A teetering U.S. residential solar industry may now be on the brink of collapse. Faced by macroeconomic challenges and shifting sands of state and federal policies, an industry once defined by double-digit growth in installations is experiencing steep declines – and the latest draft of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes things far worse.
The latest draft of the bill is bad all-around for clean energy, but it is particularly damaging to residential solar, cutting federal tax credits far sooner than expected.
Residential solar installations declined 31% in 2024. Over the last year, industry titans like SunPower, Sunnova, and Mosaic Solar have filed for bankruptcy.
The industry historically has leaned on the value proposition of lowering customer electricity bills and providing predictable costs for the long-term. However, that value has been increasingly difficult to provide.
Gone are the days of low interest rates enabling attractive terms for loans or leased systems. In many major markets, like California, bill credit rates for sending excess electricity to the grid have been slashed by 75% or more.
Tariffs have posed challenges to the industry as well. Aluminum, used in both solar panel frames and racking systems, are hit with 25% tariffs. Solar cell and module import tariffs from major global suppliers have come in higher-than-expected this year, too.
The residential solar industry is no stranger to highs and lows, often referred to as the “solar coaster” by those who have weathered the storm of hot-and-cold policies that create markets and then take them away at a breakneck pace. But the latest draft of the federal reconciliation bill may represent a crash.
In 2022, the Biden Administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act, extending a tax credit that covers 30% of installed system costs through the mid-2030s. The latest One Big Beautiful Bill Act draft forwarded by the Senate Finance Committee ends this tax credit far ahead of schedule.
First, the bill takes a notably anti-consumer and anti-ownership stance, cutting the 25D residential solar tax credit within 180 days of enactment, which is payable directly to homeowners that purchase solar via a loan or upfront cash purchase.
Second, the bill sunsets the 48E investment tax credit for all eligible technologies to 60% of its value by the end of 2026, 20% of its value by the end of 2027 and all projects beginning construction by 2028 are ineligible for the credit.
In a surprise to the industry, the bill singles out residential solar leases, making the ineligible altogether for the 48E investment tax credit.
This posed a shock to the investment community. Share prices of the largest residential solar provider Sunrun are down over 40% in the trading day following the latest draft of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The bill is next headed to the Senate for a vote, with a simple majority needed to pass. Then, the bill must be reconciled with the House, with both chambers agreeing on an identical version for it to become voted into law.
Looking ahead, if the bill passes as-written, there will surely be a further retraction for U.S. residential solar. The industry will need to find new ways to lower costs to thrive in a harsher regulatory environment.
One pathway is pursuing lower soft costs, or costs not tied to hardware. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) said over 65% of the cost to install residential solar is related to soft costs like paying sales teams, securing permits, grid connection costs, and more.
The United States may find a path forward by pursuing market conditions like Australia, where over 40% of homes in some regions have rooftop solar. Soft costs are far lower in the nation, and average residential solar installation cost was $0.89 per W, more than $2.00 per W cheaper than both Canada and the United States.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
T-rump and his fossil fuel friends. What wonderful allies.
Tax cuts for billionaires at the expense of the environment. Repubs strike again
This might be a good thing…. Sadly the solar installation industry has taken advantage of the 30% tax credit to line their pockets instead of reducing cost in America!!! Now they have to face their consequences!!! Solar’s installers have too taken advantage of American customers!!! Enough of the three times the cost of other nations, just Stop the overpriced systems!!!
Economics, not just policy, is now driving clean energy adoption. Even if Trump or the GOP removes federal subsidies, the momentum won’t stop. Clean energy is simply too cheap, too efficient, and too widely demanded to be derailed entirely by political headwinds. Subsidy-Free Competitive Green Technologies
1. Utility-Scale Solar PV
• Cheapest form of new electricity in much of the U.S. (especially Southwest, Texas, Southeast).
• Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE): $25–$45 per MWh, which beats new natural gas and is cheaper than coal, even unsubsidized.
• Highly scalable; used by utilities and large corporations.
⸻
2. Onshore Wind
• LCOE: $30–$55 per MWh, depending on location.
• Competitive in windy states like Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
• Cost has dropped >70% in the past decade.
• Low marginal cost once installed — turbines have no fuel cost.
