In light of the recent vote to pass the ITC extension, we spoke to contractors and manufacturers and shared some of their responses here. 

Contractors/developers/EPCs

“Pleased for sure, and surprised. But politics is an unpredictable business and you never know what might pop up to drive events. In this case, the oil export ban being lifted and, probably, some tailwinds from the Paris conference converged to make an extension possible. Where absent these factors, I don’t think it would have been. It certainly gives us some run way to work with and continue to focus on domestic U.S. solar. I think some of the fundamental challenges to the sector remain, but this takes some of the pressure off of us to find work in international markets.”
-John Hereford, Oak Leaf Energy Partners

“The extension alleviates most of my concerns about supply shortages for next year. The step-down plan for 2021 should help solar eventually stand on its own two feet a bit better. In the meantime, some of the subsidies for oil and gas need to be reduced or eliminated. Solar is meant to be a long-term goal for everyone, not just short-term bursts that have led to sloppy installations, a few questionable dealings and some solar businesses failing. Solar is meant to be sustainable for all of us.”
-Ben Zook, Belmont Solar

“Wow! This came completely as a surprise and unexpected for me. I believe it will generate more revenues and create jobs. The five-year extension is much needed in the industry to bridge into the next decade. I believe that in six years from now, there will be no more incentives needed as there will be enough critical mass installed to be competitive without incentives. Hope that counts for coal and nuclear as well.  Changes in an industry or market also provides opportunities. It is better with the extension now but it would not have been the end of the world without either.”
-Carlos Mayer, President & CEO vis solis

“The impact of the ITC would specifically mean a more stable growth plan for our company. We will be to be able to continue adding customers to our pipeline, instead of having a realistic cut-off date to onboard projects, we can commit to have them ready by the end of 2016—which was going to be very stressful. Now, with the new phase out plan of the ITC, we would not have a cliff of 30% to 10%, but a more subtle digestible transition both for solar companies and end-users.  To a certain extent we were never worried, because we’ve know of the ITC deadline for a while now. We just needed to plan around the new reality of a post-ITC solar industry. We believe in our industry and we understand that markets change, policy changes and with this reality we just needed to be flexible enough to adjust in a timely manner.”
-L. Javier Ruiz – LEED AP, Border Solar

“I think we still need the ITC to support commercial solar DG. I think the apparent tradeoff between lifting the oil export ban and support for renewables makes a lot of sense given the divided political context. It will allow us to continue to execute commercial solar projects where local rate dynamics are still conducive.”
-Rob Dallal, Director, Natural Power and Energy

“The extension will keep the residential market going nicely. The commercial market will also be enhanced but not as much, because it can survive the expiration of the 30% ITC. I hoped for the best and planned for the worst. I am a veteran of tax credit extensions here in Hawaii. I had a bet the credits would be extended. But, you never know!”
-Jim Whitcomb, Haleakala Solar

“Developers around the world already know that the economics of solar are strong enough to stand on their own. However, we are thrilled to see this extension to preserve the thousands of jobs we may have lost in a 2017 cliff scenario. Solar is already growing rapidly, and the ITC extension is going to dramatically expand the size of the solar market over the next five years, benefiting distributed solar companies like UGE.​”
– Nick Blitterswyk​, CEO of UGE

“Grateful. Conergy can now look 5 years ahead and make business decisions with regulatory certainty. Our team thanks the U.S. Congress for valuing our work and for the relief going into the holidays.”
-Conergy team

Manufacturers and service providers

“We’re delighted for every area of solar. The extension gives certainty, which in business and in life is generally a very good thing. What was going to happen without it? No one could answer, quite rightly, because, first, people were thinking about 2016, and, second, people don’t want to conjecture. Now people can have a view, with a good degree of certainly, about 2017. This is a big sign for investors. Paris kicked it off with governments giving policy clarity to investment community. It’s the investment community that will provide capital for policy targets, so the investment community is getting a lot of green lights from a high level. The insurance companies and pension companies, the ones that have the billions of dollars that will be needed for this to work, now have the structure they need, and people can start planning.”
-Graham Smith, CEO, Open Energy

“We support the extension of the ITC and a clearly defined long term step-down strategy. This illustrates the strong national support for domestic energy security and economic stability along with job growth. This aligns directly with the Fronius strategy of domestic manufacturing and renewables job creation. In addition, the Fronius corporate vision of 24 Hours Sun recognizes a global shift from centralized fossil dependent energy generation to the more sustainable future of distributed renewable energy generation and storage.”
-Tristan Kreager, Director of Solar Energy, Fronius USA

“For EcoFasten Solar in particular, our roof mounts are largely used in both the commercial and residential markets, which are both poised to grow 35% and 50% respectively. Without the extension of the ITC, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where those numbers would fall, but I think it’s pretty safe to say the significant upward growth from years past might not be as robust. We’re extremely lucky to live in a time when we have a huge segment of the population dedicated to promoting renewable energy, who are emotionally invested in the idea of a sustainable planet.”
-Jolene Ciosek, EcoFasten Solar

“We feel very proud of our country for continuing to support renewable energy and the U.S. solar industry.”
-Jason Higginson, Senior Director of Marketing, APsystems

“Most Excellent! This will enable us to continue to grow our business at a faster rate then without the ITC. Given the recent events in Paris and hard press for renewables I didn’t think they would let it drop. Honestly I would prefer if all incentives for energy generation were removed including oil and gas allowing all to compete on a level playing field with a tax on emissions. This would bring to light the benefits of renewables! The PV train has so much momentum I don’t think it would slow it down too much if the ITC dropped, the industry would adapt and innovate just has it always has.”
-Elie Rothschild, Sales Manager, Sollega

Other industry professionals

“The impending reduction of the Solar Investment Tax Credit is the single biggest impediment to the continued and steady growth of the US solar industry.  Although significant reductions in installation costs and advances in technology have put the U.S. solar industry well on its way to the day when little or no governmental incentives will be required, the proposed extension will give the industry a workable and definitive timeline in which to continue on that path.  The extension will give the US solar industry a timely boost that will enable it to play a significant and necessary role in the implementation of the recently adopted Federal Clean Power Plan and the Paris Climate Change Agreement.”
-Stephen Kisker, chair of Chiesa, Shahinian & Giantomasi’s Renewable Energy and Sustainability Group