How Will Solar Impact a Residential Home? Assessing Style, Roof, Finances and More
Making the decision to go solar requires you to take a lot more into consideration than just how much money you might be able to save on your monthly energy bills. Like most major home improvements, solar can have a lasting impact on your home, so you need to understand the full picture before you find yourself dealing with something you weren’t prepared for.
In this guide, you’ll learn about the different ways solar can impact your home, so you can make the right decision for your home’s energy needs.
How Solar Impacts Your Home Aesthetics
Aesthetics is something that has long kept many homeowners from accepting solar panels because for many years, solar panels were massive, chunky pieces of hardware that stood out like a sore thumb on a roof. But today manufacturers have made incredible innovations to the design and aesthetics of solar panels.
Modern solar panels are sleek and low-profile, and in most cases, they even help improve the look of a roof. Some solar panel products are even designed to look just like roofing shingles, which makes them essentially invisible on a rooftop.
How Solar Panels Impact Your Home’s Safety
There are many solar detractors who say that solar panels are hazardous to homeowners and their families because they contain harmful materials. While solar panels do contain things like cadmium and other “toxic” materials, they are safely contained within the solar panel structure. Homeowners and their family never come into contact with these materials. If a solar panel is cracked or broken, it is always best to have it handled by a skilled technician.
In terms of a home’s interior safety, solar energy is extremely safe and reliable. In fact, because energy from the grid can often suffer from sudden blackouts, brownouts, and voltage drops, solar’s steady reliability makes it a safer option for sensitive electronics and other electrical appliances.
How Solar Impacts Your Roof
Depending on the age and condition of your roof, additional support structures may need to be installed in the attic to help bear the weight of the solar panels. This isn’t the case with every home, however, as most modern homes are built to higher weight bearing standards.
Each solar installation is a case by case basis in regard to the roof and what needs to be done to accommodate the solar panels. In severe cases, the roof may need to be replaced. But on the other side of that coin, if the roof is in good condition, then having solar panels installed over the roof can help protect the surface of the roof, which will help extend the roof’s life.
How Solar Energy Impacts Your Home’s Access to Power
Regardless of how you get your energy, at the end of the day you want to be able to plug something in and have it work. With the right sized solar system, your home will have all the power it needs while the sun is shining. But if you want to enjoy energy after the sun goes down, then you will need to have a battery storage system installed or you can switch your home’s energy over to the grid at night. Either way, you have options. All you need to decide is whether you want your evening energy to come from your solar system’s storage or the grid.
How Solar Impacts Your Home’s Finances
Many choose to go solar for one simple reason – because it helps you save a lot of money on your monthly energy bills. But as much money as it saves, it is also important to know how much solar costs, so you can make the best decision for your finances.
Luckily, there are many convenient and affordable ways to pay for solar these days. From dedicated solar loans to home equity loans, homeowners can get their solar systems installed and operational without having to pay for it all upfront. In most cases, the savings provided by a solar system can even offset much of the monthly payment when a financing option is chosen.
Plus, most solar systems pay for themselves within ten years. With the average solar panel designed to last for 30 years or longer, you’ll have decades of free or extremely low-cost energy waiting for you once your system pays for itself with the savings it provides.
How Solar Impacts Your Home Value
Depending on where you live, solar panels can increase the value of your home by as much as ten percent. This benefit is only attainable if the solar panels are purchased and not leased, however.
Solar is highly desired by today’s home buyers, so if you have solar panels on your home and you are putting it on the market, then you can expect your home to get a lot of attention from prospective buyers. In fact, it’s not uncommon for buyers to get into bidding wars for solar homes in many of the more solar-friendly states.
The Case for Solar is Clear
Solar can positively impact a home in so many distinct ways, that the conclusion is quite clear – solar is a great thing to have on any home. And with today’s flexible payment options and, of course, the generous solar tax credits available from the government, there’s just no better time to go solar.