Solar Panels (Care2.com)
Tuesday night, President Obama spoke about his commitment to renewable, clean energy sources.
Sunlight is one of the renewable sources of energy we can all have access to every day. BUT we need some technology to convert the sun’s energy to a power source we can use.
Even today solar panels are often too expensive for the average homeowner to buy. It’s an especially difficult problem when so many homeowners are concerned about the market and their home’s resale value. And, when you’re worried about having money to pay your current bills why would you take out a loan to install solar panels? Even if your energy costs are reduced significantly there is a payback period before your gains in savings equal and exceed your capital outlay in expenses when buying a solar array for your individual home or for you cohousing community.
Why would you BUY?
An article by Beth Buczynski just appeared in the Care2.com daily newsletter with an answer to the problem cohousing communities face when dealing with keeping their communities affordable while still going green. Happily, this solution applies to built communities as well!
LEASE your solar panels.
Here are the top nine questions Buczynski suggests asking when thinking about installing solar panels. This is from the Care2.com newsletter for January 24, 2012.
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1. Lease versus own? An average home-solar installation can cost $25,000 or more. The easier alternative is to have a licensed contractor install the system and offer lease financing for little or no money up front. The installer owns and maintains the system, not to mention handles securing permits and managing the many other small details leading up to turning on the system. Solar leasing is affordable for many homeowners because they immediately see savings from lower electric bills and someone else worries about the system’s maintenance.
2. Net metering? When a rooftop solar system produces more energy than needed for a home, the excess is supplied to the local electric utility. Homeowners can see some of their greatest monthly cost reductions when their rooftop solar panels are providing energy back into the system.
3. Rebates? Since a leased solar panel system is “owned” by the installer, rebates will go to the company. This enables the installer to further reduce the overall price of the solar project, which in turn lowers the lease payment. Rebates will vary by region. It also is important to know that some rebates are currently scheduled to expire in a few years.
4. In-house service vs. outsourcing? Does a solar installer have all staff and services – from customer representatives, to installers, to ongoing maintenance and financing – within their company? Or, do they provide some or all of these services through third-party entities? The “continuum of care” is usually more guaranteed by an installer providing these services by their own employees.
5. Home values? Several current studies show that a home’s value increases when it contains the best available energy efficiency devices. Why? Because a home’s overall “operating cost” decreases as it uses less water, gas and electricity. Rooftop solar is becoming a standard feature on new homes for this reason.
6. What if I move? Typically, a homeowner can assign a solar lease to the purchaser (following a simple credit check of the new owner). Studies show an increase in the percentage of prospective homebuyers actively seeking residences with multiple “green” features, such as solar.
7. Remain energy efficient? With solar panels on the roof, it is tempting to crank up the air conditioning, keep lights on throughout the house or otherwise revert to energy wasting habits. Since some power must still come from an electric utility, being energy efficient ensures the lowest monthly costs – even as solar dramatically reduces the amount of utility-supplied power purchased on a monthly basis.
8. Appearance? Some state laws prohibit homeowner associations, municipalities and other organizations from enforcing rules that would prevent a homeowner from installing rooftop solar. But, you also don’t want to upset your neighbor. After determining a home has enough roof space for solar, an installer will usually create a custom design to ensure a solar panel “array” will blend into the roof as much as possible.
9. New technologies? The rate at which solar cells convert sunlight into electricity has increased since the first cells were made. While gains continue to be made, they are at small incremental rates. Therefore, the panels bought today should continue to be very efficient for their 20- to 30-year life. As solar becomes more popular, companies also are developing new solar technologies and cell designs. However, until these designs are incorporated into mass production, these more “exotic” solar panels may be too expensive for the typical homeowner.
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