In 2008, the 50% state tax credit kick-started the solar industry in Louisiana. It made solar affordable for the average Joe and changed the way people thought about investing in solar energy. Before 2008, there were many people investing in solar for the RIGHT reasons; environmental, sustainability, battery backup for emergencies, rising cost of electricity, peace of mind, and many others. Many post 2008 solar consumers lost sight of this and were solely focused on that magic number: RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI).
ROI is great, but that is not the point of solar. Solar is a long term investment, like the one you make on your family home. In most cases you aren’t looking to purchase a home based on a return on investment. There are a lot of factors that go into helping you make an investment decision for a home, but along with cost come location, security, size, and how it will prove to be an asset in the future.
Solar is a long term investment. The recent state tax credit has created such a short payback time that consumers are losing sight of true benefits to solar. Solar energy is sustainable. It’s good for the environment, and it makes use of the ever-present natural energy source we see in the sky every day: the sun! As energy costs rise, the cost of the power that your solar installation is producing will stay the same. For this reason ,a solar system will continually become more valuable as the years go by.
Had the state tax credit never gone into effect, the solar industry in Louisiana would be smaller but we would see more customers interested in the IMPORTANT qualities that solar has to offer. It would have prevented the formation of newer, less reliable solar companies that will disband and run when their customer’s come calling for repairs or with tax credit issues. If the state tax credit had never been instituted, Gulf South Solar, along with a core group of other reliable, knowledgeable, experienced contractors would have been selling solar to those who see the importance in the long term investment.
We are thankful for the additional business that the tax credit has provided us over the last 7 years. We now want to challenge our customers to rethink how they view solar.