My line of thought was that if it were photovoltaics and the business were legit, then it would be viewed as a good thing and it wouldn't make sense to repeal the tax credit.

I know for a fact that people use these tax dodges in vast quantities and it is one of the reasons why the super heavy vehicles are so popular. They can be depreciated much quicker then lighter vehicles. If this tax credit is repealed the number of oversized vehicles would fall like a rock. The tax code drives a lot of what appears irrational.

If you add the millions of one person LLC's that write all these vehicles off, you could get rid of them in very short order.

I guess we need to wait for clarification.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p946/ch02.html#d0e2211

you cannot elect the section 179 deduction for the following property.
Equipment that uses solar energy to generate electricity, to heat or cool a structure, to provide hot water for use in a structure, or to provide solar process heat, except for equipment used to generate energy to heat a swimming pool.

Thus you can not write down PV in one year, unlike other items.