Joe Biden praises solar grants, but little hope of extension

Vice President Biden is calling for the extension of Recovery Act policy that has allowed solar applicants to take a 30% tax credit in the form of a cash grant, and has helped to get 1,000 megawatts in solar started this year.

Created last year, the tax credit program has sustained thousands of jobs in construction and installation and supplied enough power for up to 220,000 homes.

It has doubled the solar capacity installed in 2009 and nearly tripled that of 2008.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the already-existing tax credit allowance was converted to cash grant disbursement. Without the cash grant component, applicants completing projects will have to wait until after they file their taxes to receive payment, which could prove to be a damper on investment.

Prospects of an extension are dim in a lame-duck session of Congress where many now want to roll back the gains made in advancing renewables.