Solar power was once a small industry that felt out of reach for most people who might be interested in it. Panels were expensive, the technology felt questionable, and you couldn’t be sure it wasn’t a fad. Now, solar power has become a highly sought-after renewable energy system. Indeed, it is replacing electricity left and right, and for many good reasons. Whether you run a business, own a home, or both, solar power is worth paying attention to.
The Savings Are Hard to Beat
Getting a power bill that’s much higher than you expected is always disappointing. Sadly, there’s little you can do about it by the time that bill comes. Even more unfortunate is the fact that you don’t have a lot of options when it comes to power companies. You’re pretty much stuck with whoever your local provider is. This monopoly of sorts means you don’t get to shop around for better pricing when it comes to your electricity.
With solar panels, you could save hundreds of dollars a year on your energy bills. While the up-front costs can be prohibitive, most people can expect to break even within a decade, meaning those costs pay for themselves. Thus, purchasing solar panels is an investment for a property owner. Furthermore, with more companies offering options for leasing solar panels, you may not even have to pay those up-front costs, spreading them out over monthly payments instead.
You Can Get Help With Installation Costs
As if that’s not enough, the federal government and local governments also offer to help with the costs of solar panel installation. American governments have come to recognize how efficient solar power is. As a result, you can get tax credits that pay for a portion of your solar panels. Some governments will even give you a tax deduction every year if you have a solar loan that includes interest payments.
It is in the government’s best interest, both the state and the federal, to help you switch to solar power. After all, governing bodies in the United States have committed to reducing the country’s carbon footprint, and few factors contribute more to that footprint than greenhouse gasses. The energy required to power homes and businesses on an electrical grid burns up a lot of fossil fuels, primarily oil. The more people off that grid, the better.
Solar Has Become More Reliable
Furthermore, your local and federal government may be thinking about their ability (or inability) to keep people’s homes and businesses powered reliably. After all, extreme weather conditions have led to large-scale power outages, like the one in Texas in 2021 that left millions without power. California is another state that struggles to keep the power grid constantly running, instead implementing scheduled blackouts, often during the hottest times of the summer.
With solar power, you don’t have to worry about the electrical grid for the most part. You draw energy from the sun and store it in batteries on your property, which you use when you need it. Of course, many homes remain connected to the local grid just in case there’s a problem with their own solar power system. But, in most cases, you can remain energy-independent with a much more reliable, and renewable, energy source than fossil fuels — the sun.
It’s Clean Energy
An increasing number of people across the country are becoming more eco-friendly and environmentally conscious. Once you learn just how dirty and unsafe fossil fuels are, you often find yourself eager to switch to solar power. Not only does oil contribute to greenhouse gasses and polluting the air, but the excessive oil spills each year are destroying the world’s oceans. More than one million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico alone in just one incident in November of 2023.
There’s no unsafe side to installing solar panels. They’re not dangerous, and the energy is entirely clean. The biggest concern is what happens to the actual panels and batteries when they are no longer in use. Because they can’t be recycled fully in the United States, they are often stripped of their valuable materials and the rest is shredded and dumped in a landfill. In the end, the damage to the environment from burning fossil fuels daily seems much larger.
It Creates Jobs
If you’ve been paying any attention to the economy, or your own finances, at all lately, you’ve likely noticed the price of virtually everything seems to have gone up. Sadly, wages don’t seem to be rising alongside those prices. And the jobs market, for good, high-paying jobs, isn’t in the best shape. This means a lot of people who need to make money to support themselves and their families are out of luck.
Solar energy is an industry that is currently creating a lot of jobs and offering high pay for those willing to jump on board. Working in solar power is sustainable, as the industry is only growing, and the average pay hovers around $100,000, depending on the specific job and area. So, you might not get filthy rich, but you’ll be helping to limit filthy energy while making a decent wage. Installing solar panels on your property contributes to the creation of more jobs!
The bottom line is there are few downsides to solar power as an energy source. Of course, it is renewable as long as the sun is shining, and it is easy to store when it’s dark outside. Solar power has now become a tried and tested, reliable energy source that is affordable. It also offers savings, helps save the environment, and creates jobs. As a result, it is an energy source you can feel good about being a part of, whatever that looks like for you.
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