Solar Energy Industries Association Applauds Inclusion of Treasury Section 1603 Program Extension in Senate Tax Compromise

Extending program will drive U.S. solar industry growth and job creation in 2011

The 1603 tax credit has created flexibility for funding renewable energy projects and is fundamental for keeping the solar industry growing in America. The current program has facilitated the construction of more than 1,100 solar projects in 42 states. All of this has been at a minimal cost to the tax payer; the 1603 program has supported $18 billion in investment in new renewable energy projects throughout the country and has created tens of thousands of jobs.  The program has helped the solar industry to grow by over 100 percent in 2010, create enough new solar capacity to power 200,000 homes and double domestic solar employment to more than 93,000 Americans.

The TGP was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Section 1603) to provide commercial solar installations with a cash grant in lieu of the 30 percent solar investment tax credit (ITC). President George W. Bush signed the 8-year ITC into law in 2008, but the economic conditions created by the global recession made it clear that few would be able to utilize the tax credit.

So far, the TGP has helped move forward more than 1,100 solar projects in 42 states. A report on the impact of the extension of the TGP by EuPD Research projected it would create 65,000 new U.S. jobs and 5,100 megawatts of solar capacity – enough to power more than 1 million households.

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Source Materials
SEIA policy overview of Treasury Grant Program: http://seia.org/cs/federal_issues/treasury_grant_program
Fact sheet on TGP and job creation: http://www.seia.org/galleries/FactSheets/Factsheet_TGP.pdf
Summary of solar projects awarded a Treasury Grant:
The Solar Foundation National Solar Jobs Census 2010: http://www.thesolarfoundation.org/sites/thesolarfoundation.org/files/Final%20TSF%20National%20Solar%20Jobs%20Census%202010%20Web%20Version.pdf

Solar Panel Makers Face Supply-Glut `Armageddon'

Solar panel makers from Arizona to Shanghai face a price crunch in 2011 because they’re adding manufacturing capacity just as global demand is poised to fall. Tthe supply of photovoltaic panels may climb to almost triple the level of demand next year, flooding the market and potentially crashing the price, said Gordon Johnson, New York-based solar power analyst.
“It could be Armageddon,” he said in an interview. “Demand is about to fall at a time when you’re going to have a significant increase in supply. In a commoditized industry, that is a formula for disaster.”
Manufacturers have sold a record number of panels this year as developers rushed to connect them to the grid and lock in subsidized power prices before the rates are cut by governments in Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. In Germany’s case, the world’s largest panel market, demand will fall in 2011 after the state cuts rates producers earn by 13 percent, Johnson said.
That will glut the market next year for photovoltaic panels, which turn sunlight into electricity, and drive the price manufacturers can charge down to as low as $1.10 per watt from about $1.80 this year, Johnson said.
Revenue may be undercut for panel-makers from Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar Inc. to JA Solar Holdings Co., the Shanghai-based company that got a $4.4 billion credit facility for expansion this year from a Chinese state-owned bank. JA Solar alone added 0.5 gigawatt of factory capacity in the second half, or 5 percent of global demand forecast for next year.

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