REDUCE YOUR ELECTRIC BILL AND INVEST IN SOLAR

The benefits of solar are many. Installing solar is not only good for the environment, it’s an excellent investment. By reducing your electric bill your savings add up to significantly over the life of the system.

As an example, if your bill is about $200/mo, and you install a system to eliminate that payment, you are saving $2,400 per year. Your system will be paid off in a few years. Then, over the life of the system, you can save tens of thousands of dollars. Take into consideration annual rate increases from your utility, and the savings increase dramatically.

SOLAR REBATES AND TAX CREDITS

There is a Federal Tax Credit for Solar Electric (PV), Solar Water heating, Wind and other Energy Efficiency systems. The Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit is a nonrefundable energy tax credit to help individual taxpayers pay for qualified residential alternative energy equipment. This includes solar electric (PV) systems. The law allows for a credit equal to 30 percent of the system’s cost after utility rebates. Please consult with your tax consultant to determine if you would be eligible for this tax credit.

If you install the system at the same time as you reroof your home, you have an even greater tax benefit. Ask us about this added incentive! The sooner you install solar the more money you save.

For more information:

Federal Energy Tax Credits

Solar Energy Industries Association

There is more information about this over on our solar finance page.

CHOOSE RENEWABLE ENERGY

Solar panel installation benefits us through how we live, the air we breathe, and the water we drink.

In 2015, 67% of the electricity generated in the US was through fossil fuels. We can reduce the pollution created by those sources by generating our own energy at home and supporting more renewable energy resources in the US. Any excess electricity you generate will be sent back into the grid, where it is dispersed to your neighbors. They in turn are relying less on fossil fuel resources.

INCREASE YOUR HOME VALUE

An article written by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory concludes that adding solar to your home can increase the value by about $4 watt added. So for a 7kW system, that’s an increase of $21,000.

Over an 11 year period, the report looked at eight states and found that buyers are consistently choosing to spend more for a home already equipped with solar.

So not only are you saving on your electricity bills and creating an investment with solar, you are increasing the equity in your home.

‘Selling into the Sun: Price Premium Analysis of a Multi-State Dataset of Solar Homes‘, Berkeley Labs

‘Appraising Solar Energy’s Value’, New York Times

COMMON SOLAR MYTHS

1: It costs to much.

It’s true that installing a system costs money. However, in the long run, solar is cheaper than buying power from the grid. You can reduce or eliminate your bill, and your investment will pay itself back in a few years. From then on, your free electricity savings can add up to thousands.

Do you want more detailed information on investing in solar?  Click here.

2: It’s too foggy here.

The sun’s light activates panels in all kinds of weather. In fact, solar panels work best when they aren’t too hot. That’s because the electronics inside are more efficient in cooler temperatures.

Sure, a solar panel’s dream is a cloudless sky. But we don’t always have sun, especially on the Monterey Peninsula. SunPower solar cells are designed to capture a broader range of the solar spectrum. By capturing more red and blue wavelengths, they can generate more electricity even when it’s overcast.

3: We can’t generate electricity at night.

Solar panels do produce a very small amount of energy at night due to the ambient light from stars and the moon. In spite of that, and the immense power of the sun, you will want to still be connected to the grid, so that you can draw energy during the night, above and beyond what you generated during the day.

Your connection to the grid is called “net metering”. Your panels will generate more than enough power during the day, so the excess energy is sent back into the grid for your neighbors to use. Because of net metering, you can draw on that excess at night, without being charged for it. Your long summer power generating days will help cover your winter costs, and your electric bill will calculated once a year.

4: Making panels is not environmentally friendly.

Of course any manufacturing process creates carbon emissions. However, the environmental impact of installing a system will offset itself in a year and the power you generate for the next several decades will reduce a significant amount of pollution created by other energy sources.

Here’s a link to SunPower’s sustainability page.