Your guide to Solar Energy
Learn about solar energy, how it can benefit your home and the environment and how to do it the right way.
What is Solar Energy?
Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource on earth. 173,000 terawatts of solar energy strikes the Earth continuously. That's more than 10,000 times the world's total energy use.
Solar energy uses the sun’s light and heat to generate renewable or ‘green’ power. The most common form of solar energy is harnessed by solar panels, or photovoltaic cells. The cells are created from semiconductor materials. When the sun’s rays hit the cells, it loosens electrons from their atoms. This allows the electrons to flow through the cell and generate electricity. Solar energy is the cleanest and most abundant renewable energy source available, and the U.S. has some of the richest solar resources in the world.
Going Solar Provides Control
Instead of having a variable bill that fluctuates all the time, have a steady and fixed, predictable cost of energy with no surprises all year long for 25+ years
BILL REPLACEMENT
Your solar payment will take the place of your old utility payment. Only this time it will be fixed and transparent, grandfathering you in for the long haul.
PROTECTION
Nothing will be left to chance, if the utility company raises their rates, you are protected
FLAT & PREDICTABLE
When you open your bill every month, it will be the same flat and predictable bill as last month--no surprises and you’ll know exactly what it will be to the penny.
Solar Energy Impacts The Environment
“We are like tenant farmers, chopping down the fence around our house for fuel, when we should be using nature’s inexhaustible sources of energy—sun, wind, and tide.” - Thomas Edison
Solar energy has far fewer carbon emissions than the standard forms of non-green energy that heavily rely on fossil fuels. Greenhouse gas emissions are insignificant because solar power uses no fuel combustion. Each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of solar energy substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions like CO2 and other dangerous pollutants such as sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. The more people who choose renewable energy, the cleaner our air will be.
Additional advantages of going solar:
Uses less water
Reduces air pollution
Reduces your household’s carbon footprint.
Reduce reliance on fossil fuels
Savings & Stability
When owning your source of power vs renting from the power company, you stabilize yourself against rising energy costs. You usually save from day one and the delta becomes wider over time.
Reducing the monthly electric bill is a priority in most homes, and generating your own energy through the power of the sun is a simple way to reduce your electric bill.
Home Value
According to Zillow, on average a solar home adds 4.1% to the value of a home. Solar is classified as a home improvement; it is an energy producing asset on the home. There are a few calculations when determining the value of homes with solar:
SOLAR PRODUCTION
What the system’s actual yearly production is.
CURRENT COST OF GRID POWER
What the avoided cost of the utility is by having converted to solar energy. In other words, what is the cost of current power rates if there wasn’t solar installed at the property.
SYSTEM COST
What is left to have the solar system paid completely off.
COMPARABLES
What is the relative value of homes that also have solar sold for in the area.