When it comes to green technology, solar panels seem to be what started this whole green movement. While you may know how solar panels work, you may be debating whether or not they’d be worth investing in for your existing home. Here are five big benefits that they provide for residential homeowners which may have you deciding to take the plunge and have them installed at your property.
Save Money
The big draw to installing solar panels is that you can produce your own energy for your house to use. The more energy your solar panels can produce, the less energy you have to get from your local power company. This translates into spending less money each month on energy costs for your home. It’s been estimated that the average homeowner can save over $100 per month on their energy bill when they install solar panels.
Another really cool benefit of producing renewable energy is that some power companies will pay you for the power that you produce. Basically, your solar panels make a set amount of power during the day. Whatever your home doesn’t use gets fed back into the power grid for others in your community to use. There is a meter where the power company can track how many units of energy you’re providing for others and they’ll credit your energy bill accordingly.
Increased Home Value
When you install solar panels on your home, you’re making a long-term investment. This shows in the raised value of your property. People are craving more and more to have green technology in the homes that they buy. Therefore, when you put solar panels on your property, you increase your home’s attractiveness to buyers. It’s been estimated that solar panels can add a whopping 17 percent to the value of an existing home.
There Are Tax Incentives
The government has made the need for renewable energy a big priority for citizens. They’re offering tax incentives for those homeowners who make the commitment to solar panels. The Federal Solar Tax Credit allows homeowners to get 30 percent of the cost of their solar panel system installation back on their taxes. On the state and local levels, there are other well-known renewable tax credits out there as well. The Solar Renewable Energy Credits or SRECS, for short, is one of the most popular local programs.
Fixed Energy Costs
If you’ve been paying an electric bill, you know that the price can fluctuate with time. There’s no reliable standard that you can expect to go off of when predicting your future energy costs. The only thing that is clear is that energy prices have been rising. When you opt to go with solar panels to produce most of your home’s energy needs, you can guarantee yourself fixed energy costs for the future. You know what each solar panel can produce and what your home needs to function. Just some simple math and you know what you’ll be paying as a fixed price for your solar panels and energy for your home.
Solar Panels Come With Long Warranty Programs
When you go to your local solar panel provider, you’ll notice that most of the solar panels they offer come with a very long warranty. The warranty or performance guarantee for most solar panels go for 25 years. The actual manufacturer’s lifespan for the units will run anywhere between 30 and 40 years in length. Try to compare this to the warranty of a furnace or baseboards. You won’t find any warranty program for these other items that last that long.
Installing solar panels at your home can be a great decision to secure your future energy costs and do your part in going green. These panels provide a renewable source of energy that your home can function off of far into the future. If you’ve been considering making the switch to using solar panels at your home, hopefully, you now are convinced that solar panels are well worth their investment.
