Have you been tempted to install solar panels on your property to help cut your monthly energy bills and reduce your polluting impact?
It can be difficult to know where to start, though, and it might also seem like a huge investment at a time when it feels like everything is getting more expensive.
Interestingly, the exception to that rule might be solar panels. In fact, the technology is cheaper than ever, thanks to government tax credits that can help you lower the costs of purchase and installation.
The cost of average installations of around $15,000 can be reduced by 30% thanks to tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act amounting to nearly $5,000 in savings.
And if you use price comparison websites like EnergySage, you can find sellers and installers in your area to get the best deal.
According to Forbes, you can save around $1,500 on average on annual energy bills by switching to solar. For a $15,000 system, even without the tax credits available, that means the technology will pay for itself after 10 years.
In that time, the panels will provide some additional benefits. For example, when extreme weather hits and the electricity grid goes down, you can keep the lights on thanks to your solar panels and battery storage.
What's more, by relying less on an energy grid that still is overwhelmingly powered by coal, you can reduce demand for dirty fuel-sourced electricity, halting the rate of planet-warming gases released into the atmosphere that exacerbate extreme weather conditions like heat waves, wildfires, and deadly floods.
Wherever you are in the United States, you can create energy using the power of the sun. Even if where you live doesn't experience quite as many sunny days as other areas, panels can still produce energy on cloudy days. Production won't be as efficient as it is when the skies are blue, but you might be surprised just how much power you can generate in overcast conditions.
And if you invest in a good amount of battery storage, you can keep accessing the clean energy you've produced even when the sun goes down.
With the Inflation Reduction Act's generous discounts available until 2032, you still have time to make the switch. But the sooner you invest, the sooner you can benefit from the savings — and peace of mind — that solar panels provide.
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