Is Solar Right For Me?
1. Your Roof
Your Roof or Using Ground Mounted System For Solar Panels.
How Much Shade do you Have?
Solar panels work in all environments, yet now and again, rooftops may be less suited because of tree cover. Assuming there are trees close to your home that make exorbitant shade on your rooftop, Solar panel electricity output will decrease in heavy shade but also does not rule out going solar. A Solar Advisor will be able to tell your exact electrical output with your current shade. Find how much electricity your roof can produce here.
How Big Is Your Roof?
Solar panels are becoming more and more efficient, meaning you’ll need fewer and fewer to power your building. However, they still take up space. Take a look at your roof and determine how much of it you’d be willing to dedicate to solar panels. As a general rule, a 5 kW system will cover around 280 sq. ft. of space.
The Age of Your Roof?
One of the most dreaded repairs of homeowners and businesses alike are new roofs. If your roof is at the end of its life, you may have to get a new one before going solar. Placing solar panels on an old roof could cause structural issues, and when it comes time to replace your roof, you’ll have to remove and reinstall the solar system. The good news, however, is that solar panels can protect your roof from the elements, meaning they may extend its lifespan.
If you’re worried about the installation process creating holes in your roof, that’s valid, but don’t fear. The industry’s standard installation process takes your roof’s well-being into consideration, ensuring your solar panels will be mounted securely to the roof while keeping the elements out. If you’re concerned with your roof’s warranty, have your solar installer double-check with your roofing contractor to make sure the solar attachments don’t void it.
While condition matters, the material your roof is made out of doesn’t make a huge difference. Solar can be installed on all types of roofs of roofs – metal, shingled, flat roofs, and more.
2. Electricity Usage
Do you know how much electricity you need?
Before starting the process of powering your home with solar energy, homeowners should investigate their energy use and consider potential efficiency upgrades. Homeowners should be well aware of their total electricity usage, and consider low-cost and easy-to-implement efficiency measures before choosing solar.
Touch points oof Energy Usage to Consider:
- Appliances and electronics: Use your appliances and electronics more efficiently, or consider investing in higher efficient products.
- Lighting: Lighting, like LED light bulbs is an easy and very effective energy saver.
- Heating and cooling: Are you currently using electricity to heat and cool your home? These will greatly affect the amount of solar energy you need to run your home. Weatherizing your home can reduce the amount of electricity you need to produce..
Have questions we can help give you an over the phone audit of what devices are using the most energy and easy improvements you can make. A home energy audit can help you understand where your home is losing energy and what steps to take to improve the efficiency of your home Contact Us Here
3. Estimate Your Solar Electricity Needs
Get a Solar Savings Report?
Providing Elite Solar Energy with a copy your latest utility bills gives us the ability to estimate with great accuracy the size of Solar panel system you will need. We determine your daily energy use by calculating watt-hour (Kwh) use of each month. Then, we can see how much electricity you to produce and what size system you’ll need.
How Big Is Your Roof?
Solar panels are becoming more and more efficient, meaning you’ll need fewer and fewer to power your building. However, they still take up space. Take a look at your roof and determine how much of it you’d be willing to dedicate to solar panels. As a general rule, a 5 kW system will cover around 280 sq. ft. of space.
4. Financial Considerations
Federal Tax Incentives?
Do you pay Federal Taxes?, If you do, you will be able to take advantage of a huge 26% federal solar incentive. Through 2022, this incentive returns 26% of your solar system’s cost through a reduction in your owed taxes. This federal tax credit is planed to reduce in 2023 to 22% and then after that going away and only available to businesses
So if you have income and are paying taxes this can be a big credit you can apply to the cost of your system.
State Incentives?
On top of the federal incentive, there are also state and district-level programs to inspire more solar inatallations on a local level.
In almost all cases, state and local programs are in addition to the federal incentive, so you get to double-dip on your savings. And most all are in the form of rebates. Local incentives can also be quite benificail to your savings, so be sure to do your research to take full advantage of the programs available to you.
