- Solar panels use energy from the sun, not expensive fossil fuel, meaning no expensive electricity for you.
- Excess electricity will help you save further by returning it back to the grid for a meter reversal or storing it in a home battery.
- Using solar panels can reduce your electricity bill by as much as eight times.\
So it is Summer right now in California, and perhaps even the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, you know what that means? Summer rains and noisy air conditioning units working 24/7 to keep domiciles comfortable. Consequently, this also means bigger electricity bills because utility companies always increase electricity rates during peak seasons, or whenever the demand is high, such is economics.
Now that, that is always bad, higher electricity bill always means more expenses for the family. Power is always a necessity for those living in an urban environment and should not really be that expensive, but they are since electricity relies on expensive fossil fuels and gases. However, if you remove those factors, then you and the rest of humanity might as well have won the lottery with the amount of savings you can have for your electricity bills.
That is exactly what solar power yearns to do, to remove the Earth’s reliance on expensive nonrenewable resources and replace them our very own sun as an energy source. So if you are not convinced yet how and why solar panels can save you from your electricity expenses then let us help you.
Here’s how and why
When you choose to invest in a solar panel setup, a lot of positive things can happen for a considerable sum, here are some of them:
Solar panels produce electricity for you
They do so practically for free after your initial investment. As stated above, solar panels acquire energy from the sun, which is an energy source that is free of charge. When the panels generate electricity and are connected to your electrical wiring, the house will then use this electricity instead of the one provided by the utility company.
So you will certainly save up on your electricity bills because the meter will not be running. The catch to this is that solar panels only work whenever the sun is out, so usually from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. During that time, however, it will still help you to save in another way…
The solar panel system will produce excess electricity for you
That is right, all that time spent being baked in the sunlight is worth every second because the solar panels often generate excess energy depending on the weather. Now there are two scenarios which can happen once the sun goes down and the panels cannot work anymore.
First is that excess electricity generated by your panels get saved in the city or your local area’s transformer grid. Meaning the power gets sent to the utility providers so that the rest of the city can use them.
Now before you resort to violent reactions, the solar panel system is not giving away power for free, in fact, your meter will turn back in reverse when this excess electricity gets sent back to the grid. This depends on the amount of excess electricity of course, but will still reduce your electricity bill nonetheless.
Second requires an apparatus called a home energy battery which is compatible with most solar panel systems. That excess electricity produced by your system gets sent into storage inside the compact home battery, meaning you can still use it for later or in the event of an emergency.
Though this means no turning back the meter for you, it’s still a fair trade-off and could even pave way for you to eventually live off the electrical grid, depending on your consumption. We do not recommend this at the moment and request you to wait for the technology to improve even further.
Facts and numerical statistics
So we have been telling you how and why solar panels can save your money on electricity bills, but of course, you would want to know how much right? Thanks to companies like Tesla, computations are in. Note that this can vary per brand and company but we just want to give you a general idea of how much you can save.
Computations are based on averages so do not expect pinpoint accuracy when you pay for your solar panel investment. The average American household in California spends about $179 every month on electricity alone. After installing solar panels and conducting tests, the electricity bill comes down to only $22. That is almost eight times less expensive, beautiful right?
Now in terms of a long time span, say 30 years, which is close to the usual and expected lifespan of a solar panel array, the savings are quite tremendous. 30 years without solar panels and the average family in the Golden State will spend more than $87,000. With solar panels, however, it comes down to roughly $37,000, that is $50,000 saved in the span of three decades and a solar panel setup only costs about a fifth of that saved money.
You have plenty of options
So, still not convinced and are on the fence about investing in solar? We understand that is why at SunPower, we have different payment programs to choose from. These include Purchasing the system itself, which is the investment; a SunPower Lease program which lets you rent the setup; and a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) program which lets you purchase solar panel electricity without the solar panels.
You do not have to buy the considerably expensive investment at first, after all, $10,000 (the usual cost of going full solar) is a significant amount. So here at SunPower, we like to be your guiding light in choosing which program suits you best, we want nothing more than to help you and the environment with our solar panel technology, among other advancements.
So next time you have any doubts, check out some of our other contents, and if you are finally ready to go solar, then we have other sections and articles to get you started. As always, we are here to help you, one solar panel at a time, in turn, you can also help the Earth and yourself from expensive setbacks.