A Homeowner’s Guide to Solar Panels
As a homeowner I have been looking at installing solar panels on my house. I’m hoping to reduce the cost of electricity and to help rescue the earth from pollution. This post summarizes my findings on Solar Panels. I hope you find them useful in your quest for lower utility bills and a Greener Earth.
Make your home more energy efficient before buying Home Solar Panels
Make your home as energy efficient as you can. If you can reduce your power consumption by a third, then you will need a third fewer solar panels at a third less cost. This is an obvious hint that is nearly always over looked. Simple things count in this respect. Changing your light bulbs to the curly fluorescent light bulbs reduces the electricity required by 75% and they last 5-10 times longer. Changing to the new LED bulbs also reduces power consumption by the same amount and they will last 35-50 times longer than incandescent bulbs though they cost considerably more. Ceiling fans will help circulate heat and A/C for a more efficient use of your HVAC system. Seal anywhere that your home may be leaking heat. Weather stripping and caulking will usually seal this leaks. Improvements or replacing your insulation is another good suggestion. Look at Energy Star appliances when you replace the old ones. More hints may be found at many of the home improvement websites. The EPA Energy Star website is a great place for additional ideas.
Buying Residential Solar Panels
There are many places to buy solar energy panels. There are many variables to consider in your purchase. One of the biggest is where you live. I live in sunny Florida which gets more direct sunlight than the northern tier of the United States. For the same solar system, my system will generate more power than someone living in the northern tier. A good place to find out about your average sunlight is at this website www.solarpanelsplus.com/solar-panels/large-insolation-map.html. These numbers are the average hours of direct sunlight you receive in your area. With direct light your panels should generate most of their rated power. The other hours of the day will be a reduced amount. Cloudy days will reduce the amount of power generated. Next you will need to decide how much power are you using. Your electric bill will give you this information. Look for an average daily or monthly usage number. The longer the term, the better the number should be. This will give you an idea of how large a system you will need. There is nothing wrong with starting small and adding more panels later. Once this system is in place, you can determine how well the system works for you and your home. A system to replace your entire energy usage can be expensive. A complete off grid system can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
Government Tax Credits, Grants, Rebates and Low Interest Loans
Our Local, State, and Federal governments have many incentive programs available to help pay for your solar energy system. The most recent Federal program is the “Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit.” The Tax Credit amount is equal to 30% of the cost of your solar system. Systems must be rated at greater than .5 KW. to quality. The Tax Credit may be carried forward to future years. There is another Federal Tax credit of 30% with a maximum of $1,500 for qualified energy conservation improvements. For more details on these and other programs, visit the site www.dsireusa.org.
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Solar power systems come in two varieties.
The first is a standalone system. This is good for people living in remote areas that do not have electrical service available. Sometimes routing electrical power to a remote area can be very expensive and a standalone system is a cheaper alternative. The power generated by the solar cells charges a system of batteries. The power from the batteries can be used over a longer period of time. This system is more expensive and requires more maintenance than the grid system. The reasons are the additional cost of the batteries and the charging system. The second type is the grid connected system. This system takes any excess power produced and sends it to the power grid. The excess power flowing to the power grid will cause your electric meter to run backwards. You will need to talk to your power company about getting on their “Net Billing” system before you start sending excess power to the power grid. If you have a negative power usage for the month, the power company carries the excess number of kilowatt hours forward to your next bill. Most power companies have limits on this, so be sure to check with the electric company first.
Places to Buy Residential Solar Panels
The web is a good place to start for research and preliminary estimates. This will give you a rough idea of the cost. You will need to know how big a system you want to purchase by using your average consumption from your electric bill. You should also check if your state has special regulations. They will vary widely. Some states will require additional insurance, licensing and Underwriter Laboratory approval of your equipment and installation. Another option is to build your own panels. Individual parts are available on the web. If you’re a good shopper, these parts can be bought and assembled for about one half of the cost of a completed panel. Check with your state about restrictions on this. The average cost of a solar panel is running about $2-5 per watt. There is also speculation that the price of panels will be dropping in the near future due to improved manufacturing processes and new technology. Again this is speculation. The Middle Easterners and Asians have a lot of remote areas needing power. If the price does come down, they may be major buyers. What effect this will have on pricing remains to be seen. Good luck shopping!! Watch for my wind turbine article coming soon.
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