Defend the Solar ITC
We must #DefendTheITC to deploy more solar in the fight against climate change.
The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit, also known as the Solar ITC, allows both residential and commercial systems to deduct 30% of the cost of installing a solar PV system from federal taxes with no cap on value. It is the most important incentive currently available for Solar PV, and has been extended by Congress multiple times with bipartisan support since first enacted in 2005.
Under this tax policy, the U.S. solar industry experienced average annual growth of 50% over the last decade and now employs more workers than any other energy industry, including coal, oil and natural gas combined!
Electric Power Generation Employment by Technology 2015 - 2016
Despite this progress, solar energy still only represents 2.5% of energy production in the United States and the ITC is set to phase out this year!
If the tax credit is not extended, solar projects will become more expensive in 2020, hampering solar growth, investment, job creation, and emission reduction. At a time when we must take deliberate action to build a clean economy and tackle the climate crisis, we need a tax policy that continues to provide market stability and investment opportunity for decarbonization.
Legislation introduced in Congress July 25 would extend the full 30% solar ITC for five years, rather than begin a phaseout at the end of this year. However, in a hyper-partisan environment, it is unclear what chance the legislation stands.
Will you tell your representatives in the House and Senate to support the Renewable Energy Extension Act and extend the most successful clean energy tax policy in history?