FOR MANY HOMEOWNERS, INSTALLING A SOLAR POWER SYSTEM IS A GREAT WAY TO SAVE SOME MONEY, WHILE ALSO PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT. HOWEVER, THERE ARE MANY VARIABLES INVOLVED THAT CAN SKEW THE FINANCIAL NUMBERS EITHER POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY FOR YOU. LET’S DISCUSS THE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS YOU NEED TO ANSWER IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF RESIDENTIAL SOLAR FOR YOUR HOME.

THE FIRST MAJOR VARIABLE IS HOW MUCH YOU PAY FOR ELECTRICITY FROM YOUR UTILITY COMPANY. DEPENDING ON WHICH PART OF THE COUNTRY YOU LIVE IN, YOU MIGHT PAY AS MUCH AS 20+ CENTS PER KILOWATT-HOUR FOR RESIDENTIAL POWER, BUT OTHER REGIONS CAN BE AS CHEAP AS 10 CENTS PER KWH, OR EVEN LOWER. OBVIOUSLY, THE MORE YOU’RE CURRENTLY SPENDING ON YOUR ENERGY, THE MORE MONEY YOU CAN SAVE WITH SOLAR.

NEXT, YOU’LL NEED TO CONSIDER HOW MUCH YOU’LL HAVE TO SPEND SETTING UP YOUR SOLAR SYSTEM. THERE ARE MANY VARIABLES FOR THIS QUESTION, INCLUDING THE SIZE AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF YOUR HOME, THE AMOUNT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT YOUR HOME RECEIVES ON AN AVERAGE DAY, WHETHER YOU PLAN ON BUYING OR LEASING YOUR SOLAR PANELS, AND MORE.

ANOTHER VITAL QUESTION ALONG THESE SAME LINES IS WHICH INCENTIVES AND TAX REBATES YOU MIGHT BE ELIGIBLE FOR IN YOUR LOCATION. DIFFERENT LOCATIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY HAVE DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES AVAILABLE THAT CAN MAKE A MAJOR IMPACT ON YOUR COSTS.

IN SHORT, RESIDENTIAL SOLAR POWER CAN DEFINITELY SAVE MONEY FOR MANY HOMEOWNERS, BUT YOU WILL NEED TO PROPERLY ANALYZE YOUR SPECIFIC SITUATION TO DETERMINE HOW COST-EFFECTIVE A SOLAR INSTALLATION WILL BE FOR YOU.

THERE’S NO QUESTION THAT PURCHASING A RESIDENTIAL SOLAR PANEL SYSTEM IS A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT. BUT WHEN DOES THAT INVESTMENT START TO PAY OFF? THE IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS QUESTION TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT ONCE YOU’VE PAID OFF YOUR SOLAR PANELS, THEY KEEP PRODUCING ENERGY FOR YEARS AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU.

THERE ISN’T ANY SINGLE UNIFORM ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION, DUE TO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE SO MANY FACTORS INVOLVED WITH DETERMINING THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF SOLAR ENERGY. HOWEVER, YOU CAN PUT TOGETHER A ROUGH ESTIMATE BY ANALYZING A FEW KEY ELEMENTS.

YOU’LL NEED TO FACTOR IN HOW MUCH YOU’LL INVEST IN YOUR SOLAR PANELS, WHICH DEPENDS ON THE SIZE AND EFFICIENCY OF YOUR HOME, AND THE AMOUNT OF PEAK SUNLIGHT YOU RECEIVE ON AN AVERAGE DAY. ONCE YOU FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH ENERGY YOU NEED, YOU SHOULD CONSIDER HOW MUCH MONEY YOU CAN SAVE THROUGH SOLAR INCENTIVES AND TAX REBATES IN YOUR AREA. ARE THERE SOLAR TAX CREDITS AVAILABLE? HOW ABOUT NET METERING ARRANGEMENTS WITH LOCAL UTILITY PROVIDERS? ANSWERING QUESTIONS LIKE THESE WILL GET YOU ONE STEP CLOSER TO DETERMINING YOUR BREAK-EVEN POINT.

THEN, YOU SHOULD FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH ELECTRICITY COSTS FROM YOUR UTILITY COMPANY, IN ORDER TO PROPERLY ANALYZE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU’RE REALLY SAVING FROM EACH KILOWATT-HOUR GENERATED BY YOUR SOLAR SYSTEM. IF YOU WOULD LIKE SOME HELP FIGURING OUT WHERE EXACTLY YOUR BREAK-EVEN POINT FOR SOLAR PANELS WOULD BE, CONTACT ONE OF OUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY. SPEAKING TO AN SMS ENERGY CONSULTANT WILL HELP YOU DETERMINE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU CAN SAVE WITH SOLAR ENERGY AT YOUR HOME.

