Home Solar Power: Is It Really Feasible?
Installing a home solar power system becomes more and more feasible as the price of component parts goes down. No real revelation there, just basic economics.
But…does it really make sense for you?
There are three things that can help you make the decision about going “solar”, whether you’re getting ready to build, or just looking at your options for converting:
1. How much full sunlight per day do you get? Experts call this the “insolation” factor. You can find out what the approximate insolation factor is for your site on a solar map created by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, at www.nrel.gov. You’ll also need to know some additional site-specific factors…like sun blockage by trees, other buildings, hillside or any other obstruction.
2. Current electricity prices. To determine your payback time, knowing what you’re currently paying (or the average cost for homeowners in that area) …per watt…for electricity can help you determine how long it will take you to pay for solar power installation. Unless you plan to build the solar system yourself, a big part of this equation is the length of time you plan to stay in this home. The longer you’re in the home, the bigger the payback.
3. What rebates and tax incentives are available? Maximizing federal and state incentives can really help offset the initial cost of installing a solar power system. If you have a solar system installed professionally, you may be looking at $40 to $60 thousand dollars for the average American home. Getting a rebate or tax credit of 10 to 60% can go a long way toward putting the initial cost of installing solar more in parity with a standard system.
Be realistic. Regardless of your determination, or desire to have a home powered by solar energy, you may have a site, or be in an area where it truly isn’t worthwhile. On the solar map, the United States shows almost no locales where solar energy can’t work, but there are exceptions. And, of course, you may have some specific site obstructions, like a tall building in the direct path of the sun from your south-facing potential panel placements, that mean solar energy just isn’t going to work. If that’s the case, before you install conventional, remember there also other renewable energy possibilities.
Well, if you’ve determined solar will work for you, some good news is that photovoltaic cell cost is decreasing rapidly due to new mass production techniques. Shrinking production costs means more readily available, and more affordable solar power components. This, in turn, means home solar power will increasingly become more feasible.
New innovations and applications are being rapidly developed. A recent Princeton study shows how engineers have developed a new technique that “could slash the cost of solar panels.” In an article sited in nextbigfuture.com, researchers at Princeton state “By overcoming technical hurdles to producing plastics that are translucent, malleable and able to conduct electricity, the researchers have opened the door to broader use of the materials in a wide range of electrical devices. Plastics could represent a low-cost alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO), an expensive conducting material currently used in solar panels.”
There are many new developments that are resulting in smaller, more efficient solar energy systems at a much reduced price. That means that, with the exception of those areas or sites with no or very low insolation factors, the most feasible and therefore best option of choice for homeowners, and businesses, will be solar energy.
And the experts agree…solar energy power is going to do nothing but grow. Says Everett Sizemore, consumer product review expert for Compare the Brands, “Out of all of the renewable energy alternatives we have today, solar power is still the most feasible for the majority of households in America. With federal, state, and local government incentives, the lowering cost of solar panels and improved efficiency, going solar is cheaper than ever.”
Like individual homeowners finding new and better ways to generate solar electricity on site, electrical power plants are also making huge strides. In one of the newest, most feasible designs, a molten salt storage loop enables power plants to store and generate electricity whether the sun is shining…or not…for fairly long periods. The goal is to get several molten salt storage loop plants over a fairly broad area, connected in a grid similar or identical to current utility grids, to take advantage of all solar opportunities, and always have enough stored electricity to constantly generate power.
The bottom line…home solar power is becoming increasingly feasible…off…and on…the grid.
Want to find out more about home solar power, then visit Timothy Peters’s site at: www.HomeSolarPowerExplained.com