By now I'm sure we've all heard about the latest solar energy buzz. With bills piling up and jobs thinning out it's no wonder everyone is making the switch to solar energy. I know the Indiana taxpayers have footed the bill for millions of dollars worth of solar energy cells to eternally power, for one thing, all the recent driver surveillance cameras around the state that are responsible for mailing you a ticket and a picture of your face to let you know that you just got a traffic violation ticket and fine. Purpose using solar energy to power intrusive government devices and using solar energy to power your house are worlds apart, and the question on everyone's minds is, "Is solar energy all it's cracked up to be, and how practical is it to consider using solar energy to power my home?"
How it works... briefly
Without going into way too much detail I will say it's a good idea to know how solar power operates. Solar power's core comes from things called solar cells.
There's something called the photoelectric effect that goes like this: a semiconductor absorbs sunlight and causes electrons to separate from their atoms.
The free electron go on to generate an electrical current as they travel in a circuit that's built in the solar cells.
First things first
While reading below about all the money solar will save you and your family, keep in mind that you'll also be actively helping the environment. Solar is a clean, healthy and renewable energy source, so you can start telling folks to thank you for helping improve air quality and thus quality of life for everyone.
Save a lot of money
Solar power costs about 80% less than your current utility bill. So if your electric bill now runs $150 per month, with solar power your electric bill would only cost $40.
Generating your own power at least country you an extra $100 every month. And that's if you pay a modest $150 a month for your utilities-$400 or more is not an uncommon "normal" utility bill...
Sell extra energy you generate to your utility companies
This is no joke. When you use solar energy your meter will actually spin backwards. Not to mention the joy you'll feel cashing a monthly check written out to you from the electric company - nothing could be finer.
Yearly tax deductions
Anyone using solar energy is automatically going to get federal and state tax credits. Any work made to your house involving the use of solar energy counts toward the credits and can easily cover the cost of over half of your new solar powered energy system.
Here's an example of the tax refunds that you will get for a year in which you bought a Residential Hot Water System in the state of Illinois:
Solar Unit and Installation Cost: $10,000
State of Illinois Rebate:-$ 3,000
Federal Solar Tax Credit:-$ 2,000
Cost of Solar Hot Water System: $5,000
Pricing options
Every state has its own tax incentives, but most if not all states give rebates that will pay for at least part of your new solar energy system. A lot of cities will also help you out by lowering the cost of your property taxes, which is great.
But even if current government incentives cut our cost in half $5,000 is still a decent chunk of change where I come from, and sometimes it's hard to wrangle up that extra $5,000 looking in the couch cushions. Trust me, I've tried.
Luckily there are many other options that cost way less.
By itself an assembled solar panel will cost you up to $3000, but that's still a lot of money. What a lot of people are doing is just building their own solar power systems in the neighborhood of $200. And it's not like fitting your house with a solar energy system is difficult.
You can easily make your own solar cell in under an hour using common stuff like copper, your electric stove and an electric current meter. Find it hard to believe? Solar technology isn't really very complex, which is why you'll find more and more people building their own solar units. You can find all the information you need online and be set up in no time.
Caution about plan accuracy
There's a lot of online kits, guides and plans that can teach you to build solar energy systems. That's easy. The difference usually only occurs after it's too late: after spending a bunch of time and money you find out the plans you used were garbage. Take my word on this, please! Make sure you invest in quality blueprints or else you're going to be completely lost. There's a few really good solar energy plans that will also tell you where to get the highest quality materials for the lowest price in your area.
Consider this financial trick
Another thing you may not have considered is financing for solar powered renovations. Even if you have a huge wad of cash in your eager little hand you should still consider getting a home equity loan or refinancing your home to pay for the solar improvements, and here's why: the government offers a mortgage interest tax deduction which means you get tax deductions for all home improvements that are included into your mortgage payment.
Even better, a lot of federal mortgage seats are required to offer financing for people looking to improving their home with solar power systems. Even better than that? Most of the loans come with low interest rates, usually way below the current mortgage interest rates for everyone else not investing in solar energy.
Definitely talk to a lender and have them go over all the financing options. If you play your cards right you walk away with tax credits, rebates and property tax discounts, as well as a new extra income source when you start selling power to your utility company... you get all of this on top of the hundreds of dollars you'll save on your utility bill every month from now on... just for installing a solar energy system in your own home.
Bottom line
Is solar energy practical to use in your home? It's definitely at least worth looking into. More likely than not ditching the utility company is a decision you'll wish you had made a long time ago.
Now that most utility companies in each county are becoming monopolies without competition, and with all the big utilities pushing harder and harder every year to be allowed to set their own prices, no matter how outrageous they want them to be, I really don't know how much longer everyone can afford to be price gouged by our utility companies.
Can you really afford not to use solar energy in your home?
Johnathan Rapp has returned thousands of dollars to Indiana taxpayers fighting fraudulent utility company activity. Find out how easy it is to make your own power at his website, Get Off The Grid Now!.
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