I just had a conversation with a neighbor that installed solar in his house and he loves it, he loved the tax credit, he loved the rebate. While he had to spend the money, he calculates that at the rate he is going he will have paid off the solar panels within three years. That may sound like a long time, but in the long haul, it is nothing and adds value to a home if you are looking to sell. According to the latest study there is a $5,900 resale value per installed kilowatt. (Source) The question to ask is how much will solar energy save me, not how much will it cost.
When you think of how many things you are charging, electronic devices, batteries, how many things you are heating, pools, air conditioning, water heaters, lets just say the list goes on and on. The carbon footprint, the addiction to oil, the lack of power outages, the benefits are so numerous.
I just got toEeco Ya:
- If we furnished every home in the USA with solar panels, it would cost less than both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars combined.
- If every home in the USA had solar panels it would save taxpayers more that $162 Billion per year.
- A taxpayer may claim a credit of 30% of qualified expenditures for a system that serves a dwelling unit located in the United States that is owned and used as a residence by the taxpayer (Energ.gov)
- In a study by the Department of Energy, installing solar panels on your home can produce an average increase in its value of $5.50 per watt of energy generating capability.
All of that said, the use of solar is hot, no pun intended. People have finally realized the true value of a free resource, the sun to produce energy. From Mongolia to China to oceans and seas, the use of solar is growing in various ways.
Eco Villages are a growing trend. There is even an Eco Village Network. Eco Villages are global sustainable communities that live sustainably and give back to the environment.
Even boats are going solar. The Turanor Planetsolar was the first solar powered boat to sail around the world in 2012.
The United States is a world leader in Solar Development. In fact due to the Solar Developers in the USA in 2014 are producing 028% of the US electricity. Pretty impressive stats. Soon we will be able to take our pick of Solar communities in every state. Zhome is the first or among the first Zero Energy community and green housing in Washington.
If you want a more unique lifestyle, you do have an options to live in a zero energy shipping container home, like this one on Colorado.
After writing this article, I want to go Solar and live off the grid! If you are considering solar, I would highly recommend it, especially now with the tax rebates, costs are coming down and technology is going up. I would check it out.