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Advantages of Solar Panels

Click the links below to learn more about the benefits of going solar.

Save Money
Help the Environment
Energy Independence  

Save Money

You already pay a lot for electricity today.  In the future, you’ll pay even more. Nationwide, electricity rates have been increasing 6% per year over the last thirty years. When you go solar, you take control of your electricity costs and opt out of utility rate increases. You’ll save money with solar by locking in a lower rate for your electricity than you will pay for the next thirty years. Many Sunrun customers start saving money right away.

Will I save immediately?

It depends on the following factors:

1. How much you pay for your electricity today

If you use a lot of electricity and have a really high electric bill, you are likely to save a lot with solar right away. People who have smaller electric bills might not see substantial savings until a few years out.

2. How you choose to pay for solar

Solar leases and PPAs allow you to invest just a small amount upfront and pay monthly, which means you can start saving immediately. With a lease or a PPA, most people save a little bit immediately, and a lot over the long term. If you purchase a system or prepay a lease or PPA, your upfront investment will be bigger, so you won’t start saving until later.

Is solar a good investment? 

Yes. Of course, you’ll want to compare the return you’ll get from getting home solar to your other investment opportunities. When you get a solar proposal for your home, you’ll be able to see your projected monthly savings for twenty years. Those monthly savings will combine to surpass your original investment. All the money you save after that becomes your return on investment. Your return on investment will depend on the rate you pay upfront and some additional factors. You’ll be able to calculate your specific return on investment from any home solar proposal.

How will solar affect my home value?

Adding solar panels can increase the resale value of your home and help it sell faster.

Help the Environment

The electricity that most of us use is dirty. The majority of power in the United States is made from dirty fossil fuels including coal, gas, and oil. Burning fossil fuels releases toxic emissions, such as nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and heavy metals like mercury, along with soot, smoke, dust, and dirt. They contribute to smog and acid rain.

Electricity is the leading man made contributor to global warming in the U.S. Forty percent of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions come from power plants, with an additional fifteen percent from home electricity consumption. This makes electricity the leading man made contributor to global warming. Every time we turn on our lights, we are creating pollution.

Solar allows you to power your home with clean, renewable energy. You can make a huge difference just by getting home solar. Over 15 years, solar on an average 3-bedroom home will offset over 80,000 lbs of carbon dioxide. This is the same as not driving 100,000 miles.

Create Energy Independence

Going solar helps reduce U.S dependence on foreign energy

Our increasing demand for energy has led to foreign wars, price spikes, and disasters like the Gulf oil spill. Aside from renewable sources, these sources are going to become more expensive and dangerous, and eventually run out. As we increase our dependence on foreign energy sources and funnel more money overseas, our national security and economy suffers.

Home solar is energy that is generated cleanly and safely in the U.S. It creates jobs in sales, installation and engineering, even if some panels are manufactured outside the country. Here’s how one Sunrun partner describes it:

“HelioPower has recently brought on two new solar installation crews.  Every time we bring on a crew, we buy a commercial grade Chevy truck from a local dealer. We then load that truck with $10,000 worth of tools and inventory, much of which is purchased locally. Additionally, as we grow, we use more local services, from catering to auto repair to cleaning to doctors and dentists. We also are buying a lot more panels, inverters, wiring, disconnects, racking, etc (a lot of which is American made), and we’re paying for lots of permit fees and local business licenses, both of which inject badly needed cash into municipal coffers. This is the promise of the green economy.” - Scott Gordon, HelioPower Inc.