ProductCategories
HelpfulInformation
|
|
|
Our solar technical advisers are here to help you. Click to chat or leave a message. |
reasons go solar climate change positive monthly cash flow flow high return on investment rebates incentives no property tax increase
Reasons Go Solar? Here's Why.
Reasons To Go Solar
1. Attractive Return on Investment (ROI)
Solar provides a return on investment that makes deciding to invest in a system one of the easiest decisions a residential home owner or commercial business can make. Solar energy solutions provide homeowners and commercial businesses with an amazing measurable return on investment for their money. Choosing a solar provider for purchase, installation and warranty is the next step. To truly understand the full return on investment a home or business owner needs to be able to compare the proposed monthly savings associated with the equipment as well as the cost associated with finance and the benefits of tax advantage.
As a service to our customers we create a custom cash flow analysis to simplify these factors and provide you with a comprehensive, easy to understand, detailed report. By working together and answering all questions associated with the purchase at one time, we can help you feel comfortable with your purchase decision by presenting a more complete solution and improved monthly cash flow.
Federal Tax Credits for Solar and Wind Energy Systems. Federal Tax Credits, extended through 2017. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, contains renewable energy legislation which is great news for our solar customers. Not only was the 30% commercial solar investment tax credit extended through 2017, but the same tax credit was also extended to residential installations.
Under this legislation the previous $2,000 cap for residential solar installations was eliminated. This means that, as of January 1, 2009, the purchase of a residential solar electric system makes you eligible for a tax credit equal to 30% of the cost of your solar system, including installation. If the federal tax credit exceeds your tax liability, the excess amount may be carried forward to the succeeding taxable year. If you do not earn enough to pay taxes to the U.S. Treasury, you may apply for 30% of the cost of the solar or wind system in the form of a Renewable Energy Grant.
It is a fact that over time, investing in solar can "earn" you more money than stocks or bonds. This long-term return on your solar investment is another economic benefit of switching to solar power. Through advances in technology and local government rebates, solar energy is now a smart financial investment. The current solar energy rebate cuts the cost of system by more than half, making it the best time ever to buy solar. Solar energy not only protects you from rising electricity costs, but also increases the overall value of your home.
Economics of Solar Electric Systems for Consumers.
Let's step back for a moment and put this in perspective.
What is the ROI on a bass boat?
Solar has a better return on investment than your IRA or stocks.
Solar has no maintenance.
Blue Pacific Solar is an easy company to work with.
Schüco has a 25 year warranty on panels.
Solar is easy to sign up for.
Solar gives me control over my families future expenses.
Solar helps the environment by reducing CO2 emissions.
Solar creates jobs in this country that can not be shipped overseas
Why not solar now?
Why Go Solar Frequently Asked Questions.
[top]
2. Durability, Dependable and Secure Electricity
Most modules are guaranteed from the manufacturer to produce power for 25 years and will keep producing well beyond that time frame. Fact is over 90% of the solar photovoltaic systems installed in the 1960's are still producing up to 90% of their original rated power output. At the municipal level, many jurisdictions have introduced solar solutions for traffic and street lights. 50% of the energy used to run the City of Sacramento's water purification plant is solar. The computer server industry uses more energy today than the steel industry in this country. Ever see the roof of Google? It is covered with solar panels used to offset their utility bill.
[top]
3. Solar is Ecologically Sound and Environment Prudent.
Reasons to Go Solar - The earth is an open energy system that enters as light and leaves as heat. The atmosphere is a delicate and complex balance. Over millions of years trees became coal and plankton became oil. When trees and plankton died they did not decompose. Co2 went down in the earth with them. Burning fossil fuel puts Co2 in the atmosphere.
The use of solar energy is among the largest impacts a home or business owner can make to protect and preserving the environment now and for the future. By using solar energy, we reduce air emissions of particulates, carbon dioxide, and other harmful elements resulting in lower greenhouse gases, reducing acid rain, and lowering smog levels.
Powering your home or business with solar energy demonstrates your commitment to a healthy environment and a more sustainable future for us all. Photovoltaic (PV) systems emit absolutely zero greenhouse gases which causes global warming.