WHILE THERE ARE MANY VARIABLES INVOLVED WHEN DISCUSSING THE EFFICIENCY AND WATTAGE REQUIREMENTS OF YOUR SPECIFIC HOME, WE CAN SPEAK IN GENERAL TERMS ABOUT THE COST THRESHOLD FOR POWERING A 2,000 SQUARE-FOOT HOUSE WITH SOLAR ENERGY. ACCORDING TO THE UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU, THE AVERAGE NEW SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSE BUILT IN THIS COUNTRY TODAY IS AROUND 2,400 SQUARE FEET, WHICH IS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE FROM THE 1970S, WHEN THE TYPICAL NEW BUILD WAS IN THE 1,600 TO 1,700 SQFT RANGE.

THEREFORE, IT STANDS TO REASON THAT A 2,000 SQFT HOUSE IS ROUGHLY TYPICAL IN THE UNITED STATES. DATA FROM THE U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION SAYS THAT THE AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL UTILITY CUSTOMER IN THIS COUNTRY USES RIGHT AROUND 11,000 KILOWATT-HOURS ANNUALLY.

USING THIS DATA AS A GUIDELINE, WE CAN SAY THAT A TYPICAL 2,000 SQFT HOME NEEDS ROUGHLY 30 250-WATT SOLAR PANELS OR 20 400-WATT PANELS. OF COURSE, THERE ARE PLENTY OF VARIABLES THAT CAN AFFECT THOSE NUMBERS, STARTING WITH THE AMOUNT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT YOUR HOME RECEIVES IN A TYPICAL DAY.

HOMEOWNERS IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AROUND SIX PEAK SUN HOURS PER DAY — A PEAK SUN HOUR IS CONSIDERED TO BE AN HOUR OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT THAT PROVIDES ONE KILOWATT OF ENERGY PER SQUARE METER. MEANWHILE, HOMEOWNERS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MIGHT ONLY HAVE ACCESS TO ROUGHLY 3.5 PEAK SUN HOURS.

ALSO, THERE ARE ADDITIONAL VARIABLES LIKE THE MATERIALS AND INSULATION USED TO BUILD YOUR HOME, THE PRESENCE OR LACK OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT APPLIANCES AND HVAC SYSTEMS, AND MORE. YOUR COSTS WILL ALSO VARY BASED ON THE BRAND AND TYPE OF SOLAR PANEL. IN GENERAL, YOU SHOULD BUDGET AROUND $20,000 TO BUILD A SOLAR SYSTEM FOR A 2,000 SQFT HOME, BUT WE ADVISE CONTACTING ONE OF OUR ENERGY CONSULTANTS TO GET A QUOTE FOR YOUR HOME.

GOING SOLAR CAN SOUND LIKE A TEDIOUS PROCESS BUT SMS IS HERE TO ENSURE YOU KNOW THE STEPS AND GUIDE YOUR TRANSITION TO CLEAN, RENEWABLE ENERGY.

STEP #1: YOU WILL WANT TO SPEAK WITH AN SMS CONSULTANT TO EVALUATE YOUR NEEDS AND CUSTOMIZE A SYSTEM THAT FITS YOUR GOALS. SELECTING THE CORRECT SYSTEM SIZE, FINANCE OPTION, ETC. ARE ARE CRUCIAL TO ENSURING LONG TERM BENEFITS FROM YOUR SYSTEM.

STEP #2: THE SITE EVALUATION. THESE CAN BE DONE IN PERSON OR REMOTELY IN MOST CASES. A MEMBER OF THE SMS TEAM WILL MEASURE THE ROOF SERVICES, EVALUATE THE MAIN ELECTRICAL SERVICE, AND PRODUCE A DESIGN THAT CAN BE SUBMITTED TO THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

STEP #3: PERMIT AND APPROVAL PROCESSING. IN THIS STAGE, THE SMS TEAM WILL SUBMIT PLANS TO THE LOCAL JURISDICTION AS WELL AS THE LOCAL UTILITY COMPANY AND GET APPROVALS FOR INSTALLATION.

STEP 4: INSTALLATION DAY IS HERE. THE SMS TEAM WILL PREPARE MATERIALS AND HEAD TO YOUR HOME. OUR PROFESSIONAL INSTALLERS WILL INSTALL THE PANELS, WIRE UP THE ELECTRICAL PORTIONS, AND PREPARE THE SITE FOR FINAL INSPECTION

STEP 5: FINAL INSPECTION AND INTERCONNECTION. IN THIS STAGE THE LOCAL JURISDICTION WILL TYPICALLY COME OUT TO YOUR HOME AND EVALUATE THE WORK OUR TEAM HAS PERFORMED, SIGNING OFF ON ALL WORK AS COMPLETE AND SAFE!

STEP 6: TURN ON THE SYSTEM AND ENJOY POWER FROM THE SUN, KNOWING THAT YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE FOR THE PLANET AND FOR YOUR POCKET BOOK. YOU ARE NOW THE OWNER OF YOUR OWN POWER PLANT THAT IS GREENER, SAFER, AND MORE RELIABLE. CONGRATS!

RECENT REPORTS SHOW THAT SOLAR PANELS CAN IMMEDIATELY ADD VALUE TO YOUR HOME. DON’T TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT, READ THIS REPORT FROM ENERGYSAGE.