People go solar for a lot of reasons. Saving money, energy independence, return on investment, environmental benefits, added value to their home, making an electric car even greener, creating local jobs, reducing expenses in retirement, and cashing in on the tax credit and rebates are all frequently mentioned. Recently, we surveyed our customers, asking them what they like the most about going solar. We’ve included some of their answers to that question as we explore why people go solar in more detail.
You’ll always be buying electricity, no matter what. If you get it from the power company, rates change over time (mostly upwards) because the cost of fuel changes, they build new transmission lines and new power plants, their operating expenses change and let’s face it, they like to make a profit. With solar, you own the equipment, and the sun shows up every day to give you unlimited free “fuel,” so the price you pay for power never changes. Would you rather pay 11 cents a kilowatt hour or half for something you will buy no matter what?
Fossil fuel use is costly when you add up all the public health costs and resources used to produce it. The IMF estimates that we spent more globally on subsidizing fossil fuel use and extraction ($5.3 TRILLION) than on healthcare for the entire planet in 2015.
Going solar means your home is no longer contributing to the smog that makes us sick, drilling-induced earthquakes that cause injuries and property damage, oil spills, gas pipeline leaks and explosions, water pollution, excess water use, or injuries or deaths from extracting and using fossil fuels. The EPA calculated that the public health costs from power plant emissions alone are $886.5 billion annually!
Going solar saves lives, creates a purer environment for our families, and costs less.
Unlike stocks and bonds, which can be volatile, a solar system on your roof is a guaranteed return on investment. Thanks to substantial electricity bill savings, rebates, and the federal tax credit, the average American homeowner pays off their solar panel system in seven to eight years and sees an R.O.I. of 20% or more! Is there any other investment you can think of that guarantees even a 10% return?
When you own the power plant, you make the decisions. No corporation is telling you how you have to make or use power or that you have to pay for them to clean up some environmental mess they made or fire or damage they caused. Instead of enriching someone else, you are putting money back into YOUR pocket. You’re also reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Solar is the ultimate in local energy independence.
You’ll get 30% of the cost back at tax time when you go solar. On a $20,000 system, that puts $6,000 of your hard-earned dollars back in your pocket. Hardly chump change. Most utilities, including NV Energy and Overton Power, also have generous rebates for going solar. Sticking with dirty power gets you exactly zero rebate and zero tax credit.
Solar is the ultimate home improvement, unlike a pool that makes it cost more to own than that prospective buyer or a bath remodel that a prospective buyer might not like. Everyone has to buy power, right? Because it makes the house cost less to own, adding solar to your home measurably increases resale value for you and every future owner. No matter what prospective owners believe about the environmental benefits of solar, they will see the value in laughing at the neighbors every time they open those small power bills.
You can’t install solar from China or Mexico. Investing in solar means investing in our economy and creating jobs for Nevadans like Connie and Krystal. Over 10 MILLION people are employed worldwide in clean energy. Here in NV, with the return of solar, our economy is seeing job growth as solar applications skyrocket. Robco is proud to say our solar division has grown over 300% since solar came back to Nevada.
Solar has no moving parts to oil or change. Aside from an occasional cleaning, no regular maintenance is needed, and the panels and inverters will last for 25 years or more.
When you go solar, an expense you previously had no control over turns into a fixed cost.
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