Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change

Welcome to Blog Action Day 2009, where thousands of bloggers worldwide are focusing on climate change issues.

What better way to counter adverse climate change effects (aka global warming) than to turn to our planet's ultimate energy source: the sun.

Solar power is the cleanest of all green energies. According to the Department Energy's Web site, the sun generates enough clean energy in one day to provide a year's supply of energy for your home or office.

The photovoltaic cells, or solar cells as they also are called, collect energy from the sun's light, transferring the electricity directly into the home or office power system.

But solar power does have one big drawback; it's expensive to install the architecture necessary to tap the sun's energy for use powering a home.

To encourage more of us to convert, or at least consider, solar power, lawmakers have created generous tax breaks.

Homeowners can claim a tax credit of up to 30 percent of the costs ofl qualified solar water
heating and photovoltaic systems. Solar water heating systems produce
hot water, photovoltaic systems produce electricity.

Credit qualification requirements: To qualify for the credit, residential photovoltaic systems must provide electricity for the home and meet applicable fire and electrical code requirements.

Eligible solar water heating systems must be certified by the Solar Rating Certification Corporation (SRCC) or a comparable entity approved by the state government in which the system is located.

In addition, at least half of the energy used by the system to heat the water must be solar energy. However, the tax credit does not apply to solar water-heating systems for swimming pools or hot tubs.

Both the credits are available for systems "placed in service" — that
is, the equipment is ready and available for use — through Dec. 31,
2016.

Since the enhancements to the solar credit are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the systems also must have been installed after Feb. 17, the date the law took effect.

There are no income caps to qualify for the solar energy tax credit. Regardless of your earnings, you can claim the credit.

Note, however, that the credits are nonrefundable. This means you can use the credit amount to reduce your tax bill to zero, but not below that. You will not get a tax refund if the amount of taxes you owe are less than your solar energy tax credit.