subject: Solar Power Costs [print this page] Solar Power Costs Solar Power Costs
Electricity today has become one of the most widely used energy sources in the world and is now one of our required necessities. All new modern conveniences have been invented for use with electricity and to help man live easier in his surroundings. In order to help reduce the effects of using fossil fuels to produce electricity, solar power generation in homes and businesses is increasing due to the demand for cleaner and renewable forms of energy.
The cost of solar power and the resulting power output will depend on the application, materials used, quality of the equipment, how much sunlight your home receives, how much power you need, incentive programs available to you and so on. A reputable dealer can help lower the cost of a system by designing the right product for your needs.
Maintenance of your solar system is also a considerable area of concern because solar panels are very delicate and sensitive to dust and other obstructions. Manufacturers are starting to design more user friendly and more durable components that are helping lower maintenance problems and also lower initial costs.
Solar power is available today for around $4. per watt. An average house in the U.S. uses about 25 KWH a day or 9,490 KWH per year. The cost for a system to handle this usage might be 20,000 or more depending on the variables mentioned above. The price of systems has been steadily coming down, but it is still expensive. One will need to use energy saving techniques and ideas to help lower your total usage in order to reduce the initial cost of a solar power system.
Today full scale solar systems come with a 25 or 30 year warranty and will generally pay for themselves after 10 -15 years of service, meaning you will get 10-15 years of additional free electricity. And if energy prices increase, a system could pay for itself even faster and be of even more value to the equity of the home.
To help with cost there are incentive programs provided by the federal and state governments that can slash thousands of dollars off the initial cost of each solar system. When you add a system to your home, it will pay for itself by increasing your home equity.
Solar power is the wave of the future and anyway you look at it, anytime is a great time to go solar. People are spending almost 30,000 to 40,000 dollars on a car that uses energy and is a poor investment and it cost a lot of money in fuel to run it. With a solar home, once the initial cost are met, the cost of solar electricity generation is relatively zero. As long as the sun and earth are in existence, one can generate electrical energy forever.
