By SkySite Property staff

Few homeowners have the money handy to invest in solar power instillations. But through power purchase agreements and other new financing options available, environmental analysts expect solar power sales to boom this year.

The reason behind this expected solar sales surge in a recession? Power purchase agreements. The idea behind these legal contracts is to make instillations such as solar panels accessible to the average American homeowner. This option requires a homeowner to purchase the generated electricity, but the contracting company absorbs or finances the cost of installing the solar equipment. But stalled legislation could halt the progress many companies have been making through power purchase agreements to increase the number of homeowners and businesses using solar power.

“The solar energy sector is an economic powerhouse, and the growth of this sector is sparking the economic opportunity of the century,” said Neal Lurie of the American Solar Energy Society.

And a coalition of businesses and advocacy groups want to ensure that opportunity remains. More than 100 businesses and organizations have been lobbying the U.S. Senate to help even more with this effort by extending tax incentives that would strengthen the renewable energy industry and likely increase the number of companies able to offer power purchase agreements for solar power.

“Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are a proven economic engine for our country,” said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “They’ve created tens of thousands of green collar jobs and billions of dollars in investment. Congress and the administration should seize this opportunity to support this high-growth sector.”

Members of this coalition, including big-box retailers such as Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Wal-Mart, argue that legislation should be passed to provide continued incentives wind, solar and biomass for a number of years to provide the stability financial investors need to back new projects. In addition to extending tax credits for renewable energy sources, the coalition urges the Senate to extend tax incentives for constructing energy-efficient buildings, installing efficient home heating and cooling equipment, manufacturing efficient home appliances, and retrofitting existing homes to save energy. In addition, the group believes the tax incentives could also increase encourage the use of power purchase agreements for solar electric systems.

“Our nation’s buildings account for 70 percent of our nation’s electricity use, and that’s why these incentives are vitally important to deploy energy-efficient designs, technologies and equipment,” said R.K. Stewart, former president of the American Institute of Architects. “The end result is that we would get the most energy-conserving buildings possible, which means reduced utility bills for businesses and homeowners, and lower overall energy demand across the nation.”