According to a recent Forbes Article, US Congress is attempting to override a possible veto from President Bush which would extend and enhance renewable energy tax credits, specifically in the solar arena.

An expert in the article alludes to the idea that stock prices of solar energy firms would be affected by solar tax credits.  The expert [Horowitz] says that tax credits “would not be a deal breaker” for stock prices because the largest market for solar is currently “offshore.”  So supposedly a jump in US demand for solar power would not create a huge change in solar energy firms stock prices.

As a director of a solar energy project affecting users in the developing world it’s interesting to me to consider not only how this will effect stock market prices of solar energy companies, as was referred to by Horowitz, but also how it will affect the price of solar panels themselves.  Will this solar tax credit in the US cause a huge worldwide demand in solar panels the likes of which we have never seen?  A large enough jump in demand may possibly create a jump in prices – which, if the tax credits are not extended for years to come – may create a successive lowering in price.  No one knows what may happen – but you can take a look at how solar energy prices have fluctuated in the past here.