Congress Finally Gives Solar Industry 'Policy Certainty'

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Tuesday night that the Senate would tweak the House's version of the financial-market bailout package and vote on it, but only along with the same tax package that included the incentives for renewable energy projects (read the entire bill here). Overall, the tax incentives approved by the Senate on Wednesday night are worth about $150 billion.

The House voted for the tax package along with the $700 billion bailout plan on Friday because lawmakers feared "a global economic meltdown" if it rejected the bailout package again, The New York Times reported.

Tax deductions for U.S. oil and gas production will be delayed and reporting requirements for stock sales by brokers will be enhanced to pay for the energy-tax credits approved by the Senate earlier this week, and by the House on Friday.

The bill the House approved Friday calls for investment tax credits for solar developments for eight years. And unlike the current tax-incentive program, the new one will allow utilities to take advantage of the incentives. The bill also includes production-tax credits for renewable-energy power plants that already are generating electricity. The legislation extends the production-tax break by one year for wind and by two years for solar, biomass and hydropower.

The bill opens up $800 million worth of bonds to pay for power plants using wind, biomass, geothermal, garbage and other sources, and doles out $2,500 to $7,500 rebates for drivers who buy plug-in electric cars and trucks.

Residents and businesses that want to install solar panels on their properties also would benefit from the bill, which extends investment-tax credits for eight years and eliminates today's $2,000 cap on the credits. The new program also will allow homeowners who install small-wind equipment and heat pumps to take advantage of the credits, but will cap the incentive at $4,000 for wind and $2,000 for heat pumps.

Some solar companies have said they wouldn't be able to build more U.S. power plants without the investment-tax credits. But whether a lack of tax credits would severely curb renewable-energy developments is debatable. Investors have continued to pump record amounts of money into solar, biofuel and other renewable energy companies.

Solar stocks from First Solar (FSLR Quote), SunPower (SPWR Quote), GT Solar (SOLR Quote), Evergreen Solar (ESLR Quote) and Suntech Power Holdings (STP Quote) were cresting ahead of the House vote, but some shares began to slide after the vote.