John Petersen

Alternative Energy Tax Credits for the Storage Sector

Rick, I've not seen any hard cost per watt hour data for almost a year and think your data on that issue is probably more current than mine. It is certainly more current than the April 2007 data on Axion's website. I personally think that it's time for a website update but if it comes to a choice between improving aesthetics and improving technology, the technology improvements should win every time.

I started my career as a tax specialist and spent most of the early 80's working on tax sheltered investments. Before the rates fell during the Reagan administration and the AMT gutted the residue, even a 10% ITC was a huge driver of qualifying investments. The consensus is that tax rates are going up - way up. If they do a reasonably leveraged investment in solar may well generate tax benefits that exceed the out of pocket costs. If things work out the way it looks like they might, we may see a big resurgence in an investment class that's been dead for the last 25 years. All I know for sure at this point is that I'm dusting off my copy of the IRC and regulations.