⸻
3. Battery Storage (4-Hour Systems)
• Often paired with solar to meet evening demand peaks.
• Costs have dropped >80% since 2013; lithium-ion now near or below $200/kWh for utility-scale deployments.
• “Peaker plant killer”: can replace gas peaker plants economically in CA, TX, and AZ.
• Makes solar + storage dispatchable, even after dark.
⸻
4. Energy Efficiency Upgrades
• Retrofits (LED lighting, HVAC improvements, smart controls) often pay back within 2–5 years.
• Many programs survive without subsidies because lower bills sell themselves.
• Applies to both homes and commercial buildings.
⸻
5. Heat Pumps
• Electric heat pumps now beat gas/oil furnaces in total cost of ownership, especially in the South and West.
• Much more efficient for both heating and cooling than conventional systems.
• Popular in Europe, and gaining rapid adoption in U.S. Northeast and Northwest.
You should always buy outright instead of selling your roof to someone. I have only heard bad things about leasing including rates that are actually higher in the end and for retirement communities. If there is a benefit to letting a company thats going to throw a system up as fast as possible in order to collect credits and then not maintain the systems which are “theirs” please let me know. They have now become the fly by night solar guys who are going out of business. Are you getting a fixed rate which is lower than the utility? Does the solar company actually care about your roof(theirs)? Do they respond when there is an issue? Did they let you know about the parts that may need to be replaced at times? Don’t get me started on squirrels. Find a way to get financed and a small company thats been around at least 10 years and you should be okay. “Soft costs” lol
How can solar be called, when they take our farm ground and forest. Taking down trees and burning them. Install solar in cities don’t ruin our farm land.
So I guess the fact this article says that solar installs declined 31% in 2024 is probably still because of trump.. 🙄
What does this mean for the general public who already have a signed lease and solar panels installed on their roofs? In layman terms. Can the solar company break their agreement with the customer? Will I be able to continue with my existing solar agreement?
What does this mean for the general public who already have a signed lease and solar panels installed on their roofs? In layman terms.
Can the solar company break their agreement with the customer? Will I be able to continue with my existing solar agreement?
NO MORE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES!!!!
What does this mean for the general public who already have a signed lease and solar panels installed on their roofs? In layman terms.
I like solar in some applications, BUT, it doesn’t work half the time called nighttime, add in cloudy days and from late November to late February the Sun is so low you only have 6 hours usable, the percent it’s available is pretty poor of the total hours available.. Just a fact.. Even batteries that are super expensive need to be recharged using a large percentage of available wattage produced on a good day, there is NO free lunch.. Solar is a supplement and will always be..
The cat is out of the bag. The PV systems are not reliable & when they are broken you have a hard time finding someone to repair it. When you do find someone to repair it. They tell you that the installation was not done correctly & it will cost you more than 3k to fix it.
If it had a soul, the trump administration would owe more than half of it to oil and gas where the kickbacks to trump will be the biggest. The motto is drill baby drill. Grift baby Grift.
Some years ago my son got a big solar panel system for his house and he can run the whole house on it and sell the rest to the electric company. It was pretty expensive but it was worth it in the long term. Trump is ruining the country by making it harder to get solar
Cool now we can get all the door to door solar scammers out of the business and get down to some real change instead of government regulated nonsense.
We need to be talking about abandoning the grid, not wasting 50% of the solar we produce by pumping it to the grid. The priority should be storage and grid abandonment for the most part. We lose 50% of all the power we produce in retransmission, so if we can start to produce the power close to where it is needed, my home for example, we can run the whole country on about 50% of the power we produce today.
Extremely sad but ALEC and the GOP got its way 😔
I wonder that if it passes will solar panel manufacturers need to find ways to improve value, increase efficiency, and lower costs of their systems in order to entice buyers? Will they need to make their systems even more installer friendly or more plug and play (thereby reducing install expense)?
This ^
Well said
How about they just let me install enough solar panels and batteries to power my entire home 24/7 and not make me be connected to the grid???? Until the day comes when I can own my own solar equipment AND the government will let me disconnect from the grid by installing solar, I will never install solar
Plug and play?!? Solar is as permanent as the plumbing in your house. The misconception that they are even remotely mobile is mind boggling. Besides that would have absolutely NOTHING to do with the manufacturing process and EVERYTHING to do with regulation.
