Why Go Solar?
Why go solar? There are many reasons, whether you want to be conscious of the environment, or want to hedge against the continually rising cost of energy.
Financial
By installing solar power in your home or business, you have automatic protection against rate hikes. You hedge against rising power bills.
Almost always, the first question people ask when considering a solar power system is what the payback will be. This rests on a number of factors including current rate structure, the amount of power you use in a year (this information can be obtained from your power provider), rebates offered, size and type of system installed, and location of the installation. A residential system can see a complete simple payback in 10 years. A commercial system can see a complete simple payback in less than eight years.
The best way to look at your investment in solar IS as an investment. You can often see a return on investment of 9% - 14% or greater. For more information on your potential return, read this article by an energy expert.
A recent study by the Berkeley Lawrence National Laboratory (PDF 517KB) has shown that homes with solar photovoltaic systems have sold for a premium over comparable homes without PV systems.
Environment
Solar power plays a major part in the nation's solution to our long-term energy needs. It provides clean, sustainable energy for decades to come once it is installed.
Solar power offsets greenhouse gas emissions, which would have been created by using standard energy producing sources.
Some of the technical details of how these greenhouse gas emissions are offset:
- 1.185 pounds CO2 per kWh (global warming) are emitted with current energy production methods, not to mention NOx and SO2 levels.
- A 3 KW solar system can offset 5300 lbs CO2 gas per year (159,000 lbs CO2 over the life of the system).
- You and your home or business will have a much lighter environmental footprint by leveraging solar energy.
Utility Backup
Solar power is a viable solution to areas without a direct link to an electric utility or to areas with frequent outages. By utilizing a combination of a battery backup system charged by the sun's energy, a generator, and even other sustainable energy sources, solar power can provide seamless power to your home or business day and night.
Read more about the benefits of solar, and find answers to your questions on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
