The Unexpected Benefits of Solar

11 Mar The Unexpected Benefits of Solar

Purchasing a solar array for your home or business is known to significantly decrease or eliminate your electric bill entirely. It also is well known for producing clean energy and offsetting carbon emissions that result from fossil fuel being burned to generate electricity. However, solar comes with a long list of other benefits that not everyone knows about before going solar.

Solar Power Can Increase Value of the Home

Solar panels can increase the value of a home significantly. A study from Zillow found that adding solar to a home increases its value by 4.1% on average. The solar system must be owned to enjoy the benefits of added home value, a lease or power purchase agreement will not affect the home value.

Going Solar Can Get You Paid

You save thousands of dollars over the years producing your own solar energy, but did anyone tell you that you can get paid while doing it? In states that allow net metering (all of New England with exception of Maine that has its own compensatory program) you can get credits from your utility toward your electric bill. If your solar array is designed around meeting 100% of your electric needs, you can often find yourself receiving credits from the utility that you can use in the future on less productive days or at night. In Massachusetts, there’s an incentive called the SMART Program. This program will pay you for the amount of solar energy you produce for 10 years. Every month, for the next 10 years, you receive a check for generating your own clean energy.

A Solar Array Can Lengthen the Life of the Roof

Having solar panels on your roof can protect your roof and even make it last longer. If you were planning on redoing your roof, we recommend doing so before installing solar. After that, the solar panels will act as a shield for your roof for decades!

A Solar Array Provides Insulation

One of the most unexpected perks of solar is that the panels absorb the light and heat that your roof would otherwise absorb. This means solar panels can reduce your air conditioning needs throughout the day as your roof won’t be sitting in as much direct sunlight. These savings on cooling costs can actually account for 5% of the cost of going solar.

Tax Benefits for Going Solar

Going solar can help with your taxes! There is a federal tax credit this year of 26% of the cost of your solar installation. This does decrease in the coming years so the sooner it is taken advantage of the more financial benefit there is. Additionally, Massachusetts gives up to $1,000 in tax credits towards solar installations in the state. Who knew going solar would save you money year-round and reward you during tax season as well?

A Solar Array Provides Energy Independence

If you go solar you have a lot of independence from the grid. Though your home or business is most likely still attached to the grid, so you can draw energy at night or on low production days, you are much less affected by the ever-rising price of electricity. With electric companies having escalation rates of about 3% a year, electric bills can become a huge expense for ratepayers. With solar, the bill is either very small or non-existent and in some cases, you might even receive a credit from your utility company for the energy you produce. If you have battery storage paired with your solar array you will also be independent of the grid when there are outages.

Going Solar Means Cleaner Air

When you go solar the air around your home doesn’t immediately improve. However, the overall air quality of cities, states, or countries greatly improves when solar energy replaces a large portion of other electricity generation sources. Large scale solar energy implementation reduces the need for coal, oil, or gas combustion to meet energy needs. This reduces pollution and results in cleaner air which has a multitude of health benefits. The more people that go solar the better the overall air quality of an area can be!

To learn how you can take advantage of the benefits of going solar, feel free to contact us for a free assessment of your home or business.