Do Solar Panels Really Save You Money
Whether youâre searching for a clean energy alternative or youâre just looking for ways to reduce your electric bill, you have probably thought about installing solar panels on your property.
It makes sense, too: if you can generate electricity from sunlight – which is readily available in most areas – why wouldnât you?
But do solar panels really save you money? And if so, how much money do solar panels really help you save?
As you can probably guess, it really depends on the size of the panels you install. So letâs look at the overall cost of solar panels, and then compare that to the savings that you benefit from after theyâre up and running.
Solar Savings Enabled By Net Energy Metering
When you go solar, youll still be connected with your utility company . Net energy metering allows you to earn energy credits at the retail value for the energy your solar panels produce.
Your panels will produce power during the day by converting sunlight into energy that you can use to power your home. They will produce a full days worth of power during this time.
At work? Kids at school? You probably will not be using ALL this energy during the day, so youll have extra left over. This excess energy will be sent back to the grid and your meter will run backwards. Thus, your utility company will convert the excess energy into the form of credits.
When you need to pull energy from the grid at night when your solar panels arent producing energy, your utility company will send you those credits back. Your meter will keep track of the energy you sent back to the grid as well as the energy you took back.
At the end of the year, if youve used about as much energy as your panels have produced you could potentially have a net zero electricity bill. Therefore, solar paired with net metering can effectively reduce your electricity costs completely.
Efficiency Of The Solar Panels Based On Panel And Roof Location And Angle
| Panel tilt angle | Directly west-facing roof photon ray access efficiency | Directly south-facing roof photon ray access efficiency | Directly east-facing roof photon ray access efficiency |
| 0 |
| $17,769 | $19,990 |
Based on the above figures, it is clear that the cost-saving implications can be absolutely enormous if you do not get your initial system installation right. As the installation costs for solar vary from around $700$1,700, a surprising number of people prefer to install their own panels. However, it is safe to say that the installation costs are minimal compared to the amount of money that you could lose if you do not get your panel alignment right.
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Do You Still Have An Electric Bill With Solar Panels
The reality of solar panels and electricity bills is that you probably will still have an electric bill after solar panels have been installed. This is because the majority of solar systems only cover 90% of the energy requirements of the average home as opposed to all of them.
As per the previous section, with an average $115 per month bill, many households are going to be saving $103.50 per month. However, this still means that the average electric bill with solar panels will be $11.50 as homeowners will have to foot the remaining shortfall themselves. This means that solar panels and electricity bills will still co-exist with one another, at least in a mild capacity.
In some instances, your solar system may actually cover 100% of your energy requirements. If this is the case, then you will not have an electricity bill to pay at all.
Complete Guide For Solar Power Ontario 2021
Congratulations! Youve found the ultimate guide for going solar in Ontario!
Ontario is currently ranked the #9 province in the country for installing a solar power system, scoring as one of the best provinces for upfront system costs and financing options.
This page contains all relevant information about installing solar in Ontario including utility policies, system financing, solar incentives, and natural factors
The guide begins by answering the two most common questions about solar systems, then it explores each solar ranking factor.
You can read from top to bottom, or skip to your preferred section by clicking on it below:
| 3. System Costs |
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Solar Panel Costs By State
Solar panel costs in the U.S. typically include equipment and installation services. Visit the Solar Energy Industries Association website to learn about local incentives and tax credits in your area. Its usually in your best interest to take advantage of state clean energy programs when you can it lowers your upfront costs and shortens your payback period.
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Additional Solar Panel System Costs
There are a few things youll want to add to your solar energy systems total cost to get the most accurate price estimate. Here are a few additional factors that will impact how much your solar panels will cost:
- Labor costs Local labor costs for solar installation will change depending on your area and the average costs solar installers charge in your area.
- Installing solar mounts The costs to install the racks that hold your residential solar panels will effect cost as well. There are a few options for solar mounting.
- Installing solar inverters A solar inverter will need to be installed to transform direct current power from the panels into the alternating current you can use in your home
- Other costs: There may also be costs for any local permit fees, inspection fees, and taxes on the solar panels.
