Solar energy is on the move in North Carolina. It would be indefensible if the General Assembly were to scuttle it.

In 2007, North Carolina passed a landmark bill to require electric utilities to get 12.5 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2021. Generally speaking, that means either solar power or conservation measures to reduce demand.

Solar’s share is only 1 percent now but the industry is poised for a boom. Duke Energy, which serves most of the state, is going solar in a big way. It is investing $500 million to build three solar-power generating facilities and will buy power from five other facilities to meet its 2015 requirement of 6 percent for renewable power.

A report by the research firm RTI International released in April said about $2.7 billion was invested in North Carolina clean energy development between 2007 and 2013. That’s nearly 20 times greater than the state tax credits for them, the Research Triangle Park-based firm said.

Asheville-based FLS Energy has obtained $300 million in capital from four investment firms. The initial $18 million will allow FLS to build more solar photo voltaic farms, buy existing solar projects and acquire other businesses in the field.

Solar energy does a lot of good things. It decreases reliance on imported oil. It lessens air and water pollution. It does not emit any greenhouse gases. The sun shines reliably and cannot be bought up by any cartel.

And it creates jobs. “Since we first started tracking … in 2010, it has (created) nearly 50,000 new jobs (nationally),” said Andrea Luecke of The Solar Foundation. “Importantly, these jobs have remained well paid and attract highly skilled workers.”

Unfortunately, some in the General Assembly would end the program. They say government should not be subsidizing alternative power. They don’t mention the subsidies for fossil fuels, which by some estimates exceed $50 billion a year.

One champion of repeal is Rep. Mike Hager, R-Rutherford, a retired Duke Energy engineer. His efforts were beaten back by other Republicans this year but it would be no surprise if the push were renewed in 2015.

Fortunately, all that is required to keep the utility requirements in effect is for the General Assembly to do nothing. The same is not true of the 35 percent state tax credit for those who choose to put photovoltaic panels on their homes. It expires at the end of 2015.

Home panels are good economics in the long run. “Putting solar PV panels on your roof is likely to save you tens of thousands of dollars. The average 20-year savings for Americans who went solar in 2011 were projected to be a little over $20,000,” according to cleantechnica.com.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the units are costly up front. The bill can reach $15,000 and it takes at least seven years to recoup that cost, even with federal and state tax credits. The federal credit is 30 percent.

The cost of solar installations is dropping steadily and some day they will be competitive even without credits. “It’s an extraordinary success story that there’s an industry that hardly existed several years ago,” Michael Shore, CEO of FLS Energy, said last year.

But that day has not yet arrived. The General Assembly should extend the credit for several years, allowing the situation to be reevaluated then.

And it needs to leave the renewable-energy requirement alone. As Maya Gold of Environment North Carolina put it, “To take solar power to the next level, our leaders just have to keep the foot on the accelerator and certainly not put on the brakes.”