Tax Credits For You: The U.S. Congress has set the table for the future of solar energy in the United States through its tax credit extensions. Highlights of the legislation include a 30 percent Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar extended three years. Incremental credit reductions will follow through 2021. In the final analysis a 10 percent solar credit will become permanent beginning in 2022. This means big business!
When leasing, the solar energy provider assumes tax credits otherwise given to the homeowner. The trade off is a big win for the homeowner who absolves themselves of any responsibility related to maintenance and upkeep of the functioning solar energy system. All you do is save from day one!
You Know Your Home’s Status: Not every home is suitable for effective solar energy. Twenty-five percent of U.S. homes (33 million) are suitable for optimum solar energy. Size of home, amount of average electric bill, positioning, etc., are all factors in determining whether solar panels will deliver measurable savings. Be sure you are working with a company who isn’t hustling solar but instead intends to help you gain an advantage while drastically reducing your home’s carbon footprint.
Costs Have Dropped: The average person, when considering residential solar, has very little knowledge, if any, of how costs have dropped dramatically. Most have cost references at least a few years old or even many years. If, for instance, you have a 1970s solar price quote to reference you might think solar panels are 100 to 150 times more expensive than reality. If your pricing knowledge is as recent as the 2000s, you are likely two times greater than current pricing. A 2008 cost of solar panels is about 80% to 90% too high. Even a 2010 to 2012 price quote would be some 20% over the top today. This primarily applies to individuals interested in owning their home’s system outright.
Do Your Part: In addition to the personal benefits and savings related to installing residential solar panels, consider the environment. Collectively, the U.S. population has an opportunity to become a more efficient country with renewable energy, solar energy in particular.
Improve Public Health And Environmental Quality: Generating electricity from renewable energy rather than fossil fuels offers significant public health benefits. The air and water pollution emitted by coal and natural gas plants is linked to breathing problems, neurological damage, heart attacks, and cancer. Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy has been found to reduce premature mortality and lost workdays, and reduces overall healthcare costs. Wind solar and hydroelectric systems generate electricity with no associated air pollution emissions. Additionally, wind and solar – unlike fossil fuels, biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal plants – require essentially no water to operate and thus do not pollute water resources or strain supply by competing with agriculture, drinking water systems, or other important water needs.
More Jobs: Compared with fossil fuel technologies, which are typically mechanized and capital intensive, the renewable energy industry is more labor-intensive. This means that, on average, more jobs are created for each unit of electricity generated from renewable sources than from fossil fuels.