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 2008 being a bust financially, many industries are putting their faith in the new economic stimulus plan, which will hopefully resuscitate the economy.

Now, things are looking bright for the solar and wind power industries, as news that the U.S. government is set to spend nearly $100 billion to push America’s energy industry and make solar power part of its energy stimulus. The stimulus package apparently contains tax incentives for solar installation as well as incentives for job creation in solar energy companies.

“We are excited to see the push to drive investment in solar energy at the top of American agenda,” Eddie Austin, Chairman and CEO of Sunrise Solar Corp, said. “Experts expect this to stimulate rapid growth in solar power as consumers and businesses see these grants and tax credits as a great opportunity to go green on a budget.”

Solar companies are scrambling to produce and build more technology in order to accommodate a demand that will most likely become massive.

Rep. Mike Thompson, of Montana, stated, “The solar energy tax provisions I authored will make it easier for businesses and homeowners to have solar panels installed. This has the twin benefits of creating green jobs while at the same time reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”