If you have been wanting to make your home greener, the time is now, friends. With Barack Obama’s eco-initiatives taking hold, you could seriously supplement the cost of green renovations with tax credits. For those of you who feel like you’ve been gipped by the recent drop in real estate, here’s a way you can cost-effectively restore equity in your home, and make the planet a healthier place to live.

Tax incentives for energy-efficient and renewable-energy home improvements may offer some consolation to homeowners who are feeling the burn of the downturn in the real estate boom.

What’s in it for you? Well here are some ways you can maximize your home’s potential with the help of the government’s dime.

• Get new windows! Energy-efficient windows and insulation are eligible for a tax credit of 30% of qualifying costs up to $1,500.
• Solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy systems may qualify for a 30% tax credit.
• Heating stoves that use renewable biomass fuel now qualify for a tax credit.

There’s also a $1,500 energy-efficient credit, which currently lasts only last two years, meaning consumers must find a way to spend during this economic downturn.

“This is a pretty lucrative deal, and I don’t think the government can continue to do it going forward because it’s expensive,” says Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a not-for-profit based in Washington, D.C.

However, before you go out buying solar panels, be sure you’ve done your homework first. The IRS is expected to issue firm guidelines on specific details of the credits soon. Be sure to consult your accountant or tax professionals before filing the deductions.

Become an environmentalist, add money to your home and also save on energy bills? It’s a win-win situation.

President Obama is making good on his promise to fund and explore renewable energy and took the time out of his busy scheudle today to tour a solar-power facility at the Denver Museum of Nature and Sciences. Today, Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus package at the museum and the tour was to highlight his push for alternative energy. The Museum closed down today to host the historic event and will reopen to the public on Wednesday, February 18.

The museum’s rooftop solar photovoltaic system consists of 465 solar panels, generating a portion of the museum’s electrical power.

“What makes this recovery plan so important is not just that it will create or save three and a half million jobs over the next two years,” Obama told an audience of 300 elected officials and members of the ‘green energy’ community in attendance at the museum. “It’s that we are putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done in critical areas that have been neglected for too long –- work that will bring real and lasting change for generations to come.”

President Obama also addressed upgrading the country’s power grid and encouraging “green energy” businesses such as solar power companies.

With the solar power industry looking down the barrel of a tough 2009 it definitely has high hopes for Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package. The question is, what exactly can the solar power industry expect to receive?

Considering President Obama’s long-term energy plans involve seeing solar energy production doubled, you can expect to see a serious solar power booster shot.

Currently, both the Senate and the house are each entertaining a package for the solar power industry. It is possible that both will be approved.

The house bill would prove invaluable to the solar industry. It would see those who purchase solar panels get refunds in the form of grants as opposed to tax credits for their purchase. The tax credits were a great incentive back when companies were healthy and flush with cash and making so much that write offs were actually valuable. Now investments need to pay and a simple tax credit is no longer much of an incentive.

The Senate bill targets manufacturing as opposed to purchasing. It would exist in the form of a tax credit for solar power technology manufacturers and keep U.S. companies competitive.

Here’s to hoping that both incentives see the light of day. This could be a major turning point for the solar industry in the U.S. and with the right stimulus we could see solar power and other forms of renewable energy take their rightful place in the forefront of energy production.

While President Obama busies himself with a major push for clean energy in the U.S. while trying to save the economy, it makes sense that he might have some solar panels installed at the White House.

That’s the buzz about the Internet at least. And it’s not exactly a far-fetched possibility since it wouldn’t even be the first time that White House has had solar panels installed. In 1979 Jimmy Carter had some solar panels put up in reaction to a couple scares from the oil industry.

Then in 1980, under Ronal Reagan, the solar panels were taken down during some roof repairs and never replaced. They sat in storage until rescued by Glen Close who had them put to work at Unity College to heat the cafeteria’s water.

According to our good friends at Ecorazzi (OK, maybe we aren’t quite “good” friends. They never return our calls and continually stand us up on lunch dates) Google tracked down the solar panels at Unity and bought one of them as a memento.

Now the question is, will President Obama return the White House its great green glory and reinstall what Jimmy Carter started?

As most decisions for the new U.S. president will be, President-elect Barack Obama’s renewable energy plan, which outlines the goal to double alternative energy production in three years, is receiving both praise and criticism in the media.

Wind and solar companies, who have struggled recently due to the sharp downturn in financing for renewable energy projects, hailed the move as a major step forward for the country. However, the rule that you can’t please everyone definitely fits in this situation, as some are saying that Obama’s renewable energy plans are too ambitious.

“Doubling over that period is a little more ambitious than one would have thought six months ago,” said Bank of America Securities-Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich. “It’s not a huge stretch goal but given what growth rates probably are now it’s realistic and may even be a little bit of a push.”

In his speech on Thursday, Obama asked Congress “to act without delay” to pass legislation that included doubling alternative energy production in the next three years and building a new electricity smart grid. And on Friday, it was announced by the administration that they plan to add 20 GW or more of wind power and 4 GW of geothermal and solar power in the next three years. These additions double the nation’s current renewable power base of 24 GW.

Following the announcement, shares of renewable energy companies sky-rocketed.