Crisis doesn’t mean dark days for solar

San Diego —- As a disc jockey played tunes like “Good Times” and “Celebration,” during a street party at the Solar Power International conference here this week, Victoria Hollick summed up the state of the solar business these days.

“It’s amazing, the euphoria in the industry right now,” said Hollick, vice president of Conserval Engineering Inc. of Canada.

The solar industry has good reason to celebrate.

While most sectors of the economy are struggling, many in the solar business say they don’t have enough products or employees to meet demand. On Wall Street, solar stocks are a rare bright spot.

The biggest reason solar is shining right now, though, is because the government Oct. 3 extended federal investment tax credits for renewable energy projects as part of the revamped financial bailout bill.

Solar industry executives say the bill, which lets consumers and businesses take a 30 percent tax credit on investments in solar and other renewable energy projects through 2016, is essential to their industry’s survival.

“Two weeks ago, this was going to be a wake,” said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “Now, it’s a wedding.”

According to a study commissioned by Resch’s group, the tax credit extension could help create 440,000 new solar-industry jobs and unleash $325 billion in private investment in the industry.

Solar company stocks jumped after the tax credit extension passed, but they’ve been rising for some time, said John Jacobs, executive vice president of the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The 12 solar power company stocks on the Nasdaq are up more than 150 percent from a year ago, he said.

“That’s in defiance of every other part of the market,” Jacobs said.

At Lithia Springs-based Nations Roof, vice president Joe Carbine said he thinks the tax credits will help his company.

“It’s huge,” he said. “What it means is that we can now continue to grow like we should.”

That’s not to say the solar industry doesn’t have dark clouds on the horizon.

Investment tax credits might not make a difference if the credit freeze and sputtering economy keep businesses and consumers from getting the money to install solar projects.

Meanwhile, there’s still no comprehensive national energy policy. And exactly how solar might fit into one depends on who wins the presidential election.

Cost and efficiency are still factors, too. Solar power remains much more expensive than oil, coal and gas, and is typically more expensive and less efficient than competing renewable energy sources.