By Benjamin J. Hulac, Washington Correspondent, NJ Spotlight News
WASHINGTON — The U.S. solar industry hit a record in 2023, putting the most capacity ever on domestic power grids.
Then last year, it broke that record, installing 21% more.
But under the second Trump administration and a Republican-majority Congress largely hostile to renewable energy, the industry in New Jersey and elsewhere is facing a series of barriers after years of growth, and all the while it is buffeted with back-and-forth tariffs that spark international trade disputes.
Chief among these barriers is a new federal law that weakened renewable energy tax credits for wind and solar power and a recent Trump administration decision to cancel all funding from a $7 billion grant program that goes to residential solar projects for lower-income homes.
“I think it’s, coupled with the pending repeal of the tax credits, really a one-two punch that is going to make it harder for people to go solar, save money and create jobs,” Ben Delman, editorial director for Solar United Neighbors, a nonprofit advocacy group, said of the new law and the canceled grant money.
“The industry is trying to figure out where to go next,” Delman said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “In some ways, it feels like we’re walking backwards.”
Expiring tax credit
Changing tariffs and interest rates are also barriers for the industry, he said.
Because of a new federal budget law Congress wrote this year, a federal tax credit to help people pay to put solar panels on their homes will expire Dec. 31, instead of in 2034, almost a decade ahead of schedule.
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