You’ve undoubtedly heard about environmentally friendly products or services for years.
But it may not always be clear what “green” or “sustainable” means.
What makes something good for the earth?
Solar power sits in a strange area between sustainable and unsustainable technology. While sunlight is the world’s most abundant and easily harnessed energy source, devices to collect it are developed through traditional manufacturing processes. Before calling light energy a green resource, both the supply chain and direct impacts must be addressed.
The photovoltaic cells used in panels contain harmful heavy metals that can leech into water supplies and cause damage to ecosystems. Many companies source panel materials far away, making the production process carbon positive. These issues, however, are being addressed.
Since panels are always tightly sealed, they already cause minimal harm. Many reputable companies are already working feverishly to tackle supply chain issues, understanding that solar is the future of electric power.
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Reference: https://unboundsolar.com/blog/the-impact-of-solar-power-use-on-future-green-technolog
For a long time, the size of solar cells decreased at the rate of computer chips, requiring less space to perform the same functions.
Today, cell dimensions have mostly plateaued, and they aren’t likely to get much smaller anytime soon.
The cost to produce these light-charging cells, however, is plummeting.
And it’s now more affordable than ever before to install a solar system in your home.
In the coming years and decades, low-cost solar energy is likely to change many aspects of modern society.
If you own a solar system with energy storage, you can keep generating power during emergencies. That peace of mind is invaluable if you live in a place with an unreliable power grid, or are regularly threatened by severe weather conditions like tornadoes and hurricanes.
Who doesn’t love one less bill coming out of their paycheck? With a properly sized system, you can drastically reduce or completely eliminate your electric bill.
Even if you extend your payback period by taking out a loan to finance your project, you still enjoy reduced electricity costs from the moment you flip the switch on your PV system.
This is the most exciting part of solar for many people: bringing the system online and watching their power bill disappear.
Assuming the national average cost of electricity, it would take about 6.08 years to recoup your investment into a $10,000 system. Beyond that point, you start to generate a profit from your system.
In fact, over the 25-year life of the solar panel warranty, we estimate you would earn $31,031 on energy bills after clearing the initial payback period.
The investment into solar becomes even more appealing when you take government incentives into account. State and federal programs are in place to encourage people to invest in renewable energy. Claiming these can put a ton of cash back in your pocket.
The main incentive is the 26% federal tax credit for going solar. Under this program, you are eligible to receive 26% of the total installed cost of your system as a tax credit at the end of the year.
This credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction of your tax liability. Every dollar in credit is a dollar less that you pay in taxes at the end of the year. So if you buy a $10,000 system and receive a $2,600 credit, you will owe $2,600 less in taxes at the end of the year.
While the federal tax credit is the largest solar incentive, don’t skip out on local incentives, either. Depending on where you live, certain jurisdictions offer local incentives that can be claimed in addition to the federal credit.
A sustainable energy source is one that we can use without depleting the source of power. Oil and gas are not sustainable, because we consume those resources as we use them.
In contrast, solar is sustainable because the source of energy (sunlight) is constantly replenished. We can use solar energy without worrying about whether we will deplete the Earth’s natural resources for future generations.
Solar systems don’t have a lot of moving parts. As a result, they rarely break down or require maintenance to keep them running optimally.
Panels are warrantied to last 25 years, but many have a much longer lifespan. (See our article “How Long Do Solar Panels Last?” for a study on the true lifespan of panels.) You rarely, if ever, need to fix or replace panels.
It’s common to replace your inverter at least once over the life of your system, as inverters are typically warrantied for 10-15 years. But that’s about the only scheduled maintenance you will encounter for grid-tied systems.
