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<br />EXHIBIT B <br /> <br />Knock $4,000 off Your Taxes by Going Solar <br />Save even more by adding state incentives to those in the new federal energy bill, the first in 20 years. <br /> <br />By Forbes.com <br /> <br />Forbes <br />.con'> <br /> <br />. Gas Crisis Cities: The hardest hit <br />. Gas Crisis Cities: The least hard hit <br />. The newest coroorate oerk: cash for oas <br />. What it costs to live well in the U.S. <br /> <br />In the new energy law, the U.s. Congress lavished tax breaks on its usual fossil-fuel favorites-there's $1.6 billion in <br />tax credits for new coal technology, $1 billion for gas distribution lines, another $1 billion for oil and gas exploration <br />costs, $400 million for oil refineries, and so on. <br /> <br />But the solar energy industry is betting that its comparatively tiny share of the energy bill spoils will be enough to <br />jump-start the industry. <br /> <br />The cost of the solar tax breaks to the u.s. Treasury-less than $52 million out of a $14.5 billion energy package- <br />may seem trifling. But the handout shows that Washington supports solar, and that should encourage more states to <br />offer breaks too, solar supporters say. <br /> <br />"For anybody who has ever considered installing a solar system, Washington is telling you to do it now," says Rhone <br />Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association in Washington, D.C. That's good news for solar <br />equipment manufacturers like General Electric and Evergreen Solar. <br /> <br />Claiming the credit <br />The law both increases tax credits for commercial solar installations and offers individual homeowners a credit for the <br />first time in 20 years. (An earlier personal-use solar credit was in effect from 1979 to 19B5.) <br /> <br />Companies such as FedEx and Johnson & Johnson that have already installed solar systems on some properties, and <br />have made a commitment toward adding more, are likely to pick up the pace, predicts Resch. "The federal incentives <br />by themselves will not create a market for solar energy, but when combined with state incentives, you reach the <br />economic tipping point to make it work," he adds. <br /> <br />Homeowners get a more limited credit. They can put in a photovoltaic system (roof panels that take in energy from <br />the sun and turn it into electricity) and/or a solar-powered hot water system (for hot water heaters, radiant floors or <br />radiators), and get a federal tax credit worth 30% of the systems' cost, up to a credit of $2,000 per system. There <br />are a couple of catches: The heating system can't be for a pool or hot tub, and the federal credit applies to the net <br />system cost after any state incentives. <br />