Posted: March 12th, 2015

Using robots to explore under sea and preforming difficult marine maintenance tasks.

Using robots to explore under sea and preforming difficult marine maintenance tasks.

Without the tax incentives, it would cost about $27,000 to install a 3,000-watt solar
electrical system that would be suitable for the typical Long Island home, according to Kevin Creamer, of
Sunshine Plus in Smithtown, which sells solar power equipment.
Photo by Bridget O’Brien – Gov. [George Pataki], surrounded by businessmen, politicians and
environmentalists, smiles as he signs a bill supporting renewable energy use by homeowners yesterday at the
Farmingdale State University of New York. The bill increases the personal tax credit of a homeowner who
i nstalls solar-powered electric-generating equipment.
Full text: New Yorkers who install solar energy in their homes can now receive an expanded state income tax
credit.
Under prior law, homeowners could claim a credit of $3,750 to defray the cost of installing solar-powered
electric-generating equipment.
But a bill signed yesterday by Gov. George Pataki increases the personal income tax credit to $5,000 and
broadens it to cover the purchase of equipment that heats water and heats and cools homes.
“There’s only one area where environmental protection, economic growth and national security come together,
and that is when we can break our dependency on foreign oil,” Pataki said, appearing at the Farmingdale State
University of New York.
Last week Pataki, who announced he is not seeking re-election amid speculation he will run for president in
2008, signed a similar measure exempting the sale and installation of solar energy systems from state sales
and competing use taxes. Municipalities will have the option of granting the exemption. The Senate and
Assembly passed both bills in June.
But in an interview, Mark P. Mills, a physicist and co-author, with Peter W. Huber, of “The Bottomless Well,” a
book on the future of energy consumption, downplayed the impact of the solar tax credits.
“Anything that’s not oil can reduce our consumption of oil,” Mills said. But, he said, no renewable source of
energy has “made an impact on the nation’s energy supplies.”
Without the tax incentives, it would cost about $27,000 to install a 3,000-watt solar electrical system that would
be suitable for the typical Long Island home, according to Kevin Creamer, of Sunshine Plus in Smithtown, which
sells solar power equipment.
With passage of the new bills, the same system would cost homeowners about $10,000 less, said Creamer,
who also joined Pataki at the press conference. A solar heater costs, on average, about $6,000 for a house
suitable for a family of four, he said.
Illustration
Caption: Photo by Bridget O’Brien – Gov. George Pataki, surrounded by businessmen, politicians and
environmentalists, smiles as he signs a bill supporting renewable energy use by homeowners yesterday at the
Farmingdale State University of New York. The bill increases the personal tax credit of a homeowner who
i nstalls solar-powered electric-generating equipment.
People: Pataki, George
Publication title: Newsday, Combined editions
27 September 2013 Page 1 of 2 ProQuest
Pages: A14
Number of pages: 0
Publication year: 2005
Publication date: Aug 2, 2005
Year: 2005
Section: NEWS
Publisher: Newsday Inc.
Place of publication: Long Island, N.Y.
Country of publication: United States
Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals–United States
Source type: Newspapers
Language of publication: English
Document type: NEWSPAPER
ProQuest document ID: 279987985
Document URL: http://search.proquest.com/docview/279987985?accountid=27795
Copyright: (Copyright Newsday Inc., 2005)
Last updated: 2012-09-25
Database: ProQuest Newsstand