Congress last week authorized a five-year extension of federal tax credits for solar and wind power installations.
Mike Trahan, executive director of industry group SolarConnecticut, called the extension “a major shot in the arm for Connecticut’s growing solar electric industry.”
He said installers had been frantically trying to get projects started in time to qualify for the solar credit, which covers 30-percent of a system’s cost. The credit had been set to expire in 2016 for residential projects and to drop to 10 percent for commercial projects. It is now extended to 2019.
The wind credit expired a year ago, but has now been extended through 2019.
The tradeoff in the legislation for renewable energy advocates was that it also approved the lifting of a 40-year-old ban on exporting domestic oil.
The federal solar credits, specifically, will add to an extension of state residential solar incentives passed this summer.
The federal wind credits could encourage further wind development in Connecticut. The state’s first commercial wind farm went into operation in October in Colebrook.
