Solar Savings
How much will you save with your solar installation?
The value of your solar panel installation really depends on how much you are paying for your electricity at the moment and how much the price of electricity from conventional sources is going to increase into the future. Thesecond consideration is how much the power companies will pay you for the electricity you generate and give back to them. If your electricity company offers 'Net Metering', where they will give you the full retail price for your excess electricity then you and the electricity company will pay the same for each other's supply. Let's say you really go for it and install a 10kW solar panel array on your roof. We multiply that by the 'energy production factor' from the map below (courtesy of the Dept. of Energy).
If you're in San Diego that gives you a total production of 10 kW x 2000 kWh/kW -year for a total of 20,000 kWh over the course of the year. That's the unit the electricity company measures in, and charges about 10 cents for. You can see pretty easily that with this kind of installation you would save $2000 over the course of a year!
Even if your family doesn't use this much electricity, it doesn't go to waste and will actually earn you money from the power company. This is a great way to go if you've got the money and what's more, you can even do it yourself these days. There are great guides online that will take you through every step.
>>Click here for a comprehensive DIY solar guide<<
If your electricity company doesn't offer net metering or doesn't offer a service where you can sell electricity back to them, then you need to think about things a little more carefully. In that case you should plan your system to produce precisely the amount of power you will need, plus some contingency, as anything that you produce over and above this will be wasted energy. This will impact on your solar savings as you will have needlessly over-spent on extra materials when starting your project.
Installation Cost
Obviously the installation cost of your system will vary widely, based upon your needs. Our solar power design page can teach you a little bit more about that. The single biggest factor in determining the initial costs is the size of the system that you want to install and whether you want to adopt a DIY approach or here a professional. For example, a single 100 W solar panel professionally installed will costs you up to $1000! If you want to get a 5 kW system which will provide all the electricity you need you're looking at an installation cost of between $30,000 and $40,000. If however you decide to go down the DIY route, you'll find that you can install your system for a fraction of this, making the overall lifetime solar savings for your property much higher. If you're on the fence about getting your system professionally installed or hiring a contractor, we strongly recommend you check out the guide below, as in the first instance it will be and invaluable too if you decide to go the DIY route and it will ensure that you are up to speed and won't be ripped off if you hire a professional to do the job for you.