More and more people are having solar panels installed on their homes. This kind of energy is very good for the environment. Every year it saves at least 75 million gallons of oil and prevents 35 million tons of carbon dioxide. During the first six months of 2015, there were more than 135,000 solar panel installations in the United States. Currently the country is home to 784,000 solar powered residential houses and businesses. There was a new solar project started every two minutes. If you are interested in residential solar energy solutions, here are some thing for you to consider.
- How old is your roof? If your roof is really old, you may want to replace it before you have home solar power systems installed. The same holds true if you think your roof will need to be replaced within a few years. If your roof is new or fairly new and will not need to be replaced for a very long time, you might be a good candidate for a solar power panel installation.
- How is your house oriented? If your roof is oriented towards the south, southeast or southwest, it should work for residential solar energy. You can also put the panels on a flat roof, flat garage or placed on a spot in your backyard. There are a lot of options when you want to install residential solar energy solutions.
- See what help you can get from the government. Are there any state or local government programs to help people install residential solar power solutions? There are different tax incentives and other programs aimed at encouraging people to install solar power panels on their home. If you are not sure what, if any, programs are available for people in your area, there are websites you can check (http://www.dsireusa.org).
- Worried your area might not get enough sun? You still may benefit from panels. Even if you live in an area that sees more rain than sun, you may think putting solar energy panels on your home will cost more than it will be worth. This may make sense but there are some parts of the country where solar is big despite the weather. San Francisco is not known for the vast amounts of sun its residents see but many people there have had home solar solutions installed. The same can be said about people in New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Call an expert in residential solar energy solutions and have them come out to your house. They can look at your property and let you know if your place would benefit from solar panels.
- How much money can you save? Worried you will not save any money will solar panels? Get all of your electricity bills for the last year. When you average out your bills, do they add up to more than $100 per month? If the answer is no, you may not see a huge payoff from installing solar panels right away.
- How much of a tax rebate will you get? The federal government is currently offering tax rebates for homeowners who install residential solar energy solutions on their houses before the end of 2016. If you do not think this will cover the cost of the installation, check with your local government to see if there are any other programs that can help offset or even cover the cost of the installation. You can also call your Congressperson and ask to speak to the caseworker in their district office for more information on what government programs may be available to you.
If you are serious about having solar energy panels put on your home, you should call a few companies that do solar installations. Have a few contractors who handle the installation of residential solar energy solutions come to your home and give you a quote. You should get at least two or three quotes. Even if you do not think solar panels would work on your home, have an expert take a look and see if they can help you make solar work for your home.