A solar expert broke down some of the best ways to save money and stabilize your power bill while being more secure in your ability to weather blackouts.
The scoop
According to an article from LAist, Vic Aguilar of Sustainergy Advisors provided helpful tips for getting solar panels installed on your home. For example, Vic says it's important to get your roof checked to make sure you won't need to re-roof and to figure out why you're installing the panels to begin with.
He notes that you can't do everything with your panels, so it's important to know whether your goal is to reduce your carbon footprint, reduce your energy bills, or improve your resiliency against blackouts and severe weather. What you want to do will change the kind of system you install and the kind of storage you need.
He notes that it's important to check your electrical system, as you'll likely need to upgrade your electric panel, and figure out how much of your home you want to have backed up. Is it the whole house or just critical systems?
Most importantly, Aguilar says it's important to talk to at least two or three installers to get quotes and find the person who fits your budget and best understands what you want. He also notes that it's important to find installers and contractors who ethically source their panels and batteries, and to know the rules around solar installation in your area, as they're different depending on where you live.
How it's working
Solar power remains a booming industry around the United States and around the world. It's one of the best ways to save money on your power bills while also reducing your carbon footprint and reliance on planet-warming dirty energy such as coal, oil, and natural gas. It's widely available and easily installed, and it can be surprisingly affordable for homeowners.
If you want to see how much you can save by installing solar panels, EnergySage has a handy free tool to get estimates and compare quotes. It costs nothing to check and can help you save massive amounts of money on your power bills each year.
What people are saying
Aguilar said that in California, newly installed solar panels and battery systems helped to keep the grid up and running during the hottest summer on record.
"This last summer they were a big part of our resiliency," Aguilar said. "They really were what saved the grid. And not just on the big utility scale where there are container fields of these giant batteries. A lot of it is happening on a distributed basis."
🗣️ If you were to install home solar panels, which of these factors would be your primary motivation?
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🔘 Lower power bills 💰
🔘 Helping the planet 🌎
🔘 No chance I ever go solar 🚫
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Bernadette Del Chiaro of the California Solar and Storage Association echoed those sentiments, noting that the versatility of small, home-based systems was a massive piece of why the grid functions as well as it does.
"If you take these millions of small systems — they're all highly coordinated, highly technical systems that we're putting up in our garages — they can act like a coordinated power plant and turn on a dime to provide value to the state," Del Chiaro said.
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