Solar Energy How Much Will It Cost?

 

 

 

 

Solar Energy How Much Will It Cost?

 

 

 

 

Solar Energy: In this article we will discuss the financial aspects of designing a system for your home.

 

Solar Energy: with a new president of the United States and a new perspective on renewable energy, many people are looking at solar energy as an option to power their homes. Many people are attracted to energy savings with good feelings for solar energy, photovoltaic energy also called PV.

 

 Your Present Bill For Power

Before you determine what size of solar energy system you want, you should take a look to see how much you will need (we also suggest that you conduct an energy audit to reduce energy waste in your home). To begin with, take a look at your electric bill. You will notice that it tells you all sorts of things, the most important being the number of kilowatt-hours (kW-h) you used last month. It can also tell you how much you used in the past 12 months, how much you used a year ago, and how much you used this year to date.

It must also tell you how much you pay per kilowatt-hour, it is generally around $ 0.08 – $ .12/kw-hr. This information is later used in our calculation.

Then, call the electric company for some information. Ask them if they offer discounts or incentives for grid-tied solar energy power systems installed in their service area. This means that the solar energy power system will be linked to their network and they will buy any excess power your solar energy system generates. In some parts of the country, the utility will pay for half of your equipment and installation. Some utilities and municipalities also have financing options to help homeowners. Dsireusa.org this site can help you learn more about incentives in your area.

Solar Energy and the IRS

The federal government offers a tax credit of 30% for residential solar energy systems. This credit has no cap. For example, say you were calculating your taxes for a year and you have determined that you paid $ 10 000 in taxes for the year from your paycheck. If you purchased a $ 15,000 solar energy PV system and took credit of 30%, 0.3 x $ 15,000 = $ 4,500. You will receive a refund check for $ 4,500 from the IRS, above all other refunds you may have to come. You could receive up to $ 10,000 you paid in taxes for your solar energy system, which means you pay no tax and cheap, clean solar energy. And many states have tax incentives and state. Dsireusa.org departure for more information on tax incentives.

Solar Energy Calculations

ExampleVoici a sample calculation of the budget for solar energy in a typical house. Say you look at your electricity bill and you use 500 kilowatts-hours per month, or about 6000 kW-h per year, and your energy costs .10/kw-hr dollars. Now we must make an assumption on the system size. We will start with a simple system to 2000 watts to start PV. At about $ 10/Watt installed, this system would cost about $ 20,000 without incentives. However, you determine that your utility has a refund of $ 3/watt. So $ 3/watt x 2000 watts = $ 6000. Then you have the federal tax incentive of 30%, 0.3 x $ 20,000 = $ 6,000. So you are charged $ 20 000 – $ 6,000 – $ 6,000 = $ 8,000 for your system.

Using computational tools on sites such as solar or Solarsphereonline.com Findsolar.com, you determine that a system of 2000 watts, depending on where you live and how you install the system, will generate 5,000 kilowatts-hours per year. At $ .10/kw-hr, you save $ 5,000 x $ 500 = kw-hrs/yr .10/kw-hr per year energy production with photovoltaic. If you divide $ 8,000 by saving $ 500, you can see that your solar energy power system will pay for itself after 16 years or even less as prices of conventional power will increase over the years . This is because most solar energy systems will last at least 30 years.