Deployment Incentives The SAI is a timely complement to the main Federal incentive for PV deployment, a 30 % tax credit. That allows residential and business customers to offset 30 % of the PV equipment cost against their tax bill. The small fly in the ointment is that the credit is currently only planned to remain in place for 2006 / 2007 and is capped at 2 000 USD per system. A well-supported bill seeking to extend the tax credit until the end of 2015 and increase the maximum credit to 2 000 USD/kW is currently before Congress. Meanwhile the Golden State, under Governor Schwarzenegger’s leadership, is doing its utmost to help drive solar forward with its 10 year, 3,2 billion USD California Solar Initiative. That includes a 2,5 billion USD programme under the Public Utilities Commission to provide rebates for commercial and retrofit residential solar systems. The PUC programme, which provides 2 800 USD/kW for home-owners and businesses is funded by a public-benefit style levy on gas and electricity sales. Importantly it can be combined with the Federal tax credit.

Any good counsellor can tell you that recognizing and admitting an addiction is a critical step towards beating that dependence. President George W. Bush’s 2006 State of the Union Address and acknowledgement that the US is addicted to oil was therefore very significant for the US (and global) energy sector. The Advanced Energy Initiative heralded in the Address is the means by which the US is hoping to crack its reliance on the ‘black gold’.

Specifically for PV and concentrating solar power, President Bush announced the Solar America Initiative. The SAI will focus on ‘PV technology pathways that have the greatest potential to reach cost competitiveness by 2015’. This means in part that the solar programme funding will be reorganized with proportionately less emphasis on fundamental R&D and more towards Advanced Materials and Devices (AM&D). The AM&D activity which focuses particularly on thin-film and advanced manufacturing will be driven by new ‘technology pathway partnerships’, led by industry with the active participation of universities and national laboratories as well as state and other government bodies. The AM&D pathways will also become more competitive, subject to aggressive milestones and progress measures assigned to identify those with the ‘best outlook for success’ which will determine future funding priorities.

The third programme area alongside Fundamental R&D and AM&D is technology development. This focuses on Systems Engineering and Reliability, and Building Integrated Photovoltaics, all directed towards achieving the 2015 cost-competitiveness goals.

The technology development component also houses ‘Solar Powers America’, which replaces the Million Solar Roofs initiative as the main national deployment vehicle. This will identify and fund cost-shared opportunities to promote the deployment of current PV technologies and build relationships to assist in the eventual deployment of advanced SAI technologies.

The SAI is targeting 5 to 10 GW of PV installed in the US and could support 30 000 new jobs in the US solar industry by 2015. A budget of almost 139,5 million USD has been requested for 2007 Fiscal Year, apportioned 30 million to R&D, 94,5 million to AM&D and 15 million to technology development. If approved the budget will represent a 115 % increase over FY 2006.

Information

• Contact: Susannah Pedigo
  Email: susannah_pedigo@nrel.gov

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