Benefits of home solar panels

Home solar panels come with a host of benefits. They can help save you money on energy and help your state meet its renewable energy goals. Home solar panels can also add value to your home and may help it sell faster. Lastly, having panels on your roof may even keep your home a little bit cooler in the summer! For homeowners in California, there are now incentives that may make home batteries an attractive option as well.

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Home solar panels can help save you money

Home solar panels can help save you a lot if you manage your power usage wisely after going solar. To get the most savings out of your solar system, you should:

Know how much energy your system produces
Plan for future energy usage
Understand how your local utility bills you for energy usage

Know how much energy your system produces

Your solar system was designed to produce a certain amount of power by the company that built it. The actual amount of power it produces in any given month depends on what time of year it is. The system generates more power in the summer and less in the winter.

You will need to monitor the amount of power your system is producing and budget your power usage carefully to stay within the amount of power your system is generating.

Plan for future energy usage

When you go solar, the largest size solar system that you are allowed to install is often determined by your utility company. For example, San Diego Gas and Electric currently allows you to install up to 115% of your electrical usage. Depending on how your utility company handles solar compensation, you may earn bill credits for any energy that your system produces which you don’t consume.

Home solar panels can help you sell your home

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), purchasing a solar power system can increase your home’s resale value by an average of 17%. The NREL also states that the value solar adds to a home depends on location. Communities, where there are a lot of eco-conscientious homeowners, will tend to produce the highest increase in home value.

Home solar can also help your home sell faster. The NREL found that homes with solar sold an average of 20% faster. Just like the amount of value solar panels can add to your home, the amount of help that solar provides when selling your home depends on how eco-conscientious the neighborhood homeowners are.

It’s important to note that for solar to help your home sell faster or to increase its value you should buy your solar system. Solar leases and Power Production Agreements (PPAs) may not help you sell your home or add any value to it. In some instances, leases and PPAs may even make it harder to sell your home. Prospective homeowners can be reluctant to take on your PPA or lease. If that happens, you may have to buy out the PPA or lease to sell your home.

Home solar locks in the rate you pay for power

Utility companies are usually constantly raising their rates. Because of that, electricity gets more expensive every year. When you go solar, you lock in the rate you pay for power from your system for decades. Should your utility decide to charge you outrageous rates for the energy you buy from it at night, you can install home batteries to provide power during those peak rate times.

Benefits of home solar vs. the high cost of doing nothing

A home solar panel system can help save you a lot of money on electricity, especially if you’re careful about the amount of power you consume. Home solar can also add value to your home and help it sell faster. But what happens if you don’t go solar?

You likely will continue to pay more for electricity as your utility raises its rates. Over the course of 20 years, you’re likely to pay tens of thousands of dollars more for energy than had you gone solar.

The good news is that you can find out what it would cost to go solar for free. Simply call us and ask for a solar power expert to come to your home and give you a quote.