you need to see if you qualify for the credit and see which items are included for the credit.

Seriously think of availing of this tax credit… it saves you money upfront (from the tax credit) and in the long run (from monthly electricity bill savings) AND it allows you to live more independently from the grid and not worry too much about blackouts and such… :)