Tax Breaks For Solar Energy

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published September 9, 2008 at 10:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

Legislation that would pave the way for the expansion of solar energy in California will be decided by Governor Schwarzenegger. Two bills give tax breaks to homeowners and commercial solar facilities.

Legislation that would pave the way for the expansion of solar energy in California will be decided by Governor Schwarzenegger. Two bills give tax breaks to homeowners and commercial solar facilities. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

One bill renews an existing exclusion from property tax assessment on the value of solar energy systems.

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The bill also extends the tax break to builder-installed solar systems in new homes.

Sara Birmingham is with Solar Alliance, a national association of solar installers.

She says the tax break is a vital incentive for the construction of both home and larger commercial solar plants.

Birmingham: It's absolutely crucial and critical that this exemption is moved forward because a lot of these projects will just not be able to be put in the ground without it.

Two solar companies say a deal they have to provide Pacific Gas and Electric with renewable solar power would be less likely if the state didn't offer a property tax exemption.

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Another bill allows homeowners to let companies install solar systems.

Those companies could then sell the energy generated and give homeowners a break on their electric bill.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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