DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A bill that increases available state money to encourage installation of solar power systems in Iowa has passed a Senate committee and moves forward to the full Senate.
The bill, supported by environmental groups, received bipartisan support in the Senate Ways and Means Committee Thursday.
It increases the annual cap for solar tax credits to $4.5 million from the current $1.5 million. It also allows individual homeowners to get up to $5,000 in credits, up from the existing $3,000 cap and businesses to qualify for $20,000 in credits up from $15,000.
The Iowa Environmental Council says demand exceeded the cap by nearly 50 percent last year and interest in solar is growing rapidly.
So far 622 projects using more than $2.8 million credits have invested $24 million in solar energy.
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