Solar Industry Remembers Reagan Tax Cut Like a Beloved Natural Disaster
KEY POINTS
- •Ed Murray has witnessed the solar industry's trauma since 1985 when Reagan halted Carter’s solar tax credits.
- •This policy move crushed membership in the California Solar & Storage Association, dropping it from 670 to 37 companies almost overnight.
- •Murray and his organization now anxiously monitor the political climate to prevent a repeat of that catastrophic decline.
Ed Murray, president of the California Solar & Storage Association (which only remembered to add 'Storage' to its name sometime after 2018), carries the emotional scars from the 1985 solar bloodbath. That was when Ronald Reagan heroically ended Carter-era solar tax credits that were designed to curb 1970s fossil fuel addiction, causing membership to plummet from a robust 670 companies down to 37 in a blink — a massacre of solar hopefuls that makes roller coasters feel tame. Murray hopes today's solar sector avoids the same fate, nervously eyeing history as California's then-Governor Deukmejian (noted for... something) let the credits die. Meanwhile, homes studded with solar panels look on, blissfully unaware of political waterworks threatening their rooftop reign.
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Solar industry veterans remember 1985 as 'The Year The Tax Credit Ghosted Us.' Guess history’s great if you like thrilling rollercoaster crashes with government backing.
Nothing like a decade-old tax credit cancelation to give solar entrepreneurs that warm nostalgic feeling of financial doom.
Solar companies circa 1985: 'We had 670 members and then, poof! Only 37 left. It was the surprise party we never wanted.'
Source: Theverge | Published: 12/16/2025 | Author: Justine Calma
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