With the fall in solar panel prices, these soft solar panel costs now constitute the bulk of what you pay when you install solar for your home.
Fortunately, as more people adopt solar power, soft costs have fallen as a resulta trend thats very likely to continue in the future. An analysis by the federal governments National Renewable Energy Laboratory discovered that installed prices have fallen at an average annual rate of 13% to 18%.
Always make sure to speak with a local solar professional to get a more accurate estimate of what your installation will cost.
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Saving Money & Saving The Environment
The financial savings are clear. Not only will solar decrease your monthly electric bill, it will increase your home value and let you start saving money from day one. Your financial budget suddenly seems brighter when you begin to see your savings from your electric bill each month.
Financial benefits aside, you can rest assured knowing youve done an incredible thing for the environment. Youve taken advantage of the capability to generate clean, renewable energy, straight from the sun.
According to the EPA website, an 8.6kW home solar system avoids the equivalent of an estimated 9,606 pounds of carbon dioxide being released into the air each year, doing the work of approximately 50 mature trees. If your entire neighbourhood went solar, it would be like growing a forest.
Install solar now and know that you can feel good about doing your part to help change the way our world is powered.
How Much Would Solar Panels Save Me
Most people know getting solar installed is one of the best ways to save money. Working out the amount you could save depends on a number of factors, but there is a simple calculation you can use to estimate it.
First, its important to understand the factors that will influence how much youll save. These include:
- The size of the solar system you install: This will impact how much solar energy you generate. The bigger the solar system, the more solar energy it will produce.
- Where you live: Households up north see more sun and therefore generate more solar energy than households down south.
- Your energy rates: This includes your usage rate and also your feed-in tariff
- Your energy use: The amount of energy you use in your home will give you a good idea of how much solar power youll use in your home vs how much excess youll have to export. This will impact your savings because youll pay more to buy electricity than you will be paid for your exports . So the more solar you use, the more youll save.
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How Much Do Solar Panels Save Do Solar Panels Really Save You Money
The simple answer to the question do solar panels really save you money? is yes. That being said, how much youll save depends on a number of factors. Direct hours of daily sunlight and the size and angle of your roof are both important, but local electricity rates play the biggest role in determining how much solar can save you.
With so many trendy investment opportunities available in todays day and age, its easy to be skeptical of new products that boast promises of saving you tons of money. Solar panels are no different saving money by reducing your electric bill is one of the main appeals and selling points for solar as a product and home upgrade.
Solar Savings When Adding A Battery
For arguments sake, lets add a top of the range, wiz-bang Tesla solar battery. Effectively, this allows the household above to use 100% of the electricity the solar system generates.
Continuing on from the example above:
Thats absolutely huge. Whats more, the battery allowed them to be completely in charge of their own electricity generation. Electricity independence. With the addition of a couple of useful peripherals, the same household managed to avoid the inconvenience of local blackouts.
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A Historic Opportunity To Potentially Save Thousands On Your Mortgage
Chances are, interest rates won’t stay put at multi-decade lows for much longer. That’s why taking action today is crucial, whether you’re wanting to refinance and cut your mortgage payment or you’re ready to pull the trigger on a new home purchase.
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How Much Does It Cost To Remove Solar Panels
Although your main concern is how much money do solar panels save, you will have to factor in some potential losses to get a true reflection of your savings over time too. If you need to remove your solar panels in the future due to selling your house, then remember that this is going to have a negative impact on your lifetime solar panel savings as follows.
| Job required |
It is important to factor these figures into your overall savings calculations.
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How Solar Panel Efficiency Impacts Savings
So, how does solar energy save you money? It is all about the effective placement of your solar panels. The efficiency of your solar panels is going to directly impact how much money you will be able to save over time when using them.
Solar panel efficiency largely relies on whether they are placed in a position that allows them to directly access the suns rays maximally. Optimal solar panel positioning relies on them being south facing and placed at a 45-degree angle.
How Much Do Solar Panels Save In 2021
Residential solar panels not only help you reduce your carbon footprint, they help you save money on your utility bills, as well. Rebates and incentives like the federal solar tax credit can help you save even more and make installing solar panels even easier.
