You are interested in installing solar panels in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for your home or business. However, you aren’t sure if they are right for your needs or if they are worth the investment. For example, you may not think that they’ll save you that much money. This idea is understandable, but wrong – solar power systems can save you a ton of cash. And we at RJ Construction can help you understand not only how much money you can save but how you can save that money as well.
Panels Do Have an Initial Investment
When installing solar panels in your home, you need to understand that you’re going to make a significant initial investment in them. The exact cost can vary depending on how much you want to go in on panels and the number of panels that you purchase. Just know that you can’t save money without spending a little money here and that you’ll have to invest in these panels over the long term.
So, just how much can you expect to spend on panels? Well, there’s a good chance that you could spend anywhere from $2,000-5,000 on your initial investment. This cost includes not only the panels on the home or in your yard but also the battery and hooking everything up correctly. You may even find that the prices here are higher, again depending on where you live and what contractors are available.
Does that mean that these panels aren’t worth buying? Absolutely not – they more than make back their worth over the lifetime of a home. And that is an important lesson to take away here – that your savings will be over an extended period. You’re not going to save thousands of dollars every year but could save hundreds, which will help to make these panels more than worth it over the life of your home.
But They Can Save You Big Cash
After you make that big initial investment in a solar system, you’re going to be saving money every month. Yes, you’ll still have an electrical bill – unless you want to go entirely off the grid and limit your electrical usage – but you’ll find that it is much, much lower than you’d initially thought. And the savings over the lifetime of your home can be staggering when the panels are correctly installed.
For example, a study of different solar panels throughout the country found that places like Arizona could save as much as 12 cents per kilowatt-hour in a home. Throughout the life of a home, it was estimated that this would save upwards of $12,595 in electrical bills. These rates were similar for other warm-weather areas, such as Florida, Texas, and some regions in Colorado.
But what about colder states? Do they save money on these panels? Absolutely. For example, areas such as New York and New Jersey – which often go through very intense winters – saved nearly or over $13,000 over the life of a home. That’s because they are on the east coast and get more sun. Areas on the west coast, like Washington, may have smaller savings. But even here you can save nearly $12-13 K. And some estimates claim that individual homes may save up to $30,000, depending on their lifespan.
Tax Credits are Also Critical
The high price of solar systems – which can be more than $10,000 if they’re extensive enough – has caused many people to resist them. However, even a moderately-priced system is an excellent investment if you know how to apply for and receive tax credits. These credits are part of federal and state initiatives to award people who take the time to create more efficient electrical systems.
For example, the federal government offers a 26 percent tax credit when you install solar panels and other such items on your home. This credit means that you get 26 percent of the total cost of the system back. And there may be other federal and state-based incentives that help to off-set the installation cost. Some may even pay back the TOTAL cost of the installation, saving you a considerable amount of money.
As a result, you need to be aware of these savings and take the time to research them before you start your solar system. Talk to local and state authorities about possible benefits that you can earn when installing a solar unit. And pay attention to other factors, such as federal tax credits, to ensure that you get the most money out of your system. If you’re smart, you’ll walk away paying almost nothing for your solar system.
Carbon Emissions Also Go Down
If you are interested in protecting the environment, solar panels are one of the best ways to do it. They can decrease your carbon emissions exponentially and help reduce how much you spend at the same time. The science behind carbon emissions and their measurements are too extensive to go into, here, but we can touch on how decreasing carbon emissions can save you money.
First of all, if you’re a business, you can show your decreased emission reports to the federal and state governments and get refunds or various types of cash incentives. As a result, you can use your environmentalism as a way of helping keep your business afloat. Is this cynical or greedy? Not at all. You’re merely doing what you can to help the environment and get rewarded for it.
And for homeowners, they can not only decrease their emissions but also get similar rewards. We already mentioned the tax incentives that help to drive down the prices of these systems. However, you can also apply for many different other incentives and rewards to help make your system worth more money. Doing so is an excellent idea because it can ensure that you save the most money possible while also making a real difference by protecting the environment.
Do You Want to Install a Solar Power System?
As you can see, the best solar panels Cedar Rapids, Iowa has to offer can provide you with many benefits that help ensure that you get the high-quality solar power system that you deserve. However, you shouldn’t try this process out on your own – the chance of making mistakes is too big and could cost you big money. Therefore, you should contact us at RJ Construction to get the help that you need to turn your home into the solar power machine that you want and deserve. So don’t hesitate to contact us today to learn more.