It's great if a person opts to go solar just to reduce his impact on the planet, but some may need an economic incentive to adopt solar power, too. Solar has a number of advantages - and whichever one drives a homeowner to buy clean power or install his own solar array, the end result is the same: carbon-free, renewable power from the sun.
If cost savings are a homeowner's primary concern, he should look at the incentive programs available to him. Most states offer incentives to homeowners who install solar power systems, but subsidy levels can vary significantly. And some places offer only rebates, while others guarantee low-interest loans.
Certain municipalities have innovative programs called Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, loans. Under PACE initiatives, homeowners take out a loan for a solar installation and pay it back through monthly or semiannual property tax assessments. The assessments are transferable, if a person sells his home - and they can make paying for a solar project surprisingly affordable.
Another option is a panel lease. Solar-leasing companies offer panels to homeowners at a low per-month cost. Two major benefits to leasing solar panels are that there are no upfront costs and the responsibility of maintaining the panels falls to the leasing companies.
Leasing is only attractive, though, if the cost savings provided by solar power outweigh the monthly lease amount. That's generally the case - although residents of sun-drenched states will probably see better performance from solar arrays than those in drearier parts of the country.
For example, Toll Brothers, a luxury homebuilder, is offering panel leases through a company called SunRun at a community in Yorba Linda, California. The leases cost $42 per month - and Toll Brothers estimates that residents who go solar will save between $50 and $100 each month on energy.
Regardless of where a person lives, though, solar almost always saves enough money to be worthwhile. The payback period of a solar project may be shorter in the Southwest than Seattle, but solar is generally a smart investment - not to mention an improvement that can add real value to a home.
