This week, Senator Udall (D-CO) announced a new clean energy and job creation bill.  The bill would extend the tax credit available to homeowners who put solar panels on their roofs and to those homeowners who collectively own solar arrays.   Senator Udall included in his bill ideas he learned of from his visit to Holy Cross Energy in Glenwood Springs, CO. 

Holy Cross Energy along with The Clean Energy Collective has united to offer homeowners ways to pool their resources and invest in solar panels located on a separate plot of land.  It’s a new approach to using solar energy known as “community solar projects or solar farms which has the potential to increase the market for solar power.”   Currently there are tax credits available for homeowners who install PV cells on individual homes; it doesn’t allow the same credit for community solar projects.

According to Senator Udall’s website, this bill, “Solar Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) Act of 2010 modernizes the tax code regarding solar energy, enabling homeowners who invest in community solar projects to take a 30% tax credit just like individuals who install PV cells on their houses. …The SUN Act of 2010 will increase the market for solar energy products and services, helping boost Colorado as a world leader in the clean energy economy. 

“Senator Udall announced his bill during a press conference with reporters earlier today. He was joined by representatives from the Clean Energy Collective and Holy cross Energy, who talked about the potential for community solar projects.

“The community based clean energy model has the potential to be the vehicle, which spurs widespread adoption of clean energy and puts us well on our way to a long term, sustainable, clean energy nation,” said Paul Spencer, of the Clean Energy Collective.