{"id":6215,"date":"2017-03-21T08:15:57","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T08:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.portal.solar.com\/learn\/trump-solar\/"},"modified":"2022-11-11T00:19:21","modified_gmt":"2022-11-11T00:19:21","slug":"trump-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/trump-solar\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Solar Energy Under The Trump Administration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The recent election of President Trump has affected every sector of the economy, from agriculture to energy. While some would argue that most of the benefits and attention of the federal government over the next four years will focus solely on fossil fuel extraction, it\u2019s not such a clear crystal ball reading.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cat is certainly out of the bag in what renewables can offer, and reliable, renewable energy now receives wide bipartisan support in Washington. One of the reasons that, by nature, renewable energy receives such widespread acceptance, is because it offers each area, or group of states, the ability to control its grid more reliably, rather than relying on an external fuel source to be trucked in and burned whenever it\u2019s needed. Resilience and Local Economic Stimulation are hard to pass up at the federal level.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>So What Is Going To Happen With Renewable Energy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, some of the language coming out of the capital isn\u2019t all great. There are sure to be steep cuts in research and development at the DOE, cuts in staff at many agencies, and near elimination of grants to many companies trying to get off the ground. However, there is one shining star in the darkness, and that\u2019s the Federal Investment Tax Credit, an incentive that taxpayers can claim to reduce their tax liability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than a direct grant or rebate to taxpayers, the incentive is designed as a tax credit, which is why it receives such high levels of support among both parties in D.C. It reduces one\u2019s annual tax burden by reducing the payment one might owe in taxes. Everybody in D.C. loves tax cuts, which is why it was extended at the end of 2015 by a strong majority in both Houses of Congress.<img style=\"margin: 10px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 400px;\" title=\"165905882-394338.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.solar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/165905882-394338.jpg\" alt=\"165905882-394338.jpg\" width=\"400\" data-constrained=\"true\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Federal Solar Tax Credit\u00a0(Federal ITC)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The federal ITC is calculated at 30% of the gross system cost to install a residential renewable energy generation system. It can actually be used for a variety of renewable energy applications, but the most common one for residential property owners in the United States is for a solar energy system. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only qualification for this tax credit is in the manner that someone purchases it. It has to be considered true ownership, in the form of buying it outright (cash) or financing it over a period of time (loan). \u201cGross System Cost\u201d means the full contract price, whatever is deemed necessary for the solar system to operate functionally. This means any electrical upgrades required to sustain the system, any re-roofing in the area, trenching for a ground mount, and even some financing fees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ITC receives support in unlikely corridors of D.C. for aligning with consumer choice advocates. If a person has the capability with their own property, and their own means, to create their own energy to power their needs, they should have the ability to participate in that means of production. It is also argued consumers should be able to participate in a market if it abides by basic rules and constraints. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This belief is shared by many in the Green Tea Party Coalition, a group of free economic choice advocates. There are also many Representatives and Senators in both parties that support diversifying energy generation on a regional, geographic scale. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The wind is widely abundant across the Great Plains and the Midwest, and Republican Senators Grassley and Coburn both support wind energy development. It\u2019s hard to find a Congress Member in California or Arizona that doesn\u2019t support solar energy development.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the road looks bumpy ahead for renewables, it\u2019s unlikely to see a full-scale removal of the federal ITC before it\u2019s scheduled departure in a few years. After all, it was designed to incentive a homeowner to make a purchase on a home improvement project, and stimulate local economies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It\u2019s continually renewed because of all points on the political spectrum exhibit support for this policy. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The recent election of President Trump has affected every sector of the economy, from agriculture to energy. While some would argue that most of the benefits and attention of the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":8817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.5 (Yoast SEO v19.10) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Future of Solar Energy Under The Trump Administration | Solar.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With Trump now in office, there are question marks when it comes to solar energy. This article addresses the future of clean energy and why you shouldn&#039;t worry.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/trump-solar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Future of Solar Energy Under The Trump Administration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With Trump now in office, there are question marks when it comes to solar energy. 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He's been published by the Associated Press, Yahoo! Finance, MarketWatch, Home.com, Emeraldology.com and many other digital and print outlets. He's also been cited as a solar expert in The Mortage Reports Sam has a BA in Communication with an Emphasis in Journalism from the University of North Dakota and was named 425 Magazine's \\\"Top 30 Under 30 Professionals\\\" in 2020 while running an sustainable e-commerce startup. Based just outside of Seattle, WA, his 4.5 kW solar system provides enough power for his wife, daughter, and dog -- for now.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/samuel-wigness\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SamuelWigness\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/author\/swigness\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Future of Solar Energy Under The Trump Administration | Solar.com","description":"With Trump now in office, there are question marks when it comes to solar energy. 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