I'm an architect and a design builder, Since October all my jobs evaporated. Projects that were in the pipe line lost their funding as banks pulled back on home equity loaned and most other construction funding. I had to adjust and so I figured that the future lies in green energy growth. I enrolled in a Solar design and installation seminar offered by Sharp Solar and got certified.
But even with the huge solar incentives offered by my state (NY) and federal and state tax credits it was a hard sale. Everyone feels poor- and are reluctant to commit to a solar solution even when it makes economic sense. Here's my modest proposal-
This proposal is designed to create 1 million jobs in the photo electric solar field. here is my case: The cost of a typical 6 KWH electrical generating solar residential system is $ 51K .
NY state (will vary by state) offers $ 23.5K cash to installer rebate and about $ 2.5 K tax credit. The feds offer 30% tax credit or about $15k so the actual cost to to the consuner to install the system is
50-23.5-2.5-15= $10K a $ 10,000 investment in solar will pay back between $ 1,000 and $ 1,500 return in lower electrical costs per year! (depending on location and site conditions).
if you have a CD that you a renewing your best income on that will be $400!. and as electrical rates go up ( a guarantee) your solar income will double and triple!
Yet even with those huge incentive- people are reluctant to participate! why? well people are reluctant to spend 10K that they may need to use if they lost their jobs, and
are having difficulties coming up with the other 20K- so Let the federal government give each system installed 10 K grant for solar systems that are manufactured in the US! (less if they are only assembled here)
and an 20 k short term loan to cover the rebate time gap. Now the system is free to the consumer! an avalanche of solar installation will occur creating one million green jobs immediately.
my plan calls for 2 million new solar installations per year for the next 10 years!
costs to the feds: 2 mill x 10K = 20 billion + 30 Billion aid to states to help them pay for their part of the incentives (about 70%) + 30 billion in lost revenues! (maybe covered by a win fall tax on the oil firms! and/or forgive me, a $1 gas tax!)
Jobs: 2,000,000 systems installed : by 50,000 new teams. Each team has: 3 installers , 1 electrician, 1 engineer, 1 support for total of 300,000 new jobs.
the manufacturing of the solar panels, electrical, tracks components together with the mining, transportation and other support employees will generate the remaining 700,000 jobs.
and for every direct job created you will generate indirectly a secondary service job-
The loan and grants can be managed by the banks and by independent loan brokers that are slow or out of business now! furthermore I recommend that the tax rebate will be filed at the same time as the loan application and will allow to be spread over3 years of past tax returns- this will make it possible for lower income workers to get the maximum tax credit allowed!