Great comment Bill. Government subsidies have changed the pricing structure of residential solar.
Please stop telling people solar lowers the utility bill. Solar and batteries replaces the need for being hooked up to the power company at all. Like landline home phones… More people will disconnect from the grid for just over the cost of a whole house backup generator and never have an electric or gas bill again. Also, sized right, solar can replace the need for buying gasoline for your vehicle. EV and off grid… It’s available today.
That’s just the nature of an industry that doesn’t make financial sense without government subsidies. It’s a 20 to 25 year break even.
Not true at all in my personal experience. Even with 44 panels, I am still grid dependent 9 months a year, and I don’t heat with electricity either. Located in the rust belt.
Yup, that’s what we’ve done. Originally I wanted to get a bunch of panels and backfeed, but my utility prohibited me so now I’m off grid with battery backup and two EVs.
Yes and no. Batteries are still expensive. And disconnecting from the grid takes your SRECs away.
INCORRECT! You must not be an owner of rooftop solar because if you were you would know that most solar systems are grid-tied WITHOUT expensive battery systems included so therefore homeowners HAVE to be reliant on the grid for electricity during the evening and heavy weather days such as rain, snow, extra-cloudy days etc. So yes, solar systems are designed to lower electricity cost – not eliminate them – and be totally off grid which is a totally false and ignorant statement. Don’t speak for solar if
you’re not an actual solar owner yourself, which apparently you are.
The majority of solar electric systems are grid tied. And that’s what most people prefer. So yes, the article is correct: solar lowers your utility bill.
Totally incorrect! The cost of batteries doesn’t work. Also, the cost of a whole house generator is far less expensive! I installed one for 4.5k on old house. When we moved, I bought a portable generator f om Costco that powered pretty much the whole 2400 sf house. As far as electric vehicles, once you pay for the vehicle and then the high pge rates, you’te better off with gas. These facts are obvious if you actually try and do it. What your saying is absolutely incorrect at least in Northern CA!
Misleading headline. It won’t collapse.
I’ve gotten 3 estimates over the years and everytime it would take me 2 decades to recoup the costs even with the rebates and incentives.
Then if the company goes out of business good luck finding another company willing to cover your warranty.
Like every other green process the price is out of reach for most
And they go out of business all the time! I thought I had picked a very reliable company (ADT) and they pulled out of solar just months after my system was installed.
The loss of the leasing predators is no loss at all. I highly approve of that change. As for the rest, I’d say the soft cost comparison to Australia is indicative of an overly fattened domestic sales / install sector, and as they say, pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.
In my case , I was paying 3800 dollars a year for electricity. It cost me 48000 usd to install solar. I would have paid nearly 40000 over ten years to the electric company anyway so why not get solar? At least this way there is light at the end of the tunnel and I have an opportunity to eliminate the cost of electricity that I would have to pay for the rest of my life.
Not sure why people are claiming such long payback periods. You need to factor in tax credits, SRECs, and monthly savings. I guess it depends on your area’s electricity rates. In MA, the 32 panel SunPower system I put up in 2017 paid for itself in just over 6 years. With current rates, and 3 more years of SREC my gains are thousands a year.
Paul’s point on long term cost savings doesnt include the need to all the hardware due to age, at costs certainly higher. Tough market.
@Alan Handel- So, you don’t need any more tax credits then, right??
You’re getting RIPPED off in the US with your import tariffs.. They let US manufacturers hike their prices too.
In the EU s 450Wp panel costs maybe $60. So with installation and all necessary materials you can put a 7000Wp system in for $6000.. A 10,000 Wh battery for another $5000.. Done and dusted for $11,000.. This would provide power for a decent home and pay back in maybe 5-6 years.
Get Trump out and stop getting ripped off.
48000 to install solar, damn!! You do realize those panels only last 10 to 15 years right?
In California new construction is required to have solar? What is happening if providers are going bankrupt and existing customers are not being taken care of?
Well Mike. You are not exactly correct with your math. I had a union company install my system, took all of 2 days to complete, and less than a week to get up and running, and in less than 12 months I got my incentives and rebate on my income tax. I make more electricity than I can use and turn my excess back into the grid for everyone else. I will be free of electric bills,except the delivery charge,$18.00 a month right now, and will be paid back in 5 years. You waited too long to jump in and voted for the wrong guy. That’s on you! Don’t blame anyone else.
