By now, you’ve probably gotten a few flyers and mailers advertising local solar companies. You’re probably seeing a lot more neighbors with solar panels on their roofs also. More and more homeowners are turning to solar power as a greener energy alternative and way to save money on bills.
Have you started considering solar panels for your home? A solar power system may sound like a win-win situation, but there are definite downsides to installing solar panels. Here, we weigh the pros and cons of solar power systems so you can make an informed decision about whether or not solar panels are right for you.
The Pros
They’re good for the environment.
Solar energy is renewable, clean, and efficient. It reduces greenhouse gases, saves water, and lowers our reliance on fossil fuels. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, fossil fuel combustion accounted for 74 percent of the U.S.’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. As more people switch to renewable energy alternatives, we can begin to cut fossil fuel combustion and reduce our carbon emissions at a larger scale, which would have huge long-term benefits for the environment.
They save you money on your energy bills.
While it’s comforting to know that you’re being a good global citizen by installing solar panels, the immediate benefit (and biggest motivator) for homeowners is that they save you money on your energy bills. Homeowners usually make the money back on their initial investment in 7 to 20 years, depending on their average energy expenditure, the size of their solar power system, and how much energy it generates.
For example, according to Google’s Project Sunroof, a four-bedroom house in Denver will pay approximately $19,000 upfront (after tax deductions and incentives) for a solar panel system. If their average monthly electricity bill is $100, they’ll recoup their investment in 15 years and save $8,000 on their bills over the course of 20 years.
Variables like whether you choose to lease your panels, take out a loan for them, or pay for them upfront, the amount of sunlight your home gets, and the size of your system will affect your cost savings.
They increase the value of your home.
Not only do solar panels reduce your energy bills, they have very positive implications for your property value. Buyers are increasingly putting a premium on homes already outfitted with renewable energy. According to research from Zillow, 80 percent of homebuyers say energy-efficient features like solar panels factor heavily into their buying choices. The same research found that homes with solar sold for 4.1 percent more than comparable homes without solar.
Other studies have found that solar panels can increase your home value by up to $6,000 per kilowatt of system size. So, if you have a 6-kW system, it can increase your property value by up to $36,000, making it well worth the cost when you decide to sell your home.
You receive tax credits and other incentives.
In an effort to encourage more homeowners to adopt solar power, the federal government offers tax credits to people who install solar panels. The federal residential solar energy tax credit allows homeowners to claim a percentage of their solar panel installation costs on their federal tax return. If your system was installed from 2020 to 2022, you can claim 26 percent, while systems installed in 2023 can claim 22 percent.
Depending on your state, many states also offer additional incentives like tax credits and cash. New York offers tax credits for equipment, cash rebates depending on the system’s energy production, no sales tax on solar equipment, and net metering, which allows homeowners to sell excess power back to the grid.
They have a “neighbor effect.”
Solar panels are contagious. Really. Studies around the world have found that when people begin to adopt solar energy, their neighbors take notice and also decide to switch to solar at a faster rate. A study of homes installing solar power in Connecticut found “a strong relationship between adoption and the number of nearby previously installed systems as well as built environment and policy variables. The effect of nearby systems diminishes with distance and time, suggesting a spatial neighbor effect conveyed through social interaction and visibility.”
The Cons
The upfront cost can be restrictive.
Although the cost of solar panels have been steadily decreasing thanks to advancements in manufacturing, they are still restrictively expensive for many people. Solar panels typically range from $15,000 to $25,000, but can be as low as $9,000 and as high as $40,000.
While financing and leasing options are available for people who can’t afford to pay the cost upfront, these options reduce the cost benefit of your solar power system and might not make them worth it for you.
Not everyone saves enough on their energy bills to cover the cost.
If you live in an area that doesn’t receive a lot of sunlight year-round or your home is shaded by tall buildings or trees, you simply won’t generate enough solar power to make it worth the cost. On the flipside, you might not use a lot of energy to begin with. If your electricity bills are already low, the cost of solar equipment and installation wouldn’t be worth your energy savings. You can see if you would save with a solar power system by searching for your address on Project Sunroof.
They don’t fit every home.
The age of your home, its structural integrity, and the type of roof you have can factor into whether your home is ideal for a solar power system. If your home needs maintenance on its structure to support panels or your roof needs to be modified, it will add a significant amount to the installation cost.
Multi-level homes with several roof heights or roofs that are too flat and require scaffolding so the panels are angled correctly will increase installation costs. In addition, certain roofing materials like wood shingle and slate are more fragile and make installation more complicated and more expensive, while asphalt shingle, tile, and metal roofs are ideal.
They can be an eyesore.
Some people simply don’t like the aesthetics of solar panels on their roof. However, companies like Tesla are already solving this problem by manufacturing lower profile paneling and entire solar roofs. Although this option may be too expensive for average homeowners right now, solar roofs are trending toward becoming a standard in home building in the future.
Solar power isn’t as green as scientists would like, yet.
You might have heard that manufacturing solar panels emits greenhouse gases and toxic waste, and disposing of retired solar panels also has negative impacts on the environment. These are real issues that manufacturers are working to address.
But there’s hope on the horizon. Since 2010, the efficiency of solar panels have gone up approximately 0.5 percent per year, further offsetting the impact of their production. The amount of negative impact from making solar panels also varies significantly from manufacturer to manufacturer, so it’s important to choose the right company.
Ultimately, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels is critical to mitigating the effects of climate change. With advancements in solar panel technology and new methods of recycling spent panels, their environmental impact is steadily decreasing and they are still a viable alternative to fossil fuels.
