Learn about the short and long term savings of solar panels in Texas
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past decade, you're probably already aware that solar energy is booming all around Austin, including the newer developments in areas like Hutto, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Jarrell and Salado. It seems like nearly every neighborhood in the Central Texas area has at least one home that's made to switch to solar for their residential energy needs.
Even though solar panels are becoming an increasingly common sight, there are still those who remain skeptical about solar, and feel like it's an unwarranted and unnecessary expense. In this month's blog, we'll look at why that reasoning is flawed and break down how solar actually saves you money in the short and long-term.
Solar is an Investment
Unlike many other home purchases, such as upgrading your kitchen cabinets or painting your home, going solar can help you save on your monthly expenditures from day one. While yes, there is a cost associated with purchasing and installing solar panels, almost every solar energy company offers financing plans to help spread that cost out over either 10 or 15 years.
After your system is installed and activated, your energy generation starts immediately. If you're set up with net metering (which almost all homes are, unless you're completely off-grid), the energy your system is creating is sold back to the energy company and applied to your electric bill. For most customers, the cost of your remaining energy bill plus your loan installment for the installation is lower than their usual electric bill. That means that even though you're technically paying for two things, you're spending less in total than you would have been without solar.
Due to that, you're able to start saving money on a monthly basis right off the bat. Consider the fact that electricity costs have steadily increased by about 2% each year and project to increase even more in 2022 due to ERCOT's fiasco last year with SNOVID, and locking in the cost of your energy with a solar panel loan becomes an even more attractive option.
Solar's Payback Timeframe
Expanding on the idea that solar is an investment, not an expense, is the fact that your solar energy system has a payback timeline. Think about it; because you know your savings and earnings, you’ll know when your solar electric system has paid for itself. Today’s “payback” period is usually between five and twelve years, depending on your electricity rates and how much solar your system produces. Over the years, estimates of customer solar production in our proposals have proven extremely accurate. Solar is that predictable.
Some homeowners decide that they don't want to wait that long to see a positive return on their investments. That's understandable. We live in the age of NFT's and crypto, and everyone seems to be looking for the promise of immediate ROI. However, consider the actual benefit of investing in solar for your home.
Your solar system price tag – after being slashed by 26% through a federal tax credit in the first year – drops to $0 after your loan is paid off, which means the rest of the money you're saving on your electric bill is pure free-and-clear money back in your pocket.
And over 25 years (your panels are expected to last more like 40 years, by the way) a typical system will deliver tens of thousands of dollars worth of savings and green income after it pays for itself. That number could be astronomically higher if electricity costs in Texas keep escalating at the rapid pace we've seen recently.
A bigger, more expensive system doesn’t necessarily mean a longer payback period, because the higher price is balanced by greater production and therefore more savings and income.
The Bottom Line
Even if your solar payback time frame is on the high end, say fifteen or even twenty years, that’s still better than NEVER, which is when most purchases pay you back.
With all the short and long-term cost savings, why wouldn't you consider going solar? If you've got questions or would like a no-obligation consultation, call the Austin solar experts at ATX Solar. We'd love to put together a custom proposal to show you exactly how much you can save by switching to solar today!