Our solar electric system reduced our electric bill to $25/month. I looked at it as an an investment. We could have blown that money on other short lived things. We needed a new garage. We designed the new garage to hold the solar panels. The panels reflect the heat of the sun and keep the garage cooler in summer. “Net metering” allows us to bank excess electrical generation in the summer and then get credit for it during the lower generation months. We are now unaffected by the rising cost of electricity . I’m so happy that we did it. I’m proud that our system puts the most energy out on the grid during summer months when demand is the highest for air conditioning.
I installed solar in 2016 when the incentives were super high. Not only the 30% federal tax credit but the power company paid 3x the cost they charged per kWh. With all those incentives, the system cost was outrageous and as soon as “normal” pricing began to compete, the Solar company went out of business. ALL “warranty” work I’ve done myself as the equipment manufacturer (inverters) would only work with the original Solar company. I believe removing these subsidies will help make Solar TRULY COMPETITIVE.
I like the idea of Solar but when I tried to get a quote for a system it seemed the pricing scheme was priced at the maximum “savings” that could be achieved over the life of the system. This would leave homeowner stuck for cost of remove and replace of system if roof needed to be replaced at some point during that 20 year time. Plus, battery system would degrade over time (think had 10 year expectation) so would need to be replaced at least once. So $45-50,000 dollars paid up front (after tax credits) would take a long time to recoup (especially considering opportunity cost of investing $$$ other place. I rejected the system and salesman called back saying they could take thousands off the price. I am convinced they could have taken at least half off the price and still been profitable. That soured me on Solar and and the way the solar companies price in the tax credit to receive the benefit rather than the consumer.
There are some good points made here. Rooftop solar is great idea, especially if your state has mandates for 100% renewable energy by 2040 (35 or so do). In these states rates are going up by double digits annually to pay for the billions of dollars necessary to build the mandated infrastructure. These kinds of numbers will dramatically shorten payback time.
Most solar power systems are sold with 25 year 3.99% or 4.99% rate financing by companies that charge 30% dealer fees. This is a huge amount of money. There are installers that use credit unions for financing for 15 year 6.99% financing. The payments are pretty close to the same. So you could get all the estimates from the first scenario and it would be much more than the latter.
I do not understand the comment regarding using a generator to be off grid. The fuel cost would be much more than solar power.
Regardless, the so called “beautiful bill” is nothing more than spitting in the eyes of democrats and parts of their agenda and to greatly damage America despite what excuse Trump says he has for doing it. His actions are textbook for destroying a country. I am sure he has a sweet place in Russia already picked out for him to live out his days.
I worked with solar power in remote locations where grid power access was not feasible. It paid it’s own way. The reduction in subsidies for solar boondoggle is good news. Projects that can pay their own costs are great.
I took the Solar gamble in 2021 ..I purchased the panels, had them installed, permitted with the county, and payed off my low interest loan in 3 years!..thanks to a Clean Energy Tax Credit for under just half of what I payed for the loan in the last 3 yrs!. Panels are warrantied for 25yrs, and my electric power bills are $33.15 per month EVERY MONTH year round from Florida Power & Light!
I make way more power with my system than I use, with the rest going into a reserve. Best decision I’ve made for savings on energy in the last 5 years. The fossil fuel lobbies have Politicians paid off to kill Clean Energy Solutions in this Country. Our Environment is Crumbling, Weather is destroying more property and infrastructure, and the Politicians will never change with Tax Breaks for the wealthest, and the rest eating cake.
Good Luck with that.
I have a 40 panel installation that cuts my power out totally 4-5 months of the year. If you ignore the base fees, taxes, etc. which you pay all year long. It will STILL take me another 12 years to get to even cost. We were looking for a solar heater for pool. That was almost instant payback (2 years). But were convinced the solar would end our electricity bill. Nope, not in sunny (hot) Florida where you use AC 8-9 months of the year. Beware of fast talking salesmen…
In an endeavor to remain mindful of community standards, I commend Bill for asking the right Q’s w/ out attempting to answer them. Dido to Colin for correcting & posting true, vetable facts. Then there’s ol Mike S. w/ his faulty calculator. Notice he/you didn’t name the 3 companies, method to obtain, current bill & new bill. I’ve never proposed or seen a System w/ a 20 yr. investment recovery. No one has. *BS – Fold or Call?