Alaska’s retreating glaciers are dramatic evidence the earth is warming. When you compare these two pictures taken from the same location 60 years apart, you can see evidence of Muir Glacier’s retreat.
Consider just a few more environmental facts that support the decision to go solar:
Fact: Today, coal fired power plants product about 51% - 54% of the power generated in this country by utilities. 40% of all CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel burning result from the generation of electricity.
A typical (500 megawatt) coal utility plant burns 1.4 million tons of coal each year. That equals about 14,000 train coal cars per year per coal burning plant. There are about 600 coal fired utility plants in the US. Once carbon is in the air from coal, it takes about 100 years to be scrubbed from the air.
Reduce your carbon footprint. A common three-kilowatt residential solar system keeps almost two tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide) out of the atmosphere each year. No dirty power plants.
More reasons? Save water, save the polar ice, and help reduce coal digging, burning and polluting.
With solar, your dream of really helping the planet can easily become a reality. Solar electric systems are a great way to do your part to preserve the environment for our grand children and generations beyond.
[top]
4. Reasons to Go Solar - Improve Public Health
Pollution from existing power plants contributes to more than 600,000 asthma attacks each year. Increasing energy efficiency and our use of renewable energy takes dangerous pollutants out of the air and lets us all breathe a little easier.
[top]
5. Solar is a sociological challenge not a technical challenge.
What does that mean? A good example of this is the NASA moon program. It was not a miracle America walked on the moon, we just decided to do it. Sociological challenges include: allocation of resources, education and training, organization of work sharing a common belief systems i.e., patriotism. Ideas of social membership include community and neighborhood.
Remember the gas lines of the 1970's? At that time America was only buying about 20% of its oil from the other side of the world. Today it is around 70%. Considering the events of the last decade, why would we continue to power our cars and homes while being 70% dependent on people who do not like us?
Dr. Donald Aitken, physicist, solar architect and former lead scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, talks about the economics of global warming, national security and bold courageous energy programs by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and the city of San Francisco.
The modern day technology used in solar has been around and in practical use in our everyday lives for over 50 years in America! Edmund Becqueral, a 19 year old French physicist, is credited with discovering the solar effect in 1839. However, it was in 1954, when researchers at American Bell Laboratories created the first practical solar cell. Since then, the technology has been in wide worldwide use and is used today to power the space station. Even in harsh conditions, photovoltaic solar systems have proven their reliability.
Solar is a sociological challenge? WWII was won because America got involved at a household level. Energy independence and good paying jobs? It all starts at the household level. We have the available resources and we have the technology. All we need is the will to do it. When "we the people" decide to stop doing business with countries that do not like us. When "we the people" decide to create jobs that can not be exported and create work here at home that will benefit all of America and the countries that do like us, we will once again be in the drivers seat.
[top]
6. Reasons to Go Solar - Little maintenance
The solar panels we sell are engineered to stand up to any weather, and require no maintenance beyond the occasional hose-down so that dust and debris don’t get in the way of the sunlight. Since solar PV systems require only periodic inspections solar works trouble free in remote locations.
Want to hear an ironic and interesting fact? Solar really took off when the technology became the answer to provide the power for petroleum remote oil well pump sites. In California, you will see solar panels powering most emergency phones along the highways.
[top]
The suns energy is free. There are no moving parts when you go solar. You will have to change out the inverter after about 15 years of use but that is it!
[top]
8. Reasons to Go Solar - No sound pollution
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems operate silently.
[top]
Solar provides extreme flexibility to achieve a system that is a delight for the consumer, combining good design, adaptability and flexibility with a great place in which to live. The limitation of solar is economic not design or aesthetics.
Solar energy has been around for decades and is now a widely available and proven technology. Solar PV systems do not require the use of combustible fuels and are safe when properly installed. Solar panels are a safe source of electricity and equipped with safety features.
[top]
11. Reasons to Go Solar - Energy Independence
Instead of renting electricity from the utility company, with solar energy you own the electricity you produce. Remember $5 per gallon gasoline? Does anyone think that the price of fuel for our home or car is going to stay the same as it is now? Solar means independence from rising electricity costs and fuel costs. Solar means no dependence on "big business" for energy.
