http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25564803 Solar power companies look abroad as sun sets on tax credits
Businesses are having trouble signing contracts for 2009 projects
updated 4:00 a.m. ET, Mon., July. 7, 2008
Solar power companies are racing to finish projects and are looking to overseas markets as the deadline for federal solar-power tax credits draws closer.
When the tax credits expire Dec. 31, small solar power installation companies could be hit the hardest because they depend on new business in their local markets. But even large companies are scrambling to finish as many projects as they can this year.
“Everybody’s making contingency plans,” said Steve Kircher, chief executive officer of Solar Power Inc. in Roseville. “I think you’re going to see cutbacks and layoffs in the construction industry. We’re not out soliciting new business.”
“It looks like for 2008 we have a very strong pipeline,” said Heather Dowling, a market intelligence analyst in the Sacramento headquarters of SunTechnics Energy Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Conergy AG of Germany.
…