Looking Toward 2025

I’ll continue backdating posts from our 2024 portfolio of projects as time allows, but first, time for one of those “state of the world” updates!

Federal Updates

As of March 2025, the 30% federal tax credit extended by the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is in place. Making changes to the tax code mid-year seems unlikely.

Will the tax credit remain through 2030 as planned? To be determined. I’m joining weekly congressional calls sponsored by SEIA (Solar Energy Industries Association) to keep tabs on any developments.

Tariffs? Who knows. While Sungineer Solar has avoided Chinese-manufactured components from the beginning, due to labor and ethical concerns, the tariffs under discussion are wide-reaching and extend well beyond China and Southeast Asia. A tariff on Canadian imports may affect the Silfab modules we use on ground-mounted installations – or perhaps Silfab’s Washington-based manufacturing facilities can (magically?) spin up capacity. Tariffs, and any resulting retaliatory tariffs, on aluminum and steel will affect racking costs. Fortunately, our “stay small and custom order” business model means we already have materials on reserve for all contracted projects.

New York State Updates

NYSERDA has announced the final block of NY-Sun incentive funds (at $0.15/watt) to support installation of residential solar in Upstate. This incentive has been extended several times in the past, but with this final allocation, NYSERDA has made it clear that it will not be extended again. When it’s gone, it’s gone.

I don’t think this is entirely a bad thing. The incentive was always meant to be temporary, to support the development of a sustainable solar industry in New York State. I can’t speak for other installers, but we are confident that we can continue to offer cost-effective residential solar installation without the NY-Sun incentive. And major kudos to NYSERDA for maintaining the Affordable Solar program for low- and moderate-income homeowners! 👏🏻

Retiring the NY-Sun incentive allows NYSERDA’s hardworking but limited staff to focus on supporting the NYS Storage Order: to develop a sustainable energy storage industry in New York State and install 6 GW of energy storage by 2030 for grid resiliency and flexibility.

And that’s the big news – later this year, Upstate homeowners will be able to receive a $200/kWh incentive toward an energy storage installation! That’s $5k off a 25 kWh battery bank – not bad!

Sungineer Solar Updates

In January, Sungineer Solar celebrated its 5th birthday. 🎂 As the saying goes: “the days are long, and the years are short.” Some days are very long – but when you enjoy and believe in your work, the time passes quickly!

This winter, we renovated the small Sungineer Solar home office to provide more storage and light. The solar module on the wall is the module Dave was working on when I called him to tell him I wanted to join the business. 😉

Another addition to our office are the birdies, who we fostered and then adopted. Parrots require a lot of companionship time, but fortunately, the birds can “go to work” with me – definitely NOT with Dave!