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Solar panels atop the Staples Center.

David McNew/Getty Images
 

Rod & Lorrie write to share a bit of good news from California:

Like many Americans we have essentially slammed on the brakes for all discretionary spending in the past couple of months. We had placed an order for a solar array for our home in July. Not because it was an attractive financial investment, but because we felt it was the right thing to do at this time. By late September we were wondering about our timing. By the first week in October we realized that such a large discretionary investment was not a good thing at this time, especially given that I had retired early two years ago and my formerly reliable 401k investments were taking a huge beating. We started the process to cancel our order and take our lumps.
Then we received help and encouragement from a most unexpected source, H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. As the fight to pass this bill was played out on our television screen and on our radio while the nation held it's breath, who would have guessed that some of those obscure adders to the bailout package would directly help someone other than AIG and the big banks?
Among the provisions included in H.R. 1424 was an extension of the tax credit for residential and commercial solar installations beyond December 31, 2008, when it was set to expire. Even more beneficial, this bill eliminated the $2,000 cap on the tax credit for residential installations, making this a true 30% tax credit. With this wonderful news, our "right thing to do" project now became a decent financial investment.
We are now moving forward with the solar installation. Ironically, with the passage of the bailout bill, the company performing the solar installation (REC Solar) is busier than they've ever been and are spread quite thin trying to install multiple projects. They will likely have to expand their workforce to keep up with=2 0the increased demand.
Good for us, good for the solar installation companies, and in the long run good for reducing our national dependence on foreign energy sources. We are now implementing plans to lower our propane use, and when Detroit gets their collective acts together we will be plugging in an electric car to significantly reduce our need for gasoline.
Rays of hope in the middle of what looks like a long dark period.

categories: Letters

11:46 - November 24, 2008

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