Gone are the days when you could pay $650 for a $13,000 solar system installed on your roof.

Oregon solar installers say a rule quietly enacted by a state agency July 1 — and announced late July 14  — cuts a crucial tax credit, boosting costs of rooftop residential energy production.

A 2,000-watt solar system that once cost a homeowner about $650, after credits and a rebate, will now cost about $3,325, Oregon Energy Department officials confirm.

That could still strike some customers as a sunny deal — and hit subsidy opponents as a blinding giveaway. But installers say the price hike will kill projects.

“This rule change is going to create a screeching halt to solar on homes,” said Jeff Friedman, vice president of LiveLight Energy, a Beaverton-based installer. “I don’t think anybody in government really realized the impact of this change.” (more…)