SHOULD I WAIT TO GO SOLAR?

Photo  by Zbynek Burival

Originally Posted On: https://blueravensolar.com/blog/should-i-wait-to-go-solar/

Over the last decade, solar has grown in popularity among American homeowners. According to the Solar Energies Research Association, the power production from residential solar has increased by more than 66 times in the last decade. That’s a whole lot of new solar panels! With almost a million homeowners going solar in the last three years, many neighbors, friends, and families are asking: Is now a good time for me to go solar?  Today, we will help you see why 2020 might be the best time ever to go solar!

With a massive surge in residential solar installations, hundreds of solar companies have popped up in the last couple years. Although this might not be the greatest news for older solar companies, it is great news for homeowners interested in going solar. Increased competition has caused solar system prices to drop drastically, turning an already eco-friendly trend into a viable economic investment. As the years pass, solar will only become cheaper and more efficient. Although prices have gone down significantly, solar will still cost most homeowners about the price of a new car (before tax incentives). Unfortunately, many homeowners are turned off by solar’s large initial price tag and do not give it full consideration. When a homeowner learns that solar panels can cost $30,000, thoughts like: “Solar is only going to get cheaper in the coming years” or “I will get solar when I have more disposable income” pop into the homeowner’s head. What they don’t realize is that 2020 will be one of the best years to go solar because of increased solar competition, solar incentives, and rising utility bills.

2020 might be one of the last years to lock in massive solar incentives. The federal investment tax credit (ITC) allows homeowners who go solar to receive a federal tax credit that is worth 26% of the cost of their solar system. This credit allows homeowners to save thousands on the overall cost of their panels. Unfortunately, in 2021 that rate will drop to 22% and in 2022 this government credit will no longer exist. The solar tax credit is the largest savings opportunity for residential solar available in the United States. It alone can make going solar worth it! For example, the average American household requires a solar system that costs about $20,000 to offset 100% of their electricity needs. By utilizing the 2020 ITC, homeowners will be eligible to receive a tax credit worth $5,200 for the following year. Fast forward to 2022 and homeowners will no longer be so fortunate to receive these massive savings.

Along with the ITC, many states offer local solar incentives. These incentives include net metering, sales tax exemptions, local rebates from utilities companies, solar easement laws, state solar tax credits, and more. Unfortunately, as solar becomes more popular and even required in some states, these incentives are beginning to disappear. Because each state, city, and neighborhood are so different, it is hard to say how much each homeowner will save without doing some research. If you’d like to see what your state’s specific incentives are, take a look at our Solar Savings by State Guide. This includes all the markets in which we install solar panels and is meant to help homeowners determine whether their home qualifies for local benefits.

If federal and state incentives aren’t enough to convince you that solar is worth considering, then let’s take a look at your electricity bill. We know that the last thing that you want to do every month is pay an expensive power bill. Unfortunately, this painful electricity bill is only going to get worse as prices are on the rise. Because utilities companies control major cities and even states, they have no competition and can continue to drive up prices, meaning that homeowners have no way to get around expensive electricity bills. Over the last 20 years, the price of electricity has already gone up by more than 60 percent. The U.S. Energy Information Agency projects that residential electricity prices will continue to rise by at least 1% each year over the next 5 years. So even if your electricity usage doesn’t increase, your bills are still going to end up being more expensive. Going solar is the best way to combat rising energy bills, because your panels produce energy independent of the price of electricity. If installed properly, your system can cover the majority of your bill throughout the year and even create a surplus of energy during the summer. By going solar in 2020, homeowners can eliminate electricity bills before a large uptick in pricing. So why wait to go solar?

Even with lower prices due to competition, huge government incentives, and more expensive power bills, some homeowners cannot justify going solar because of the price. That is why we have created several programs that allow homeowners to gain access to all of the benefits of going solar in 2020 without having to pay a single dollar down. For example, if a customer cannot buy panels outright, Blue Raven provides them with our BluePower Plus+ option. This financing option allows homeowners to trade their monthly power bill for a lower solar loan payment. The goal is that the only cost customers will have during this time is a small monthly charge of around 10 dollars to have your panels stay connected to the grid. As an added bonus, we cover our customers’ first 18 months of solar loan payments. That way, homeowners can see huge savings from their solar panels in the first year and a half of owning them. As you can see, it is our mission to make solar accessible to a larger group of American homeowners and provide world class customer service to give every customer the best solar experience possible!

If you’ve reached this point and are still thinking you’ll wait to go solar, there is one last piece of advice we can offer. With so many incentives and low pricing, it is obvious that 2020 is a good year to switch to solar. Despite this, we recommend that anyone curious about going solar utilize our free savings estimator. If solar is a good match for your home and circumstances, we will build out a proposal that will show you an accurate estimate of how much solar can save you. It will also include a custom design of how many panels you will need and where they will be placed on your roof! Even after receiving this savings report you can still opt out without paying a penny. So now that you know that it isn’t worth waiting on going solar, click the link below and start the process to get a free savings report!