An increasing number of people are opting for solar-powered water heaters, ovens, watches, and a range of other incredible products nowadays. And the great bit is that they are not prohibitively expensive anymore.
Solar rooftops are among the most sought-after products powered by this remarkable renewable energy source. They have brought tremendous benefits and comforts to people all over the world.
Those who haven’t installed this type of technology on their roofs yet can refer to the list below. These are some excellent, undeniable reasons that will, hopefully, convince you to switch to this green energy source.
- It helps cut energy costs
The major reason offices, households, and other communities prefer solar panels is that they help save a significant amount of money regularly on electricity bills.
That’s because these devices are powered by the intense heat from the sun, an inexhaustible source of energy. In contrast, ordinary electricity connections that rely on natural gas, oil, or coal, among other things, will result in higher bills.
Of course, one must remember that each house is different and will require a different size and capacity of solar-powered panels. Thereby, energy consumption may differ. Nevertheless, the bills from these devices will still be considerably lower than other, more traditional electricity sources. Read more about The Benefits of Portable Solar Power Generators.
- Environmentally friendly
Opting for solar energy can have incredible environmental benefits. These systems do not emit carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping harmful gases into the atmosphere.
And unlike with coal power, there are no harmful emissions associated with solar energy, such as arsenic, mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide, etc.
Moreover, it is estimated that over three million homes will need to be built or need roof replacements each year. If a sizable percentage of this number opts for solar-paneled rooftops, it can significantly impact environmental well-being.
- Diverse ownership options
There are innovative ownership structures to consider when choosing these types of rooftops. And they are all quite beneficial to the users.
For instance, several homeowners and businesses take advantage of third-party ownerships such as leases or power purchase agreements. Under these, electricity customers typically pay very little, and sometimes nothing, upfront for such roofing systems.
This allows them to avail of the electricity produced by the solar panels for a reasonable period of time at an attractive, usually fixed price.
This is one of the reasons that this type of rooftop system is going more mainstream than others these days. Falling prices and continuous innovative financing structures have made it broadly available in the market.
- Government subsidies
Several state, local, and Federal policies have made solar-powered rooftops and other such devices an incredible boon to ordinary folks.
Examples of such policies that work effectively include the following:
- Feed-in tariffs – Owners are paid a fixed rate for any unused electricity generated by their solar-powered devices and sent back to the power grid.
- Net metering – System owners receive credit on their utility bills under net metering policies for generating extra electricity (or more than they usually use).
- Solar-carve-outs – Certain states target small-scale solar system owners in an effort to get more investments into renewable energy standards. They offer potentially additional revenue in the form of “carve-outs” to small solar system owners as part of this effort.
- Tax incentives – Pretty much every state has tax incentives for businesses or homeowners for their renewable energy purchases. Remember, this is beside the already existing thirty percent Federal tax credit.
- Easy maintenance
While you may need to invest funds initially when installing the panels on the rooftop, maintenance is much easier on the wallet. All you must do is ensure the panels are cleaned from time to time so that there is no dust, bird droppings, dirt, or any other residue on them.
And, since such rooftops can last for at least two decades comfortably, regular maintenance like this can increase their lifespan by around two to five years.
