By now Im sure weve all heard about the latest solar energy buzz. With bills piling up and jobs thinning out its no wonder everyone is considering making the switch to solar energy.
I know the Indiana taxpayers have footed the bill for millions of dollars worth of solar energy cells to eternally power, for one thing, all the recent driver surveillance cameras around the state that are responsible for mailing you a ticket and a picture of your face to let you know that you just got a traffic violation ticket and fine.
But using solar energy to power intrusive government devices and using solar energy to power your house are worlds apart.
So is solar energy actually practical to use in your home?
How it works brieflyWithout going into way too much detail I will say its a good idea to know how solar power operates. Solar powers core comes from things called solar cells.
Theres something called the photoelectric effect that goes like this: a semiconductor absorbs sunlight and causes electrons to separate from their atoms.
The free electrons go on to generate an electrical current as they travel in a circuit thats built in the solar cells.
Solar saves you a lot of moneySolar power costs about 80% less than your current utility bill. So if your electric bill now runs $150 per month, with solar power your electric bill would only cost $40.
Generating your own power at least pays you an extra $100 every month. And thats if you pay a modest $150 a month for your utilities - $400 or more is not an uncommon normal utility bill
Sell extra energy you generate to your utility companiesThis is no joke. When you use solar energy your meter will actually spin backwards. Not to mention the joy youll feel cashing a monthly check written out to you from the electric company - nothing could be finer.
Yearly tax deductionsAnyone using solar energy is automatically going to get federal and state tax credits. Any work made to your house involving the use of solar energy counts toward the credits and can easily cover the cost of over half of your new solar powered energy system.
Heres an example of the tax refunds that you will get for a year in which you bought a Residential Hot Water System in the state of Illinois:
Solar Unit and Installation Cost: $10,000State of Illinois Rebate: -$ 3,000Federal Solar Tax Credit: -$ 2,000
Cost of Solar Hot Water System: $5,000
Pricing optionsEvery state has its own tax incentives, but most if not all states give rebates that will pay for at least part of your new solar energy system. A lot of cities will also help you out by lowering the cost of your property taxes, which is great.
But even if current government incentives cut our cost in half $5,000 is still a decent chunk of change where I come from, and sometimes its hard to wrangle up that extra $5,000 looking in the couch cushions. Trust me, Ive tried.
Luckily there are many other options that cost way less.
By itself an assembled solar panel will cost you up to $3000, but thats still a lot of money. What a lot of people are doing is just building their own solar power systems in the neighborhood of $200. And its not like fitting your house with a solar energy system is difficult.
You can easily make your own solar cell in under an hour using common stuff like copper, your electric stove and an electric current meter. Find it hard to believe? Solar technology isnt really very complex, which is why youll find more and more people building their own solar units. You can find all the information you need online and be set up in no time.
Caution about plan accuracyTheres a lot of online kits, guides and plans that can teach you to build solar energy systems. Thats easy. The difference usually only occurs after its too late: after spending a bunch of time and money you find out the plans you used were garbage. Take my word on this, please! Make sure you invest in quality blueprints or else youre going to be completely lost. Theres a few really good solar energy plans out there that will also tell you where to get highest quality materials for the lowest price in your area.
Michael Harvey and his company Earth4Energy has written an excellent guide that outlines everything you need to start making your own solar energy.
Bottom lineIs solar energy practical to use in your home? Its definitely at least worth looking into. More likely than not ditching the utility company is a decision youll wish you had made a long time ago.
Now that most utility companies in each county are becoming monopolies without competition, and with all the big utilities pushing harder and harder every year to be allowed to set their own prices, no matter how outrageous they want them to be, I really dont know how much longer everyone can afford to be price gouged by our utility companies.
With the way things are going, I don't really know a whole lot of people who can not afford to start using solar energy in their homes.
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