Fate of $20 Billion US Home Solar Market Lies in GOP Senate Hands

The troubled, $20 billion US residential solar market’s future rests on whether Senate Republicans will challenge their brethren in the House of Representatives and change provisions of the massive tax and spending bill that executives and analysts alike say would devastate the industry.

The bill passed by the House this week would strip away tax credits for companies that lease rooftop solar systems as well as homeowners who buy them outright. The industry is already reeling from tariffs on imported equipment, high interest rates and reduced state incentives in California, the nation’s biggest residential solar market. One major rooftop solar company — Sunnova Energy International Inc. — is laying the groundwork for a bankruptcy filing, and analyst Philip Shen at Roth Capital Partners warned the bill as written would effectively shut down the industry, starting next year.