Why Go Solar?
The common reasons people get solar panels are to cut down on energy costs as well as to be kind to the environment. Here are some reasons that show why it is smart to switch over as well as why it has become so popular.
1. You’ll reduce your electric bills at least some or even to the point that they are non-existent.
2. You’ll get a great return on your investment. Avoid thinking of it as an expense and instead as more of an investment, as stated previously. They can bring in similar returns to that of stocks and bonds. They also only take around 8 years to pay off and you could see a 20% (or more) ROI.
3. You’ll avoid future energy costs. Buying a solar panel(s) now will help you not only save money today, but also make it so you can opt out of rising utility prices down the line.
4. You’ll increase your property’s value. As more and more people are learning about solar power, the more they want it. This means that appraisers are gradually starting to take solar installs into consideration to help determine the value of a home.
5. You’ll help out your country. By using the sun’s “power,” you’ll boost the United States energy independence. Essentially, you’ll be helping to shelter our country from the fluctuations in price in the global energy markets.
6. You’ll be helping the economy. By using solar power, you’re providing people with jobs. In 2015, this industry added jobs 12x faster than the U.S. economy overall, according to The Solar Foundation. They pay higher, can’t be outsourced, and make up 1.2% of all the jobs in the states.
7. You’ll protect the environment. Using solar panels will decrease the amount of carbon emissions from buildings, which is at about 38% currently. Doing this eliminates 3-4 tons per typical residence. This is similar to planting 100 trees per year.
8. You’ll show you’re committed to sustainability. Important components of an organization’s values and culture are sustainability (as mentioned before) and corporate social responsibility. Communities and consumers are noticing and rewarding businesses that run sensibly. In addition, you’ll see better bottom line results because of it. Getting “green” credentials increases the amount of business you’ll get.
9. You’ll increase the morale of your employees. The people working for you appreciate their employer having a commitment to operating responsibility. They share in the business’ successes and contributions. Companies that care about both the environment and their community tend to have not only higher levels of morale (as mentioned earlier), but also more engaged employees and lower turnover rates.
10. You’ll help your business get ahead. There are both social and economical benefits to using solar power as a company. By adopting it, you’ll move ahead of other organizations and they will be forced to switch over as well in order to keep up.
Who Should I Get My Solar Panels From?
Below are the top 5 solar companies (according to solarpowerauthority.com):
1. Sunrun—started helping people save money on energy bills in 2007 with flexible payments, as little as zero down, solar PPAs, financing, leasing, purchase options, and 20% savings. The only problem is that it’s only available in 15 states.
2. Vivint Solar—started in 1999 as a home security and home automation company, the pros of this organization are its solar PPAs, leasing, financing, home security, home automation, and 10-30% savings. Its con is that it’s only available in 12 states.
3. NRG Home Solar—while this company doesn’t have PPAs, it does offer energy cost savings and little or no upfront costs in addition to engineering, permitting, and leasing. They also design, install, and motor your solar while not interrupting your daily life. Once again they’ve got limited availability—only in 17 states.
4. XOOM Solar—this company lets you either lease, finance, sign up for a solar PPA, or you can purchase your solar equipment. Each of these options has their own set of benefits such as 30% tax credits, none to little money down, and monitoring. As mentioned before, other benefits are solar PPAs, leasing, purchase options, and financing. Unfortunately though, it is only available in 12 states.
5. SunPower—this company has been a trusted provider of solar products for over 30 years. Their patented solar panels create 55% more energy than their competitors. They’re a great option with an app that allows you to see the real-time energy data of the system, a lease, finance, and purchase options. The only bad side is that they don’t have PPAs.
How Do Solar Systems Actually Produce Energy?
The easy way to explain this is that the solar power photovoltaic (PV) panels take the sun’s rays and turn them into electricity by exciting electrons in silicon cells. This is done by using the sun’s light photons. This energy is renewable electricity. We will study the different components in detail in the next few paragraphs so we can better understand how this works.
The root system—A lot of the time, solar panels are put on the roof. The most crucial part of this is the amount of sun hitting the panels. You’ll need to have no shade hitting them at all, especially during the best sunlight hours (9am-3pm). If even one of the 36 cells is blocked by shade, the power production can be decreased by more than half. The shade we speak of is caused by trees and other factors. Some installation contractors that are experienced use a Solar Pathfinder to find areas that could possibly be shaded before they even install the panels. There are a couple of ways you can optimize the panels’ sun exposure. One example is putting them on the south side of the building. For a trickier configuration, install pivoting panels that track the sun’s movement. If you have a non-tracking PV system, it should be placed at an angle that’ll get the most sun. There also are different orientations for the best energy production for different times of the day and/or seasons of the year.
Solar panels—These panels contain something called photovoltaic cells (photo=light and voltaic=electricity) that turn the incoming sunlight into electricity instead of heat. Basically, these cells are made of a positive and a negative silicon film that is under a thin piece of glass. When the sun shines on these, the photons from the light knock some electrons off the silicon. These negatively charged electrons are then attracted to one side of the silicon cell and an electric voltage is created and then collected and channeled. The solar panels are wired together into a solar photovoltaic array. It all depends on how big your install is, but there may be multiple strings of cables (from the array) that terminate in a fused array combiner (basically an electrical box). In this box there are fuses to protect each module cable as well as some connections that take the power to the inverter. This electricity is called DC (direct current). From here, it must be changed to AC (alternating current) so it can be used in your home and/or business.
Inverter—Inverters are installed in a location that is not only easy to access, but also closer to the modules. A good example of this is when an inverter is mounted on the side of a house near the electrical main or sub panels. They do make a little noise so you should remember that when choosing where you want it to be. This piece of equipment takes DC electricity and changes it into 120-volt AC that can be used in the house. From there, it is moved to a connected electrical panel to a dedicated circuit breaker. The inverter, electricity production meter, and electricity net meter are connected so that the solar energy will be used first by the electric loads already in operation. The balance of power produced by the solar electric system is passed out onto the electric grid through the electrical panel. When you’re producing more solar power than you’re using at the moment, the electric utility meter turns backwards.
Net meter—The solar electric system is connected with the utility grid. The DC power from the solar array is changed to 120/240 volt AC power. From there, it is given to the building through its utility power distribution system. This power is “net metered.” This essentially means that it’s saving you money as the solar power you’re using is decreasing the amount of electricity you’ll need from the utility. This, as hinted at before, lowers your utility bill. In order to protect workers from power being fed into the grid during a power outage, the gird-tied systems automatically turn off if the utility power goes off. These types of solar-powered electric systems make up about 98% of solar power systems installed now and are called “on grid” or “battery-less.”
Other benefits of solar—These systems save so much money that they’ll eventually pay for themselves and will reduce the amount of pollution you’re putting in the air. They also increase “peak load generating capacity,” and make it so that during periods of peak demand, the utility company doesn’t have to turn on their supplemental systems (these are both expensive and pollute the air). The more solar systems are installed in an area, the greater amount of money you’ll save because you (and others in the area) won’t have to invest so much in your utility company for costly additional power sources. This clean, green power reduces pollution and other fossil fuel electricity problems as well as provides more people with jobs. You’re both leaving a good and lasting impact on the environment and saving money as well.