Benefits of Solar System at Home: Advantages and Disadvantages

Solar energy is growing in popularity.

There are more than 2 million solar installations established in the USA, and this number is foretold to double by 2023.

Recent innovations in solar system technology, tax incentives by the government and the ability to economize on electricity bills are the reasons why people have shifted to solar systems.

Though location, home size and the technology of the solar system have a significant influence on how much you will economize with your solar system, you can expect to save $10,000 to $30,000 during the lifetime of your solar system.

The enormous initial cost of a solar system is one of the reasons why some people choose not to switch to solar energy.

Most affordable solar systems in the market come without a warranty and some of them are of low quality and could make you lose a lot of money initially.

The recent reverse power transmission technology allows solar system owners to sell electricity to their electricity companies.

The payment, though, differs depending on location.

Furthermore, power suppliers won’t pay you in cash. 

Solar systems are going to set on your roof for probably thirty years, therefore, investing in high-quality technology is a wise choice.

For example, the quality of your inverter plays a huge role in energy collection.

Before investing in a solar system, it’s wise to scrutinize everything that goes with it like the warranty, customer service, and after-sales service .

Although multiple factors could influence the efficiency and the return on investment of a solar system, there are other perks you can enjoy.

Below are some benefits of the solar system at home.

1. Economize on Electricity Bills

Economizing on electricity bills is the first obvious benefit of a solar system at home.

The question is whether these savings make up for the substantial initial investment.

There are two reasons why you could make way more than what you invested in solar energy.

First, solar systems are at a record low and second, tax incentives given by the government will pay for a large portion of your initial cost.

High-quality inverters from reputable brands will play a massive role in how much you can economize on electricity bills.

For small steep roofs, installing a micro-inverter is more efficient.

Location, weather and the quality of your solar panel will also play a significant role in the efficiency of your solar system, plus, if you live in a sunny area, you can expect huge savings.

You can save up to $2,000 every year on your electricity expenses if you live in an area where conventional electricity is expensive.

While it’s unwise to expect to save significant amounts of money in the short term, it’s still is a big motivator if you look at the bigger picture.

Because conventional electricity is mostly generated by burning limited fossil fuels, its price is expected to rise.

If we take this factor into account, then it’s tough to make a case where solar systems are not an excellent long term investment. 

Because the solar system requires sunlight to function, they cannot produce energy during the night.

To tackle this problem, we can install high-quality, efficient batteries to achieve better independence from conventional power.

2. No More Annoying Power Outages

2.1 million people in California were left without electricity when the giant PG&E electricity supplier decided to turn off power because it feared that high winds could instigate contact between trees and transmission lines creating fire.

In South Carolina a power outage can last for 20 hours.

Investing in a solar system will provide you with electricity during power outages.

It’s impossible to live in the arctic areas without a heating system.

In such regions, the consequences of a power outage can be catastrophic.

Investing in a solar system will make you independent and safe.

During wars or natural disasters, power outages are normal occurrences.

During the Venezuelan crisis, people were left in the dark for at least ten days and around 43 deaths were attributed to absence of electricity.

Although power outages aren’t frequent now, in the future where fossil fuel becomes more limited, power outages could be more rampant.

Investing in a solar system will provide you with safety and will make you independent. 

3. Positive Impact on the Environment

Finding a solution to global warming is one of the challenges humanity faces nowadays.

By investing in solar power, you’re making a positive contribution to the environment.

Burning fossil fuel create water and air pollution.

Water particles mix with toxic smoke that comes from burning fossil fuel resulting in acidic rain.

The generation of electricity through fossil fuels produces (CO2) and toxic gases that trap sunlight in the earth’s atmosphere, making the earth warmer.

By investing in solar power, you’re encouraging the solar industry to grow and create better and affordable technology.

Only solar and wind power are the other choices for clean and renewable sources of energy.

The government knows that the high initial cost of installing solar systems is what prevents people to shift to it.

