An Introduction to Solar Power for Your Home
We want you to be fully informed before choosing to install a solar electric system in your home. After reading this introduction, go back and complete our solar web form for a free one-on-one consultation. Here’s what you need to know.
How much you’re willing to spend upfront. The cost of solar panels for your home varies wildly depending on the size of the system, the state where you live, and the amount of electricity use you aim to offset. A $25,000 outlay is a pretty decent figure to work with (or about $40,000, before incentives).
If you were thinking more along the lines of $10,000 or under, installing a solar hot water system may be more attractive. This is especially true if you use a lot of hot water, have an oil- or gas-fired hot water tank, and/or live in a place where sunshine is prevalent. Solar hot water can provide most of your home's hot water needs, year round. Residential systems typically cost about $6,000 or $7,000 to install, are highly reliable, and are eligible for the same federal incentives as solar panels, in most cases. It's a technology that's been around since, oh, ancient Egypt. You really can't go wrong.
If your finances allow for less than $10,000 but you still want solar panels, don't worry. Some states have incentives making panels completely feasible at this price, and in many others you could simply purchase a small system to keep initial costs down. Is it cost effective to start out with a very small system and add to it as finances allow over the years? No. Is it a possible solution if you're really committed to going solar? Yes.
Your motivation. Think about why you want solar. Is it because you want to save money over time? Because you want to decrease your reliance on fossil fuels? Because your neighbor has it and it looks super cool? Figuring out why you want to take this step should help you evaluate if the investment is right for you. If you find out that it will take 22 years for your system to pay for itself, that might be just fine -- or it might start to sound like you’d rather invest your money in something that shows a quicker return, like new energy efficient windows.
Your average electric usage and payments. Take a look at a recent utility bill. How much energy, in kilowatt-hours (kwh), did you use last month? What about over the last year? The best number to work with is an average. Total your usage from the last year and divide by twelve.
If you're paying a relatively low rate for your electricity – say around eight to ten cents a kilowatt-hour -- it's likely that a solar system would have an unattractive payback period for you. All else equal, solar panels are a better investment in those places where conventional electricity from the grid is relatively more expensive. This is because electricity generated by solar panels translates into credit on your monthly electric bill. The higher the rate you pay, the more valuable those credits. So, a solar panel system in California, where some residential rates are as high as $0.49/kWh, will deliver more meaningful savings than it would in, say, Kentucky, where electricity is cheaper than the national average. The more you spend every month on each kWh of electricity, in other words, the more money your solar system will save you.
The condition of your roof. The ideal roof for solar faces south (west is the next-best), is totally unshaded, and has been recently redone. Flat or angled doesn't matter too much--collector panels can be installed at an angle to correct for pitch. In general, you will need about 100 square feet of roof area per every kilowatt of system size. An average 5-kW system, then, would need 500 square feet of roof. For most people there's no problem there. Get a rough idea of the square footage of your roof, and which cardinal directions it faces. Take a good look at any trees or tall buildings near your roof: during which part of the day are they casting shade over your roof? Which part of the roof?
The age of your roof could impact the cost of your solar panels. An installed solar system has a life of about 30 years. So does a new roof. If you need to replace the roof after 10 years, though, you’re adding a great deal of expense–you have to have the panels taken off and reinstalled on the new roof. Many people seem to think their home’s roof will need to be structurally reinforced to hold the panels. This is not the case, unless, as sometimes happens in the southwest, the installer chooses to mount the panels in poured concrete.
Review your state’s rebates and incentives for installing solar. After reading through your state's incentives on the DSIRE database -- or checking out our handy reference map -- you should have some idea of the kinds of financial incentives your state provides for solar installations. The most standard incentives are tax credits, sometimes as high as 35 percent of system cost, and rebates. Rebates are usually calculated per watt of system size, and good ones will reimburse you for $1.50-$3.00 per watt you install. (For our average 5-kW system, this equates to $7,500-$15,000 in solar rebates.)
Net metering, which is available pretty much everywhere, should not entice you to a PV system on its own. Net metering allows excess energy created by your system to be purchased by your utility. It's a great program but on its own, but it doesn't get your system to pay for itself.
So let's recap. If you're prepared to spend more than $10k and preferably up to $25k, currently spend a good amount on electricity, have a large expanse of roof that receives full sun, and live in a state that provides financial incentives for PV systems, you're an ideal candidate for a rooftop solar installation. If you don't meet these criteria, you can still pursue solar, but be aware that the time to system payback might be longer and that you might face higher out of pocket expenses.
Related reading:
Is Solar Power Right for You? |
