You may have been discouraged by the information about the cost of solar energy floating around on the Internet and other sources. Let’s have a closer look at these figures to help you decide if it is too costly, and how you can save BIG. You will be convinced that you should get off the grid and install your own electricity producing system. This will free you of the rate of inflation and the rate at which the power company keeps increasing the bill by almost 6% every year (when incomes are NOT increasing by this rate!). By installing the solar electric system you will no longer pay these companies.
Total your previous electric bill and check the cost of solar energy kit for your home. You will be thrilled to see that it is cheaper indeed! You help save the environment (big one!), you save money (important!!!) and it is a very liberating experience to being good to the earth. Advanced technology has helped reduce the cost of solar energy by 7 times. The major reason being the basic law of economics, as the demand increases the cost of production decreases.
As more and more people join this revolution; the cost of solar energy falls. For example, more that 80% of Spain’s energy requirements are met by solar energy. As the market grows, the cost of this clean energy declines further. Realizing the benefits of this energy the government has introduced benefits and incentives. The concept of Net-metering has been introduced, where you get paid to divert the excess electricity to the national grid for others in the community to use. That’s right; the electric power suppliers will begin to PAY YOU once you start living off the grid!
You will have an added passive source of income which works for you silently without much effort from your side besides just keeping the system well maintained; otherwise the components use have a life of 25 years and more with a onetime investment. The cost of solar energy depends on the size of your house, the usage of electricity, the kind of solar energy generator used, the amount of insolation you receive and the government funding to pay you for the energy you generate. A photovoltaic system will cost anywhere from 8000-10,000 USD for a 1kilowatt system which works out to 8-10$ per watt. A hot water system will cost around 2000-4000 USD. Consider you are living in a 3 bedroom house and you consume 3 kilowatts of energy, to make such a system it will cost you $24,000 to 30,000 without rebates.
Let us consider an example from the state of California, generating a bill of $75 per month. And if you need a 3 kilowatt system the cost of installation will be 24,000. Less government rebate = $7000. Less tax credit = $1,163. The entire cost of installation falls to $15837 only! With Net metering you can save even more. For a 3 kW system = 3000 watt x $2.80 per watt rebate = $8,400. With a 7.5% of system cost after rebate 24,000 – $ 8,400 x 7.5% = 1,163. Basically add 0.5 to the size of your system for each additional 25 dollars on your bill and 4500 USD for the incentive cost. These figures are meant to give you an estimate of your benefits which will outweigh the cost of solar energy generation.
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