How Solar Energy Helps You Save Money
Tuesday, December 8, 2020, 6:00 PM | Leave Comment
When people talk about the benefits of solar panels, they talk about energy savings, less reliance on fossil fuels, and benefits for the environment.
However, for most homeowners and business owners, the selling point of solar energy is that it saves money.
How much money can a homeowner or business owner expect to save if they adopt solar energy?
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How Solar Panels Save Money
Solar panels reduce your electric bill. They minimize the amount of energy you use. You have a natural source of creating energy that is not reliant on an external entity.
The amount of money you save with solar panels is based on the hours of direct sunlight your solar panels receive, local energy rates, and the size of the area you are looking to power.
When determining how solar panels save you money, you first need to identify how much you are currently spending on electricity annually. For example, the average home in the United States uses 11,000 kWh. The average cost of electricity per watt is $0.13. The typical American household spends a little more than $1,400 a year on electricity.
Solar panels produce electricity to replace the electricity from the utility company. The price of a six-kilowatt solar system will vary based on the state you purchase it in. It can cost as little as $10,500 in Florida. It can cost over $14,000 in New York.
If a homeowner in Maryland purchases a solar panel, the average cost of install is $11,500. They pay around $0.13 per kilowatt-hour. Over the course of the year, they are going to pay around $1,400.
The average life of a solar panel system is 20 years. For 20 years, the homeowner will not need to pay for electricity. Twenty multiplied by 1,400 is $28,000. Subtract from that the $11,500 that they spend on the install, and you see that over the course of 20 years the homeowner saves around $16,000. Clearly, solar panel systems pay for themselves.
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Getting Portable Solar Power
Solar panels are typically seen as something used on a building or in a stationary environment. Many people are looking for a portable solar power station. They want a solution that adapts with them. If they need to power something on the go, they want the ability to do that.
A major challenge people see with some portable power stations is that they take a long time to charge. Or they have shorter than desired runtimes.
A second generation of solar-powered stations is being introduced. These are modular solutions. Since they are modular, additional batteries can easily be attached. Additional apparatuses can also be attached to increase the charging power and minimize charging time.
These portable solar power options are becoming more popular, especially as people are migrating from traditional housing to tiny homes. They may place a tiny house in the middle of nowhere, so they are not connected to the electric grid. Having the ability to quickly charge high capacity batteries using the sun is attractive for owners of tiny homes.
In the past, solar-powered power stations were complicated to use. Set up required in-depth knowledge of electricity and wiring. Now, the second generation of power stations that harness the sun’s power has been created to be plug and play. These modules can get completely charged with as little as three hours of sunlight.
Now, people have more freedom because they can capture clean power from the sun and then convert it into AC and DC energy whenever they need it. Thin lithium-ion expansion batteries are used. Lithium batteries are light and powerful.
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The Future of Solar-Powered Devices
It is not just a play on words to say that the future of solar power is bright. Over the past two decades, the cost of creating solar cells and other structures that can turn energy into electricity has decreased. There are more potential customers than ever. This means that more devices used in solar will be created.
More people will adopt this technology. As a result, the return on investment for purchasing a solar-powered system for a home or a business will only be greater.
