A political fight is coming for solar’s crucial federal tax incentive, a fight one key industry leader warned could be “World War III.”

But beyond the foreboding politics, another industry leader said, is the possibility of “Tomorrow Power & Light,” the utility of the future operating a safe and reliable system of affordable integrated central and distributed choices for electricity customers.

In 2016, solar’s federal investment tax credit (ITC) will drop from 30% to 10%. Backed by the current 30% benefit, this year’s solar installations will be 70 times higher than they were in 2006, when the Energy Policy Act of 2005 put the ITC in place. By the end of 2014, there will be nearly 30 times more total solar capacity online than in 2006.