5 Reasons to Make the Solar Choice

More and more people are making the solar choice and opting for solar panel installation at home. While it might seem a pretty expensive home improvement in comparison to some, there are 5 fantastic reasons that people are choosing to generate their own power in this way.

Add value to your property
It is estimated that photovoltaic solar panel installation can add 10% to the value of your property, making it more of an investment than anything else. Homes with solar panels are an attractive option to both the financially and environmentally conscious potential buyers.

Cut your power bills
Of course, the amount of power you can produce, either through solar heating or a solar electricity system, depends on the time of year and climate. But contrary to popular belief, even those in relatively cloudy climates can generate 90% of the electricity needs of an occupied family home. Take Germany as a perfect example. It’s not a nation known for its glorious weather and has comparatively mild summers and no shortage of cloud. Yet it has the biggest uptake of solar panel installation in the world. So any form of solar power generation can drastically cut your power bills.

Make money!
One step better than paying the power companies less is having them pay you! And you can. Various nations globally have feed in tariffs, setting a minimum price that utilities companies have to pay you to buy your excess electricity from you. So, for example, if you’re out of the house all day at work, the power you are generating and not using can be sold back to the grid. Or if you’re on holiday for a week or two, again the power can be sold back to the grid.

Incentives
Governments globally are coming under increased pressure to set ambitious targets and stick to them where renewable energy uptakes are concerned. This means there are various grants, better feed-in tariffs and other incentives coming available. It’s worth checking your specific Government’s incentives to see whether you could get any help to cover the cost of the initial installation.

The Environment
Last, but by no means least, solar panel installation has a positive impact on the environment. If even 25% of us generated our own power from renewable energy resources, this would have a massive impact on the rate at which climate change is occurring. The statistics are alarming. The current lea level is 10cm higher than it was in 1990 and if climate change continues at its current rate, then the Arctic could witness its first summer without ice as soon as 2040. We all have a responsibility to do our bit.

So while it might seem like a rather large expense up front, the financial and environmental reasons are plenty enough to justify making the solar choice.