Top 8 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Solar Power!

Solar system costs differ, depending on the application and location.  Below are some facts to help you reach a decision for consumers:

1. Oversupply — In recent years, an oversupply of solar energy, has estimated to power a total of 2.6 million homes.  This oversupply has caused prices to drop between 60% since 2011.

2. Recession Benefits — Due to the recession, Congress renewed the existing 30% credit toward solar system installations for homeowners, but they also removed the previous $2,000 cap.  This translates to thousands of dollars in savings.

3. Plummeting Prices — California is a great example of this, a 4-kilowatt solar system in the state was initially cost around $30,000.  A couple of years ago, this price was reduced to $21,000 after federal and state incentives.  The exact same system is now valued at the estimated retail price of $10,000 to $12,000.  This is a fraction of its original cost and now with California’s new AB 236 bill being recently passed, the cost of energy will hopefully decrease.

4. Electricity Bills — Many homeowners see their electricity bills significantly drop by at least by 2/3 if not down to zero. Some property-owners are selling their residential solar power back to their utility companies. A solar thermal water heating system usually costs under $5,000, reducing monthly water heating bills to 50%-100%.

5.       Standards and Protections — In case you’re still nervous about your solar system or making a potential investment in a solar project, companies usually offer 25-year warranties for the equipment, minimum production guarantees, and insurance to protect in case of an event such as fires or hurricanes.

6. Now Offering Small Systems — Don’t need to power supply that large? No problem, consumers can now rely on solar panels to pay for their luxury house hold items such as hot tubs or swimming pools. Consumers can now power small appliances such as a computer for use in an RV or while camping, the cost can be less than $1000.

7. Dependable- You can utilize the world’s oldest renewable resource. With the life expectancy of (25-35 years) a solar panel system can be a practical investment not only for businesses but also homeowners.  The average return on investment for residential solar panels 7-10 years.
8. Solar Panels Increase the Value of Your Home- One of the returns on investment for residential solar panels that is often looked over is calculating the increase of the home value. When your house is put on the market, the solar panels makes your house more marketable to sell and is worth more than a similar comparison property.

 The United States EPA reported in the Appraisal Journal that, for every dollar you save in annual utility costs, solar panels increase the value of your home by $20. Simple math calculations show that this can significantly add up. Let's say you save 40% of your monthly electricity bill by going solar - for us that would be about $80 per month. Over 12 months, that is a saving of $960 which results in an impressive and immediate $19,200 boost in home equity. In other words, you instantly regain nearly 100% of the cost of a solar array in home value. A 2011 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research similarly calculates that installing residential solar panel.

Let’s face it, if you have the capability to install solar system whether it be at home, your business, or just for some personal small appliances it could be a practical investment. Something is better than nothing when it comes to the environment. It really make a big difference in not only potentially saving you cash but also helping the environment. If countries like Germany can make great use of this resource, imagine what we can do in the United States, where we have a lot more sun. The sky is the limit!

Falling Costs Make Solar More Affordable Than Ever

      One advantage result of solar panel oversupply is that it has made solar more affordable for more consumers. The cost-competition among the solar energy industry and the price of nonrenewable energy sources that are skyrocketing in price, more consumers can reap the financial gain of solar power. Current solar module prices range from about 70 to 90 cents per megawatt, less than half of the price three years ago. GTM Research estimates that this downfall will continue, with solar module prices reaching 45 cents by 2015.

The standard price of a solar panel has declined by 60 percent since the beginning of 2011. With completed cost in photovoltaic (PV) system has averaged a drop by 11 percent over the past year to $3.05/W. However, the solar market has continued to increase, this quarter’s report finds that the U.S. installed 832 megawatts in Q2 2013, which has resulted in a 15 percent market increase from the first quarter of this year. The second quarter from June-April made the PV solar power’s the second-best ever.

U.S. PV Installations, Q1 2010-Q2 2013:

Solar Stocks are Rising

Solar energy’s brand new affordability has caught consumer’s attention from around the globe. In some locations such as California, the cost of solar power has made strides towards grid parity and therefore has draw in a lot of investment for solar companies.

State Rankings

After the passage of AB 327 bill by California state legislatures it seems the future of solar energy couldn’t get any brighter. The bill will give access to the 75% of its residents unable to install clean energy on their property. The bill immediately creates the largest shared renewables program in the US and could boost California’s clean energy economy all without any state subsidies or extra costs to non-participating residents. After the approval of the bill California will continue to demonstrate great practices and commitment to living green.

   

Solar Market Excepting to Continue Success with Booming Market

With currently over 9,370 collectively solar electric systems operating in the U.S. has an enough to power over 1.5 million homes. The U.S. solar market could also see a 75% growth this year, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association. Perditions have been made that by the end of 2013, a solar project will have been installed, on average, every four minutes in the U.S.  

13 year-old Environmental Activist: Solar Panel Trees

13 year-old Aidan Dwyer is an inspirational green activist and entrepreneur who has people talking about solar panel trees.  He spoke with CNN and said “his method for arranging solar panels - based on the mathematics of tree branches - is 20 to 50% more efficient than traditional solar arrays, especially in low-light conditions, such as cloudy days in the winter or in places where there are lots of trees and tall buildings.”

"My design is like a tree," he said, "but instead of having leaves it has solar panels at the ends (of the branches)."

He presented a detailed essay describing his invention that won over the judges of 2011 at  the Young Naturalist Award from the American Museum of Natural History. His experimentation he described was this:

I designed and built my own test model, copying the Fibonacci pattern of an oak tree. I studied my results with the compass tool and figured out the branch angles. The pattern was about 137 degrees and the Fibonacci sequence was 2/5. Then I built a model using this pattern from PVC tubing. In place of leaves, I used PV solar panels hooked up in series that produced up to 1/2 volt, so the peak output of the model was 5 volts. The entire design copied the pattern of an oak tree as closely as possible.

I think that it should be encouraged for the younger generation to be creative. Aidan discovered this mathematical formula while being outside and exploring unlike most adolescence whose lives revolve around video games sitting inside all day.  This 7^th grader from Long Island, New York has the whole world talking about a revolution among the renewable energy industry.

Join the conversation and tweet #SecretofTrees to have your tweet

 “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” -Greek Proverb

About

Hello eco-friendly friends,

My name is Mandy Vrieze, and a senior Public Relations and Marketing student at the University of Northern Iowa. I think I found my calling in life is putting my creative marketing and advertising skills to help better the world and make a difference. Marketing fits my personality and lifestyle to a tee compared to any other area in the business world. It comes natural to me to express my ideas and creativity in a competitive aspect. In some ways I don’t believe you can mold a marketers’ mind, it is something in which they are born with.

At a young age I began being captivated with the idea of traveling and learning about cultures which then led me to be interested in the green renewable energy industry. Once I started college, I took every opportunity that was given to me, which guided me in fulfilling my dream to travel oversea. By working, living, and helping others during my summer and winter break throughout my entire college career I learned a lot. Seeing how other countries maintain a comfortable eco-friendly lifestyle just by using their resources was inspiring to me. My ambition for myself was to have a career that would be fulfilling by help others in also making a difference in the world and still having a competitive edge, to market an innovative product, and continue to travel. After researching and speaking to experts in the sustainable energy field, my interest began to focus on solar energy.