Making Next Year the Year You Switch to Solar Power
There are many renewable energy sources being bandied about as the best alternatives to current fuels, and it’s often hard to get all the facts straight. With that in mind, here are six simple reasons to choose solar as that alternative for your home in the new year.
1. Solar Ups The Value Of Your Property
Solar panels are, like any structural addition to your home, an added source of value. Should you choose to sell your home in the new year, real estate appraisers would have to account for your array in the asking price – to the tune of up to $15,000! Additionally, many new homebuyers are more apt to consider homes already equipped with solar technology than those without.
2. Harnessing Solar Energy Protects the Environment
By channeling the sun’s abundant rays to power your home, you help to decrease your use of non-renewable energy sources like gas, oil, and coal, whose extraction irreparably harms the planet. It may not seem like your reduced dependence on these fuels matters much in the grand scheme of things, but a standard residential array can reduce carbon emissions by 3 to 4 tons per year – that’s like planting 100 trees!
3. Solar Saves You Money in the Long Run
While the up-front cost of solar might seem daunting, installing solar panels is a worthy investment. Between the tax credits available in many states, the reduction in your electricity costs, and the fact that a utility can’t raise your rates every year, you can save far more than pocket change by switching to solar.
4. Solar Decreases the Chance of Outages
Since going solar takes you off the electricity grid and allows you to power your own home, you’re less likely to be hit with blackouts and brownouts during inclement weather. When that windstorm downs a power line or someone’s AC blows a fuse during a heat wave, you’ll be sitting on your own energy source and will be less likely to have your power cut.
5. The Sun Is a Boundless Source of Energy
Unlike non-renewable energy sources such as oil, coal, and gas, there is no finite amount of sunlight. It is constant, strong, and provides more solar energy than is needed to power the entire world every day. Given that sunlight is so abundant and that it’s absolutely free once panels are installed, it’s a great way to avoid rising gas and electricity prices while also reducing your carbon footprint.
6. Solar Helps the Wider Economy
The solar industry creates hundreds of thousands of jobs in the U.S. every year and, as mentioned before, reduces the country’s dependence on foreign oil and other non-renewable energy sources. These homegrown jobs and decreased export and utility costs give consumers higher standards of living. As a result, it also provides more buying power. Switching to solar also cuts down on the environmental impact of transporting fossil fuels back to the U.S.