Climate legislation put forth during the Obama administration made major strides for clean energy, giving solar a solid foothold to grow. It also taught an important lesson about how effectively tax credits can build and grow an entirely new market. Prior to the establishment of the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), the solar market in the U.S. was just over 60 megawatts in 2005. Sixteen years later, solar market installations were 23.6 gigawatts.
“Look at the history of the ITC,” said Jay Bellows, president and CEO of Nomad Transportable Power Systems, a manufacturer of mobile energy storage systems. “Solar did not make the best financial sense before the ITC. It had a long ROI (return on investment) process and would only become profitable many years down the road with long-term power purchase agreements. Then the ITC came…
