Advantages of Solar Energy
Reduce your electricity bill
One of the biggest benefits of solar-panels is that they can save you a lot of money on your electric bill. Many states require utilities to provide net metering, which allows homeowners to offset their electric bills with the energy produced by the solar panels.
Insurance against electricity price increases
One thing most homeowners know is that electricity is getting more expensive. Electricity prices have steadily increased over the past 10 years, averaging about $0.02 per year. The cost of electricity will continue to rise in the future, which means your electric bill will continue to rise.
Solar panels can protect you from these rising electricity bills. Because you're producing your own energy, you don't have to buy expensive electricity from the utility company.
See a return on your investment
Not only can solarpanel reduce or even eliminate your electricity bill, it can also be a source of additional income. As we mentioned before, net metering allows you to make money by selling excess electricity generated by your solar panels to the utility company.
Some states have other performance-based incentives, such as solar renewable energy credits, which have the potential to earn you hundreds of dollars per year, depending on where you live.
The money you earn from net metering, plus the savings on your electric bill and other incentives, will go toward paying off the cost of your system. In areas with all these incentives, the payback period for solar panel systems can be as short as four years.
Once your system is paid off, your solar panels will continue to provide free electricity to your home for the entire life of your system!
Environmentally friendly
Another great selling point of solar energy is that it is a renewable energy source. This means that when you use the resource, it does not permanently deplete the resource. In other words, when we use the sunlight that hits the earth and turn it into electricity, we don't run out of solar energy.
In addition, the electricity generated by solar panels does not produce any greenhouse gas emissions. When we generate electricity from solar panels, nothing is released into the atmosphere; the only thing created is clean energy!
Energy Independence
Owning a solar panel allows homeowners to create their own energy source, thus making them energy independent. Essentially, this means that solar homes are not as dependent on the traditional grid as other homes. This allows you to take your power into your own hands and control where your home gets its energy from.