To encourage people to make that shift to solar systems, the government offers a 30% investment tax credit and this credit can be applied to your income.

To reach your house, electricity travels a long distance during which a lot of energy is lost.

Unlike conventional electricity, solar energy doesn’t need to travel long distances, therefore, minimizing unnecessary losses.

While installing a solar panel will not solve the entire problem that the environment is facing, it will certainly help in reducing it.

If we all install solar systems in our house, I am sure that this would benefit the environment.

Doing so will secure the lives of the future generations. 

4. Increase Your Property Value

You might want to skip this section if you’re not interested in your property value.

This information is only valuable if you plan on selling your property in the future.

Installing a solar system into your property can increase its value by approximately 4%.

You can add aesthetic solar accessories to your house to serve as décor, help economize energy for future owners, and increase its value.

Studies and research have shown that adding a solar system to your property will help you sell it 20% faster.

If you plan on selling your house, investing in a $20,000 solar system can help you sell your home higher and more quickly.

Of course, the increase in value depends on a lot of factors, for example, in sunny areas where sunlight is available throughout the year, solar system installation is going to result in a remarkable increase in property value.

The price of conventional electricity in the area will also impact the overall increase in value you could get by installing a solar system.

Though most buyers will not be able to tell whether your solar system is high-quality or not, the size of your installation and your home will, however, give a good impression and will make the buyer more likely to buy your house.

You can use the fact that your house contains a solar system to convince most buyers.

Having a solar system in your home shows the buyer that you’re concerned about the environment and that you take good care of your house.

5. Solar Energy is the Future

On 21 November 2021, Tesla has released its new truck: Cybertruck.

This newly-released truck is an electric car that is almost similar to other diesel fuel trucks in performance and is only slightly higher than them in cost.

Appliances and liabilities that run on fossil fuel and coal are being converted to electricty each year.

More people are switching to solar power every day.

We can make a good argument that solar energy is the future.

Having a natural electricity generator at home will be essential in the future, and could save you a lot of expenses since even cars will be using electricity.

It’s essential to be well educated about all the aspects of solar power since it will be the most used energy in the future.

Installing a solar system at home will provide you with experience and education about the wise energy consumption.

Investing in solar power is an investment that will educate you about the industry.

Solar systems are very durable and last for at least 20years.

It’s tough to make a case where solar energy is not going to be useful, considering that all the signs are showing that solar is going to be the future.

6. You Can Use Appliances that Run with Electricity

I don’t know about you, but my father always used to scold me when I would forget to turn off the lights in a room.

Now that I am older, I understand why my father was stressed with electric bills.

With a solar system, stress will be lesser.

Having a solar system at home will enable you to identify appliances that consume a lot of electricity like refrigerators , heaters and air con units and plan out better more efficient use of these appliances.

$23 per month is the cost of heating a hot tub, for example.

This means that during a year, it’s going to cost around $276 when you have a solar system in your home.

You don’t have to worry about these if you use solar energy.

Even car manufacturers are striving to create more efficient vehicles that would consume less electricity and use a battery that allows storage of solar energy.

It’s expected that in the future, people will charge their cars with electricity from their homes.

Investing in a solar system could enable you to charge your electric car for free.

If you live in the Arctic areas, then you know that heaters consume a lot of electricity.

They take up to 40% of the electricity bill.

If you invest in a solar system, you will feel less stressed about these home appliances that consume a lot of electricity.

7. Make Money by Selling Electricity

New solar systems have a technology that would allow you to feed extra generated electricity back to the grid.

Excess energy is supplied to the grid.

Do not think though that you can make a lot of money doing this.

There are factors like net metering laws and legislations that influence how much money you can make.

The exact amount of energy you will be able to feedback to the grid is determined by the quality of the inverter you have installed in your solar system.

Your location and the amount of sunlight you receive is going to influence too how much money you can make, if you’re seriously considering making money out of your solar system.

Unless you’re the owner of a solar farm, I suggest using solar systems to economize on your own electricity bills and not count on them to make money for you.