For very good reasons every car manufacture in the world will have an electric car rolling out in the next 24 months. What do you think is going to happen to the price of electricity when everyone starts plugging in their electric car? Solar gives you more control of your family's financial future. Cut your living expenses. Every solar system we design has POSITIVE cash flow!
[top]
12. Enhanced National Security Reasons to Go Solar
Solar means no reliance on finite fossil fuel resources. Solar enhances energy independence, national security and reduces our nation’s
reliance on imported oil.
No US money going to terrorists states for oil. It allows communities and homes to generate their own decentralized power, making it more difficult for terrorists or natural disasters to disrupt the flow of electricity. It also reduces demand on the nation’s strained electrical grid and decreases the need to build expensive new power plants.
[top]
13. Want a BIG Reasons to Go Solar? Local JOBS!
Renewable energy is the way out of this economic near disaster. Solar energy creates 33 jobs per installed megawatt of power, more than any other energy technology (University of California Report, 2005). A focus on renewable energy means good paying, long-term local jobs, a stronger economy, a cleaner environment and greater energy independence for America.
The United States, once a leader in renewable energy development, has fallen behind other nations in pursuing clean energy solutions. A growing market for PV and solar hot water systems will drive the renewable energy industry to find solutions for today’s most pressing problems and develop the technologies of tomorrow. Growing domestic demand also helps establish the United States as a global leader and exporter of solar energy technologies.
Create green collar jobs and boost local revenues. Roughly 60,000 Americans now work in the solar industry, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. The organization predicts that by 2016, the boom in demand for residential and commercial solar installations will add hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs in research and development, manufacturing, construction, sales and marketing, and related fields. Solar energy projects also boost local tax revenues.
[top]
Increased insolation at high altitudes makes photovoltaic's advantageous since power output is optimized. In contrast, a diesel generator at higher altitudes must be de-rated because of loss of efficiency and power output.
[top]
15. Reasons to Go Solar - U.S. Energy Independence
The U.S. currently imports the majority of its energy supplies and imports more energy every year mostly from countries that do not like us very much. This means we are becoming more and more dependent on foreign energy sources and funneling more and more money overseas, which affects both our national security and our economy.
Additionally, when you use energy from the grid, it's transported from the power plant to you over hundreds of miles. In that process, as much as 10% of the energy is lost as heat1. Powering your home with solar means you aren't wasting any energy or money because virtually all the solar power you make is funneled into your home.
Using solar power from your roof is the best way to meet your own energy needs without relying on brown power from the utility or foreign energy sources.
[top]
16. Solar Rights and Laws Reasons to Go Solar
Solar rights laws in California provides many restrictions on those who would discourage solar for homes or businesses. A good example of this is putting solar on your home will not increase your property taxes. Another example is neighbors cannot shade your solar array.
The 1978 California Solar Rights Act does not necessarily bar reasonable
restrictions on solar installations. It does establish the legal right to a
solar easement, defines which solar energy systems are covered by its
provisions, and limits local governments from adopting ordinances that would
unreasonably restrict the use of solar energy systems. An excellent analysis of
six key provisions of the Act was performed by the Energy Policy Initiatives
Center, and can be found in its entirety here.
The Solar Rights Act has several relevant components:
California Civil Codes Sections 714 and 714.1: Limits covenants, conditions, and restrictions to restrict solar installations and requires timely review.
California Civil Code Section 801: Establishes the legal right to a solar easement.
California Civil Code Section 801.5: Defines which solar energy systems are covered by its provisions.
California Government Code section 65850.5: Limits local government restrictions on solar installations and discourages local governments from adopting ordinances that would unreasonably restrict the use of solar energy systems. It also requires local governments to use a ministerial or administrative application review instead of a discretionary process.
[top]
17. Reasons to Go Solar - Be an Example to your Neighbors
Enjoy the personal satisfaction of being the first on the block to own a solar energy system, enjoying a new technology, and helping to create the solar energy market and the jobs in America that will go with it.
US Department of Energy Energy Savers Tips
[top]
18. Reasons to Go Solar - Home Value
When you install a solar electric system, you increase the value of your home and its resale price.
19. Reasons to Go Solar - Place for Solar
California: A Perfect Place for Solar With over 300 days of sunlight per year, high solar radiation output, and generous rebates and policies.