Pros of Solar Energy
Solar energy represents a new wave of autonomy where you can take control of your power generation and do your small but necessary part to reduce carbon emissions. But what are the actual benefits of investing in a solar system?
Monthly Equity Building
When you invest in solar, you essentially swap out your electric bill for a solar system loan. Switching that monthly expense might not sound glamorous, but it provides a great benefit when you look at the details. Every month, you take in a certain amount of power and the utility company charges you for it. That money you spend? Gone. You’re essentially renting electricity month-to-month from your power provider.
When you buy-to-own a solar system that expense changes from perpetual rent to a loan payment that’s building value right onto your house. Your monthly expense goes toward paying off something that will be paying dividends to you over the next few decades.
Now, to be clear, these savings only happen when you’re buying. Other companies may offer solar systems to you through lease agreements or plans called Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Leasing agreements get the system installed with you renting the hardware from the company.
That money you pay per month still doesn’t go toward equity. With PPAs, the company installs the system and then you buy the power from them—instead of the utility company. Usually that payment’s less than your usual utility bill, but it still isn’t money going to an investment.
So one of the biggest benefits, home equity building, only happens when you buy a solar system as opposed to leasing it. And once you pay off your solar system loan, a couple more pros come into play too:
- No more electricity bill OR monthly loan payment.
- You just boosted the value of your property by the cost of that system (or even higher!)
But those benefits kick in when you pay off your solar system. What about savings over the course of the loan?
Trends show that the price of electricity has been on the rise over the last 20 years. On average, U.S. households now pay electric bills 60% higher than in 2000. And with how technology is always getting cheaper and more prevalent, it’s not likely you’ll be needing less electricity.
When you buy versus lease for your solar system, your monthly payment stays the same for the entire length of your loan. Assuming that 20-year trend of upward creeping electricity prices continues, even if your loan payment was the exact same cost as your average electric bill when you started, pretty soon you’ll find yourself paying 15-30% less than your neighbors over the first decade of paying off your system.
And depending on the power output and your average monthly usage, you might produce a surplus amount of electricity to share with your local grid. If you’re living in the right state, that could mean you get a nice kickback in the form of cash or credits from the utility company for helping produce power for them.
When you buy versus lease, it’s easy to understand—you save money AND you make money.
Immediate and Long-Term Reduction of Your Carbon Footprint
The average household produces nearly 15,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. With solar panels, you can reduce those average carbon emissions by nearly 3,000 pounds annually.
But over the long-run of a solar system’s life, you can help the initiative against climate change even more.
The average residential solar system can:
- Offset the energy produced by burning over 80 tons of coal
- Offset the energy produced by 175 tons of carbon dioxide
- Be the equivalent of planting 4,000 trees
These offsets only take into account the average household’s production as well. In the event your system produces a surplus, it may lighten the load of the overall grid by a small amount as well—which in turn offsets more need for carbon dioxide emissions.
The global fight against climate change is a game of collective pieces. Installing a solar system of your own is a big part of your own piece.