It’s important to note that most electricity suppliers won’t pay you in cash.

Depending on your state, they will probably offer credits or other social benefits.

However, if you take want to make money via solar systems, invest heavily on them and have a solar farm, then you can expect to make between $21,250 and $42,500.

It’s important to note that the synergy between your solar system components will also play a huge role in how much money you can make.

The advice of a professional is always endorsed.

8. Durable & Reliable

Most solar systems are made of very durable materials.

For example, the life expectancy of a solar system is on the average 30 years.

A study suggests that solar panel can stay on the hood of your house for at least 30 years, though this is influenced by a lot of factors like the weather and their maintenance.

It’s essential to ask for the degradation rate of your solar panel before you invest in any solar system.

You should always request a data sheet from your solar panel supplier.

The datasheet contains essential data like the degradation rate and the maximum input and output power.

The datasheet will enable you to make the right decisions when buying other components of your solar system.

Solar panels, for example, are designed to withstand severe weather conditions and go through challenging tests.

Most solar systems have warranties and excellent after-sales customer service.

Solar systems are also easy to install and do not require a lot of maintenance.

Most solar system companies offer free customer and maintenance services.

The higher the quality of the solar panel, the lesser the degradation rate is.

Most solar panels have an estimated degradation rate of 0.8%.

Some premium panels, for example, offer low degradation rate around 0.3%.

Even with a high degradation rate, though, your solar panel will continue working with 88% of their initial original performance.

Some solar systems are portable and can be folded so that you can take them to other locations.

This makes them easy to store or sell.

9. Help Create Jobs

By installing solar systems in your home, you’re helping a very labour-intensive industry.

Let’s help encourage such sectors because they provide multiple benefits for our society and humanity as a whole.

Many solar companies are small companies trying hard to establish themselves in the market.

These companies work very hard each year to produce innovative solutions that tackle problems like pollution, and at the same time work on making electricity affordable.

Even if you don’t have enough money to buy large solar systems, you can buy small solar panels, and couple them with efficient micro-inverters that maximize the use of the solar panels.

These micro-inverters are paired with small solar panels and could be used in low steep roofs.

Purchasing small accessories like solar umbrellas and solar lights could also help the solar industry.

Setting up a 1 megawatt solar farm, for example, takes at least 15-20 workers, this means that if you were to install a 500-watt solar system in your house, you will help secure the jobs of 7 to 10 workers.

10. You Become Educated about the Energy of the Future

It seems like experience on solar power is not one of the perks of installing a solar system, but if you look at the statistics, then you would know that solar system is going to be the primary energy source in the future.

Knowledge is power, and being educated about a domain that will become very popular in the years to come is certainly not going to hurt you.

I know a lot of people who researched a particular car they wanted to buy, and as a result, they learned so much about automobiles.

People who have knowledge and expertise about solar systems will be able to get into a lot of lucrative businesses associated with solar.

Installing a solar system will force you to do research and read about them, and if you’re focused enough, you could even start your own solar company.

Many gadgets and accessories now use solar power;

It’s tough to make a case where solar power won’t become the leading energy of the future.

Cars, planes, farms, and even universities are using solar power as a power source.

If you install a solar system at home, you will be educated about the process that makes this energy work.

It’s not obvious how education about solar energy would be beneficial, but I know a lot of people who were able to make a lot of money and take advantage of lucrative opportunities because they had knowledge about a certain niche.

Aside from the economic benefits, your knowledge of solar energy can pave your way to educating other people who want to contribute to a clean environment.

Final Thoughts

A lot of factors will indeed determine whether investing in a solar system is worth it or not.

But it’s tough to make a case where solar systems won’t bring benefits, especially in the long term.

It’s essential to take into accounts a lot of aspects concerning your home, location, and the price of electricity before you decide to install a solar system.

Aside from economizing on electricity bills, installing a solar system can provide you with other benefits like contributing to a better environment and exceptional education about the energy that would be the primary source in the future.