subject: The Advantages Of A Residential Solar Power System [print this page] The Advantages Of A Residential Solar Power System
If you are looking to become energy independent, there is no better, more surefire way to do that than to install a residential solar power system for your home. The average home uses nearly 10,000 kWh of electricity a year. That equates to a little over $1,000 at current rates. Larger homes, inefficient appliances, and more electronics can all make homes use $3,000 or more in electricity annually. Thinking about all the things that use electricity in your home: television, washer, dryer, oven, fridge, microwave, air conditioners, heaters, and many more, and you can see why you would want to have your own supply of electricity instead of relying upon the power grid. A residential solar power system can take you off the grid or at the very least reduce your dependence on it.
Self-Contained One of the biggest benefits that a residential solar power system provides is that it provides power directly to your home. That way, you can always rely on it to supply a certain amount of power, and batteries ensure that you can continue using it into the night. However, getting off the grid completely might be an unreachable goal (economically) for many homeowners, as these systems do cost many thousands of dollars. Fortunately, tax credits provide a large amount of relief, often lowering the cost of these systems by 40% or more. Still, residential solar electric power is a little too expensive to get homeowners completely off the power grid. In the future though, there will be additional electrical demands placed upon you. Electric cars will need to be charged up. Right now, they can only provide about 30-50 miles on the battery charge alone before they switch over to another fuel source, but in the future, we could see mainstream electric cars getting 300, 500, 1000 mile battery charges. Still, they will need charged up, and this will probably most often be done at your home. Electricity is much cheaper per mile than gasoline, so you'll still be saving money, but by upgrading your wiring now with a residential solar power system, you can ensure that you won't run into any problems later. Installation can be costly, sometimes thousands of dollars depending on the size of the system and the supplier. However, stores like Home Depot are now offering installation of solar kits to customers, and it's making the process more mainstream. As solar power becomes more mainstream, the prices will be lowered, not only from a retailer perspective but also a technological and production standpoint. Residential solar power systems are now economically feasible, technologically smart, and environmentally moral.