How much you actually save depends on many factors, including your power usage, local electricity rates, and the size of your solar system. So when you see statistics on how much solar energy saves on average, those numbers arent taking all of these personal details into account.
Luckily, weve created our solar savings calculator that analyzes all of this information. When you use our solar savings estimator, you get an idea of how much you can save with solar panels on your specific home – an estimate that is tailored to you.
Below, we dive into how much solar panels save on average, and what you can learn by using our calculator.
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How Much Money Do Solar Panels Save You On Electric Bills
The first step to understanding how much solar can save you is to calculate how much you are currently spending on electricity every year. For example, the average annual electricity use required for a U.S. household is 10,649 kilowatt-hours . Multiply that by the national average electricity rate as of October 2020 and youll find that the typical American family is spending just under $1,450 a year on electricity alone.
Then, you have to consider the volatile nature of electricity prices and determine what utility rates will be in years to come. When you compare the cost of utility electricity with home solar, you should keep in mind that you can expect electricity rates to increase annually. Over the past decade, national electricity costs have increased at a rate of around 2.2% per year. Utility rate inflation is an added incentive for solar: when you generate your own energy with a rooftop PV system, youre locking in energy costs at a constant rate so that you no longer have to consider variable utility rates.
To provide a snapshot for typical bill savings from a solar installation, the following table offers state-by-state data for 20-year savings estimates with solar. The data incorporates a number of assumptions:
- System size: 6 kilowatts
- Electricity demand: 10,649 kilowatt-hours per year
- Utility rate inflation: 2.2%
Keep An Eye On Trade Policy
Changes in government trade policy also impact prices. In January 2018, President Trump imposed a four-year tariff on imported solar cells and panels that started at 30% and was set to drop 5% each year until February 2022. In 2020, the tariff rate for the fourth year was raised from 15% to 18%. The tariff resulted in a 16 cent per watt increase for the average consumer in 2018, which translated to an overall increase of $960 for a six-kW system, according to EnergySage.
The cost of foreign-manufactured panels may still drop, lessening the tariffs effect over time.
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Solar Energy Is The Latest Thing
in conscious energy these days, and its hard to know if investing in anything is really going to save you tons of money with so many trendy investment opportunities. So, do solar panels save money? Is it worth it for solar? How much do household solar panels cost?
Its no fluke to save money by reducing your power bill by cutting down on the amount of energy you use. By providing a natural source of energy that has the capacity to power your house, solar panels give you the capacity to save money. It really depends on a few main factors if youre trying to save a lot of money:
- Direct hours of sunlight
Start Saving Money With Solar Sooner
According to the time value of money concept, a pound today is worth more than a pound tomorrow. If we apply that to solar, that would mean going solar today may be more valuable than going solar a year from now, even if solar panel prices go down.
Heres why thats the case.
As soon as your solar system is turned on, you start generating electricity from the sun, which can lower your electricity bill. And while there are a number of factors that can influence your savings, such as location, shade, system size, utility rates, weather and local policies, the overarching principle is the same: The more solar energy your home produces, the less electricity you have to buy from the utility company. So by installing your solar system today, youre saving money now. Those are savings you wouldnt see if you were still waiting.
Purchasing a solar system outright is the best way to achieve higher long-term savings. And depending on your system size, energy usage and local utility rates, a solar system may pay for itself in five to 10 years. After breaking even through bill savings, you will enjoy free renewable electricity for the lifetime of your system. And if that system is powered by SunPower panels, it is projected to continue saving you money for up to 35 years.
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Learn How Much You Could Be Saving With Solar Panels On Your Texas Home
Wouldnt it be great if instead of stressing out about paying the monthly power bill, you were excited to open each bill to see how LITTLE money you owed? Even better, how would it make you feel if the power company paid YOU for power?
For Alba Energy solar customers across Texas, the pain of opening the power bill each month has disappeared and instead been replaced with excitement. Solar panels allow you to produce your own power, saving you money from buying electricity from the local utility.
