Are Residential Solar Costs Worth It?
With Texas electricity rates and other prices rising all around, you’re probably looking for ways to slash your household expenses. Perhaps you’ve thought about cheap electric power through solar panels. But you’ve wondered if shelling out thousands of dollars is a good investment. Will you make a return in the end? Let’s look at the true costs of residential solar.
Equipment Costs and Residential Solar Installation
Putting solar panels on your home is a long-term play. You can expect to get 25 years out of modern solar panels. With a little bit of maintenance for a few hundred dollars per year, you can have zero electric costs. If your monthly electric bill runs about $200 per month, that’s a cool $2,400 per year back in your pocket.
To get this savings, you need to buy and install solar panels. The average solar panel installation costs between $12,000 and $17,000. You could make up these costs within five to seven years. Plus, studies show solar panels increase home values by 4.1%.
Do Tax Credits Offset Costs of Residential Solar?
Five to seven years to recoup your investment is great, but we haven’t even discussed tax breaks yet. Bear in mind, you shouldn’t take tax planning advice from an electricity website. However, the federal government will give you a solar tax credit for 30% of what you spend in 2022. You take that money off of federal taxes owed. If your federal tax situation allows, you could turn a profit 30% faster on the costs of residential solar.
Grid-Tie Versus Off-Grid
When you arrange your solar panel install, a big decision will be whether or not to tie into the power grid. Off-grid systems do keep you totally away from retail electricity providers. However, you will need deep cycle batteries for nighttime electricity supply. These kinds of batteries costs much more money. All the same, you may want one even if you tie into the grid. Tying to the grid allows you to continue drawing power even if your home solar system breaks down. Some providers will let you sell your excess solar power to them. Unfortunately, Texas law currently does not require any Texas energy companies to do this.
Backup Power Source
While installing solar panels on your home will save you money, it’s a good idea to stay tied to the Texas grid. For that reason, you still want to have a power plan. Select from the best plans at https://www.texaselectricityratings.com. It never hurts to have a backup power source, and you’ll pay the lowest rates possible. It’s yet another great thing to do for your wallet!
