In most places in the world solar makes sense for most households and there are tons of options for going solar and cutting down your energy bill.
Depending on your budget and time line I think the best way to go about solar is the following.
Start by lowering your electricity use before getting solar installed so you can maximize your solar power and savings. Here are some ideas for lowering your electricity needs.
In hot climates
Shade (Provide shade to as much of your house as you can. Direct sun on any walls or windows makes a huge impact on the temperate of your house)
Sealing AC ducts
Sealing windows and doors
Insulation in roof and walls.
Adjust your thermostat (turn it to 81+ degrees F and make your body acclimatize – it only takes a month or 2)
Double glazed windows
Insulate your garage door
In cold climates
Sealing AC ducts
Sealing windows and doors
Insulation in roof and walls
Double glazed windows
Solar passive heating (You can start by leaving windows uncovered for direct sunlight to heat up your floor mase (i.e. the concrete under your floor boards or carpet), then cover your windows at night and the heat from the floor release into your house)
Adjust your thermostat (turn it down and wear more clothes)
Insulate your garage door
These things really work. I know because I did most of them myself on our family home. The result was we lowered our electric bill to under $1,000 per year for a 2,150 square foot house (built in 1987) in Phoenix Arizona. This size bill is practically unheard of in Phoenix where most households (even smaller than ours) have electricity bills over $1,000 between April – October every year.
Keep in mind, there are plenty more things you can do to reduce your energy consumption and energy bills that I have not mentioned on the list above.
Lease or Buy
When it comes to solar you pretty much have 2 choices about how to pay for it. You can buy it or lease it. In most cases if you can afford it, it is much better to buy a solar system than lease it. Some of the advantages to buying a system are Federal and State Tax Credits that can reduce your purchase price by about 1/3. Although, you have to pay for the total system up front and have to wait until the following tax year to collect the credits, that is still a significant amount of the total purchase price (make sure to check out the current credits available before purchasing). One other benefit to buying vs leasing is that your price per kWh (kWh = kilowatt-hour) will not change when you purchase a system. If you lease you don’t always have control over the price per kWh.
After visiting with about 10 different companies, I found a local company that offered the best price, the best product, and they weren’t pushy about selling it to me. I have continued to monitor the best local solar companies to be able to refer them to you and save you all that time and running around. If you want a quote from my top choice for solar in your area please complete the form below.
Once we reduced our electric bill it was easy to build an affordable solar system that covered our entire energy consumption, and didn’t cover our entire roof. We ended up with a 4.58 kW system, that covers all our energy needs and even generates a credit for us for the extra energy we produce and feed back to the grid.
Solar Interest Form (By completing this form you are agreeing to be contacted by a solar company)