Do Something Good for the Planet, & Protect it for Future Generations
Going solar is a simple way to do something amazing for the health of our planet, and for our children and future generations. The fact that going solar also saves you a significant amount of money on your utility bills makes it even more of a no brainer.
According to Energy.gov: “As a renewable source of power, solar energy has an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change, which is critical to protecting humans, wildlife, and ecosystems. Solar energy can also improve air quality and reduce water use from energy production.”
The average sized solar system will offset annually the C02 equivalent of 797 gallons of gasoline burned, 7,841 pounds of coal burned, or 2.5 tons of waste put into landfills, and perform the same air cleaning work of 117 planted tree seedlings growing for 10 years, or 8.4 acres of US forest in one year, according to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator you can find here.
That’s pretty impressive! And if that’s what one solar powered home can do, think about the effects on a larger scale if we all decided to go green.
In addition to investing in solar panels, many homeowners today are also investing in things like geothermal heat pumps and electric vehicles, both of which can be powered by your solar system, and allow you to create a self-sufficient and truly green home. These upgrades will have a wonderful impact on the environment and on your wallet through fuel savings over time.
You can learn more about the electric vehicle chargers NYSSF installs here.
Save $ on Utility Bills
According to the EnergySage solar marketplace, most homeowners who invest in solar panels will save between $20,000 and $75,000 on electric bills over their solar system’s life. Wowza!
The ideal solar scenario is one where you start saving from day one because the loan or lease payment you incur for your solar system is less than your current electric bill. This scenario is a reality for most of our customers, and becomes so for more and more everyday as utility rates continue to escalate at previously unheard of rates.
There are several factors that contribute to the economics of your solar system and how much you will save upfront and over time, including the orientation of your roof to the sun, whether or not your roof is shaded by trees or other obstructions, your utility’s rates, etc.
For some customers your solar payment becomes a bill swap for what you are currently paying your utility, and thus savings come over the following years as utility rates rise and your solar payments stay the same.
The best part about solar is that once your loan period ends (the average loan term is 15 years) your electricity becomes free for the remaining life of your solar system, and panels have a projected useful life of 40 years. That’s a lot of free electricity!
Some customers choose to pay cash for their solar panels, and thus solar becomes a longer term investment with an average payback period of about 8 years.
There are several incentives that help to reduce your cost of going solar that you can learn more about here.
To find out exactly how much solar can save you, simply request a free quote from us!
Achieve Energy Independence
Another wonderful thing about installing solar panels on your home is that this allows you to achieve energy independence. Tired of your electric company having complete control over the energy you need to power your home, and what they charge you for it?
Become your own energy producer, and harness clean energy from the sun right from your own roof to power your home.
When you go solar, not only do you become your own energy producer, you also lock in your electric rates at today’s pricing for the next several decades, given that panels are warranted for 25 years, with an expected useful life of 40. This gives you complete control over your energy costs too.
When you decide to pair your solar panels with batteries, you gain even more control given that you will no longer be a victim to utility company outages.
Learn more about pairing solar with batteries here.
Increase Your Home’s Value
Solar also increases the value of your home should you decide to sell by an average of 4.1%, or a median increase of $9,274, according to Zillow.
The reason for this being that homebuyers are willing to pay a bit more upfront for a far greater return in electric bill savings over time, and that over 80% of homebuyers say energy-efficient features are important to them.
How Does Solar Work?
You may be wondering, how do solar panels actually work to power your home? Let us explain in the steps below!
- Photovoltaic solar cells that make up each solar panel absorb the sun’s energy and convert it to DC electricity.
- This energy then flows through your solar inverters which convert this DC electricity to AC electricity, which is what is used by most home appliances.
- The AC electricity then flows to your electric panel, and then through your home to all of your electric outlets providing an electric current to power all of your appliances, devices, and anything else that uses electricity to operate.
- Any excess electricity produced by your solar panels flows back to the grid to be used elsewhere. This excess energy is then credited to you, so that when you need energy not currently being produced by your panels, at night, during bad weather days, etc., you have the credits available to cover this usage. This process is called Net Metering. You can learn more about Net Metering and all other current solar incentives available here!