The government has been inserting itself into the economics of solar through tax credits and other incentive programs that apparently some feel entitled enough to decry “The end of solar” because taxpayers aren’t footing the bill anymore. If the technology provides value, then market values will decrease and adoption will increase. IMO, the government has done their part to push solar adoption over the last 30 years or so. The industry needs to stand on their own feet.
With my income, and with my four children, the current tax credit for solar installation does not benefit me at all. My experience is that the tax credit benefit higher earner income families. So essentially, we is a nation, our policy, has benefited upper middle class and above. It has not benefited lower middle class or the lower class. I am very happy that they are doing away with this credit. I believe that it has inflated installation prices. There are so many solar companies out there. But now many have gone out of business. Which means a more difficult time getting warranty work, etc. for the customer. But I think that’s because prices were inflated because of this credit. What’s more, multiple sales reps reassured me that this would be a tax break for me. After speaking with a certified accountant, who has many years of experiences with taxes, she confirmed my suspicion that this would not benefit me. I would have to carry the credit forward year after year until one day, it would be a benefit to me. But this year it would not. Neither next year nor the following year. So I am so glad and hope that this stays cut. It just benefits, more wealthy Americans, and has zero benefit for middle to lower class Americans. At least that’s my understanding and experience. Now if you wanted to somehow make it a rebate that could benefit anybody at any income bracket, I would consider that possibly a good thing. We would have to think about it more.
Oh no, the incentive-fueled solar gold rush is slowing down? Thoughts and prayers. Must be tough running a business that traps customers into terrible contracts and only functions when taxpayers foot the bill.
Hah! Oh well..
If you’re industry needs giant tax incentives to make your product make sense, then your product isn’t any good
You’re right, petroleum would never survive without the huge subsidies they get. It’s no good.
Tell that to the fossil fuel industry.
True…. that….
Residential lease is preying on consumers anyways. I rent a room from a friend. He had solar installed. Tried to talk him out of it. Took one day. $140 a month for 20 years. (That’s might be what it produces, about $140 @ month in electricity).
I went around and added up the parts. About $5k. $6k tops. $140 for 240 months is $33,600 and they kept the tax credit.
Predators.
Are you aware that the U.S.A. subsidizes crude oil production at more than $20 billion a year? I guess that makes gas a rather nonsensical fuel source, huh?
I don’t dispute your comment. But that said major sports teams get tax credits and stadiums. All sorts of big businesses are wooed to different localities out of tax credits and incentives, this is going on all over the place. Farmers get paid not to plant or produce, the ethanol industry gets all kinds of incentives Big Oil gets incentives. So what about all that stuff?
So gas, food, housing, cars, etc?
I respectfully disagree. You can have a great product but might still need incentives to survive a slow adoption period by consumers. Newer technology isn’t always immediately accepted or adopted by consumers. There is a learning curve, so it takes time for even great ideas to spread fully. From the telegraph to video conferencing, what eventually became common and ubiquitous, was at first rejected by many. And in many cases, it was incentives that sustained those great ideas to success, including some ideas that benefit us today. Tax incentives are a fantastic way for a great idea like solar power systems to become the norm. The incentives can be phased out once there is a certain saturation point and as solar systems become the norm in most new construction.
Your argument falls flat once you understand the subsidies the all fossil based generation receives and continues to receive
This comment would thus apply to this entire housing market.
I guess oil and gas aren’t very good based on your statement.
Yes, this is very true for the oil industry…worthless product
Using that standard, the oil, nuclear and coal industries aren’t any good, as they all get huge i heavily subsidized by the government in a variety of ways. It is not, nor ever has been, a level playing field.
Spot on Marcus.
The oil industry gets massive incentives.
Take a look at the giant incentives the fossil fuel industries get. Their products aren’t any good either, by that standard.
It took us just under 4 years to break even on our 13kw rooftop solar installation. We’re getting ready to purchase an EV and we’re looking forward to using some of our excess there.
Exactly, this is why all fossil fuel companies should stop receiving the handouts they’ve received from government for decades!
