The perks of a solar home go well beyond the savings on your electricity bill. In fact, the slew of financial benefits gained by solar homeowners only begin to scratch the surface of the true value of a solar system. Once you start producing your own clean energy, the perks just keep adding up.
Add value to your home – A study released in April 2011 by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that solar boosts the resale value of homes by about $6 per watt. On a mid-sized home, a 6kW system can add as much as $33,000 to that home’s resale value. As an added bonus, the value of a home solar system will actually appreciate as utility rates go up.Add nothing to your tax load – Thanks to a state-by-state property tax incentive, installing a solar system on your home will add nothing to your tax load.
Control your electricity rates – Utility rates are getting downright volatile, and can increase without warning, month-to-month. As demand increases and fossil fuels grow scarcer, costs will only increase at a steeper rate over time. While utility prices rise at random, solar locks in your rate, allowing you to plan your future with confidence.
Reduce stress on the grid – More solar homes means less daily stress on the energy grid. If you produce your own electricity during the summer when the AC is blasting, then you’re saving yourself money and you’re doing your neighbors a favor. By putting less stress on the grid, seasonal rates stay lower and everyone wins.
Be energy independent – Going solar allows you to produce power
from the roof of your own home. It’s stable, self-sustaining and you know exactly where your electricity is coming from. As fossil fuels run out and global demand increases, you will be much less at the mercy of the markets.
from the roof of your own home. It’s stable, self-sustaining and you know exactly where your electricity is coming from. As fossil fuels run out and global demand increases, you will be much less at the mercy of the markets.Buy power, not panels – Just a few years ago, solar was out of reach for most homeowners because purchasing the system was the only option available. Today solar leasing programs like those offered by SunRun are available in addition to the option of purchasing the system.Solar leasing cuts down on the cost of going solar by allowing homeowners purchase the energy the solar system generates, not the solar system itself.
Produce clean and renewable power – The amount of solar energy available for use every year is more than 25 times larger than the earth’s total reserves of coal. As demand continues to rise, solar has the ability to scale without the worrying factor of a massive upturn in CO2 emissions. In addition to that, the technology used to harness solar energy will get more efficient as time goes on, meaning that we will be able to increase our energy capacity, rather than see it diminish as coal becomes more expensive.
Be an example – Lots of people are unsure about solar because they don’t know anyone who has it. If you hear that solar can save you a lot of money but no one else is doing it, the whole idea seems suspicious. And yet, homeowners who have gone solar are raving about it. There just needs to be more of them! Start saving on your energy bill and be an example to others.
