{"id":21788,"date":"2026-09-02T12:35:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T12:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opensolar.com\/?post_type=podcast&#038;p=21788"},"modified":"2026-09-02T12:35:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T12:35:05","slug":"s02e7-can-us-solar-thrive-without-tax-credits","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/www.opensolar.com\/es\/podcast\/s02e7-can-us-solar-thrive-without-tax-credits\/","title":{"rendered":"S02E7: Can US Solar Thrive Without Tax Credits?"},"content":{"rendered":"<section id=\"hero-block_2811155c589dd2ab9172fe61adf79d6b\" class=\"hero  light-mode background-none\" style=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block-hero\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"intro-text default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"motion-hero-headline blue-gradient light-mode\"style=\"margin-bottom: 0 !important;\"><h1>S02E7: Can US Solar Thrive Without Tax Credits?<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section><section id=\"one-column-block_25f70a19f9e32618f63330b1e4899dc7\" class=\"one-column bs-h-regular bs-tp-none bs-sp-regular bs-bp-regular light-mode  background-none\" style=\" padding-top: 0;\">\n\t<div class=\"block-style-default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"center-column no-top-padding\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-space left\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text light-mode\"><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The US solar industry is going through one of its biggest resets in years. Tax credits have changed, financing has tightened, and many installers are feeling the pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So the question many installers are asking is simple: can US solar still thrive without tax credits?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Episode 7 of The OpenSolar Podcast, Andrew \u00abBirchy\u00bb Birch sits down with Dan Johnson, CEO of <a href=\"https:\/\/sixriverssolar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Six Rivers Solar<\/a>, whose business is proving that the answer isn&#8217;t black and white. While incentives have helped shape the industry, long-term success increasingly depends on how businesses adapt, sell value and build resilience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also available to stream on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"video light-mode\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UCKKJAyguW4\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-space left\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text light-mode\"><h3><b>Building a business around resilience<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Founded in 1980, Six Rivers Solar has deep roots in California&#8217;s off-grid market, dating back to long before battery storage became mainstream. That experience still shapes the business today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While many residential installers have experienced a difficult year, Six Rivers Solar has deliberately expanded into commercial solar, creating a diversified business that&#8217;s less exposed to market swings. At the same time, the company continues to install batteries with almost every system, helping customers prioritise energy independence alongside long-term savings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00abIf you can build a healthy mix of residential and commercial projects, it gives you stability when one part of the market slows.\u00bb<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h3><b>Selling value before price<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For Dan, batteries aren&#8217;t simply another product to upsell. They&#8217;re central to the customer conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than leading with cost, his sales team focuses on resilience, future-proofing and energy independence before discussing price.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00abEverything you say before you show the price is building value. Once you&#8217;ve shown the price, you&#8217;re justifying cost.\u00bb<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That philosophy carries through to every proposal, giving customers clear options while helping them understand why investing in a larger battery system often delivers greater long-term value.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>If not tax credits, then what?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The loss of federal incentives has undoubtedly made selling solar harder for many installers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Dan believes the industry&#8217;s future can&#8217;t rely on incentives forever. Rising electricity prices, falling battery costs and better technology continue to strengthen the economics of solar, even if the sales conversation has changed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00abThe truth is PG&#038;E has raised electricity rates around 30%. The value proposition today is effectively back where it was before.\u00bb<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His point isn&#8217;t that tax credits don&#8217;t matter. It&#8217;s that the strongest solar businesses are learning to sell on long-term value, not short-term incentives.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Efficiency is becoming a competitive advantage<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As margins tighten, reducing soft costs matters just as much as reducing hardware costs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dan explains how faster permitting through SolarAPP+, better site data, and connected workflows are helping installers spend less time on administration and more time installing systems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For growing solar businesses, efficiency is about creating the capacity to scale without continually adding overhead.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Creating opportunity in a slower market<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Residential demand may have softened, but Six Rivers Solar didn&#8217;t wait for conditions to improve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, the team proactively re-engaged commercial customers ahead of policy changes, creating urgency that resulted in several years&#8217; worth of commercial projects being secured in a single month.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lesson is simple: in a slower market, growth rarely comes from waiting. It comes from adapting your strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>So, can US solar thrive without tax credits?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dan doesn&#8217;t suggest the transition will be easy. Financing remains tougher, customer confidence has shifted, and many installers are still navigating uncertainty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But his experience suggests the answer is yes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The businesses most likely to succeed will be those that diversify, improve operational efficiency and build trust through honest, value-led sales conversations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00abGood reviews and referrals are the heart of the business.\u00bb<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are no easy wins in today&#8217;s US solar market. But Six Rivers Solar shows that businesses built on operational discipline, customer trust and the ability to adapt are still finding opportunities where others see obstacles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Watch the full episode to hear Birchy and Dan discuss commercial growth, financing, permitting and the strategies helping installers navigate one of the industry&#8217;s biggest transitions yet.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this episode of The OpenSolar Podcast, Dan Johnson joins Birchy to explore whether US solar can thrive without tax credits, and how diversification, selling value and building resilience can help installers adapt to a changing market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21766,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21788","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can US Solar Thrive Without Tax Credits?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can US solar thrive without tax credits? 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