Cheap panels have a 15 year warranty. High quality panels have more like a twenty-five year warranty. Of course, that’s only the warranty. The panels can last much longer.
California destroyed solar. Here’s why.
California decided that the utility companies could no longer afford to pay their bills, so they modified the way solar producers were being compensated for their power generation which gets sent to the utility companies grid.
*****For example, in my area, we have PG&E. PG&E can now take away up to 75% of a home owner’s compensation for producing power that goes back to the grid. (This makes it no longer feasible to buy or rent panels.) This was only possible due to the PUC allowing the legalized theft.Solar in California is no longer affordable for new solar wanna-be’s.
Disconnecting from the grid, where legal can lower your property value. Probably makes it longer to sell also.
The decline of residential solar incentives highlights the fragility of a business model built more on subsidies and predatory contracts than sustainable value. Perhaps it’s time the industry reflects on how it treated homeowners.
We went solar in 2022.. best decision ever, it only took 6 months for us to see changes in our billing through electricity. For 6 months I had to pay two bills. One to electricity company, and one to solar /loan company. Now I have credits with the electricity company, they actually send a check or reflect credit on electricity account. January 2025 I cashed a check from my electricity company, used that as additional payment to the solar/loan company… I have elected to do this annually so I’m not getting little checks in low generation months… My experience with solar has been awesome. Now I’m only paying for the loan for the solar system.
There are currently over 17 solar installers in the Pittsburgh area alone, not sustainable!!! And I’m glad the 30% tax credit is going away. It’s going to kill the business. Rightfully so…. American solo installers have been fleecing the American people. They have jacked up the price two to three times higher than any other country!!! And paybacks come in quickly…. They’re not going to be able to keep that high profit margin once that 30% credit is gone!!!
We installed a 9.6 system. It was a big hassle and time consuming to stay on top of the process. It took 6 months to install and another 4 to get up and running only to fight with ohio edison for 3yrs now. You don’t get kwt for kwt. They give you money credit then make their money by taking fees out which change every month. Had meeting with puco and was supposed to be with people from ohio edison. Wrong. They give you run a round and put answers off for 6 weeks. Ohio law allows for up to 120% for residential. Good luck getting it. We pay 3 to 4 months in winter.no where close to 100% be willing to fight fir everything.
My electricity bill in CT in the summer is close to 1K a month. I paid cash for a 20kw system, with the 30% fed deduction my final cost was 30K. We have net metering in CT so they have to buy my excess and it does not expire in 12 months. Last month was my 1st 4 week on solar and my bill was a $-385.00. I am already racking up the credits for winter months. I calculated my ROI to be less than 5 years.
We have lived on stand alone solar with petrol generator back up, no bills, no blackouts only replaced batteries once in that time, also have spring fed well so no water bills either from either of these greedy private companies
With that logic, I have to question if you buy gasoline? Do you ever fly on an airplane? Do you eat, drink milk, Etc. ???? All of these areas of our economy have tax incentives of one sort or another. In the good old USA, our politicians use tax law as an incentive so that we, (the consumer) will choose to spend our money differently thereby creating whole industries that would not be there if they didn’t. The idea is to dial back the incentives once there is enough interest in the new industry to be a sustainable, viable industry. In other words, JOBS!
It’s a failure of imagination. Smokestack legacy companies have a hammer lock on residential power supply and the won’t give it up no matter what. They also HAVE NO intention in competing with alternative energy sources. The idea is to use fossil fuels and only fossil fuels. Their goal – maintain the monopoly.
These companies used predatory practices to lock people into leases and contracts that cost them far more money to pay them their electric bills from the electric company.
Government influence is the issue.
California has absolutely screwed anyone that has installed solar.
This is all in an effort to put more money in politicians campaign buckets, and their wallets.
This will propagate to other states.
The effect of this bill is meaningless, the states are destroying residential solar for political gain.
As Marcus alluded to, a free market finds the right solution.
We live in such a backwards time. Our government should be pushing solar home solutions to take stress off of the grid. Solar also of course lowers emissions and greenhouse gases. The money saved by consumers helps fuel the economy by creating more jobs. The only one who gets hurt is big electricity, they push for onerous regulations that make setting up home solar pure misery.
Best way and only way for solar is to get off the old style electric grid completely. Net metering does not work. Net metering is a way to keep someone on the grid. I buy solar I cut off the grid. Not paying the electric company high bills would be a win for me.
@Marcus Price: Do you mean industries such as agriculture & farming, where highly profitable, mature megacorporations continue to receive price supports for growing corn (to produce ethanol), soybeans, cotton, peanuts, etc. and even for not producing certain crops?
Or are you referring to the gun industry, which enjoys not only growing tax exemptions for its weapons but also singular immunity from product liability claims, all while getting a nod and a wink as it illegally smuggles thousands upon thousands of automatic weapons that keep violent Mexican drug cartels in power, enable murderous gangs throughout central America and the Caribbean, including those terrorizing Haiti, to name a few?
Or do you refer to trucking, which receives subsidies in the form of free access to the interstate highway system upon which it relies and wouldn’t otherwise exist that was built at taxpayer expense?
Or finally, do you mean the government tax subsidies given to the extremely mature, profitable, and self- sufficient US oil & gas companies (globally, the US provides the second-highest $$ amount of direct subsidies to its extractive industries in the world, totalling many tens of billions of dollars annually) which doesn’t even take into account 1. the untold trillions of dollars in annual global economic losses & damages resulting from destruction of the environment, built infrastructure, or the ensuing displacement and new conflicts as hundreds of millions of coastal dwelling people worldwide must abandon their cities – even their entire countries – in hopes of relocating and rebuilding again on higher ground *somewhere* that is not already someone else’s home, 2. the loss of arable cropland (only 3% of the earths surface, most of which will soon be flooded by rising sea levels as global warming causes our polar ice reserves to melt into the oceans at ever-increasing rates), or 3. interior communities getting inundated and washed away by these increasingly powerful super storms, and 4. the loss of freshwater sources due to droughts followed by mega floods that pollute groundwater and surface water alike. And they’re also immune from most lawsuits seeking financial accountability, even though they were explicitly aware of the long term dangers of pumping gargantuan amounts of carbon into the atmosphere for decades all while denying any such knowledge or dangers even as they raked in obscene profits from selling their product.
And just forget about any accountability for the widespread groundwater poisoning from fracking or the contamination of the entire Earth’s ecosphere and all of its creatures with toxic microplastics.
So, are these the industries and products you were saying were no good because they needed giant tax handouts?
Best, SL
How come places like CA doesn’t get credit for trying to pull the rug out from under customers who installed solar? They’ve been trying to pull the rug from customers still on NEM 1 or 2 after promising to be covered for 20 years.
In CA you can have solar but be charged for others electric cost because you have a higher income level. Nothing is lower rate.
Too many pop up sales companies eager to help get you set up. Find you financing with shady, unstable financial lenders always become difficult. Predator salesman, installers, and loan providers will drag your credit into the depths of hell.
Without debating “incentives” and applicability to growing industries but just to understand the point better… Are we saying solar should not need incentives or the oil and gas industry should not need incentives?
I have sold lots of solar without any tax incentives. Once people understand that putting solar up is like growing carrots and they see I am not ripping them off in installation costs or marking up the products ridiculously… but I always feel ripped off at the gas pump.
I know there are bad actors on both sides but an “all of the above” energy policy doesn’t favor and an “all of the above, but U.S. Made”, does favor and tax incentives work well for that scheme.
Why should I help pay for someone else’s solar panels?? Aren’t they saving a ton of money on thier energy bills??
The credits are ALWAYS taken away by the seller increasing the price. Same with car purchase credits. So the buyer always pays too much for the product. Why the provider cos. are going out of business must be related to their business model, relying on artificially inflated pricing instead of value for their product.
It’s never been feasible for us and more of rip off , especially when you go to sell your house 5 years later ! And if you go to buy a house with a solar that’s not paid off guess what, you have to pay it off , take over payments or the seller has to pay it off. It’s only good for certain people , This is also why I won’t be getting an all electric car anytime in the next 10 years.
also from a google search: “The fossil fuel industry receives significant tax breaks and subsidies from the U.S. government, despite generating substantial profits. These subsidies, which can take the form of tax deductions, credits, and exemptions, lower the cost of fossil fuel production and distort energy markets, potentially hindering the transition to cleaner energy sources. “