Is Now The Right Time For Solar Energy?

For Massachusetts residents, the answer is a resounding yes!

On account of the numerous incentives at both the state as well as the federal level for solar panels, there has never been a more rewarding time to go green with solar energy. Most residential systems have the ability to pay for themselves in about 5 years.

The typical installation cost on a five kW solar panel system is approximately $25,000. A system of this size is going to give off close to 6,000 kWh of electrical power annually here in Massachusetts and supply almost 60 percent of the normal residential household’s energy needs.

There’s a Commonwealth Rebate which will subtract $2,000 from the selling price. Plus, if you happen to live in a modest home or have a moderate wage, you most likely will receive an extra $2,000 reduction. Or in case you were unlucky enough to have your house damaged in last year’s tornadoes, you will be given an additional five thousand dollars reduction.

You will also receive both federal and state tax credits. Currently the IRS tax credit is currently a whopping 30 percent and the state credit is good for $1,000. Following the rebates and tax credits, you’ll be able to purchase a 5 kW solar panel system for about $16,000, less if you qualify for the moderate income or moderate home value adders.

A complete system of that size here in Massachusetts will provide an average of somewhere around $80 worth of electrical power monthly for an annual cost savings of $1,000.

But the long-term earnings derive from the sale of your SRECs. One megawatt hour (1,000 kWh) is worth 1 SREC and a 5 kilowatt system should emit about 6,000 kWh annually. Because the state has forced the electricity companies to produce a specific amount of their electrical energy from green techniques, they will pay you about $400 for each of your six SRECs so they can say that you are generating electrical power on their behalf. And so that’s another $2,400 in tax-free revenue straight into your pocket every year.

Now you can understand how a $16,000 solar panel system can be paid off in slightly less than five years when it nets $3,400 annually including electricity savings together with SREC compensation.

Solar panels may also be among the best home improvement options open to the Massachusetts resident. With a price of $16,000, it will increase the value of your residence by $20,000. Now that is a 125% return on investment. Nearly all home improvement projects don’t ever pay for themselves totally. Solar panels not only raise the value of your own residence above what they cost, they are able to earn you money every year too. They’re also exempt from property taxes for the next 20 years.

And additionally we should bear in mind the key reason these types of stimuli exist at all – to save our planet. A five kW solar panel system would slash your carbon footprint by at least 100 tons of carbon dioxide over twenty-five years, the equivalent of growing 800 trees. Every year, it’s going to prevent the equivalent of about three tons of coal or 20,000 cubic feet of natural gas from being burned to generate electricity.

As you can see from all of the stimuli currently out there that right now unquestionably is the right time for solar power. The Commonwealth Rebate in addition to the federal and state tax credits lessen your startup expenditures. And the electricity savings and the SREC program add significant income and bolster your home’s resale amount.

Plus there’s no telling how much longer all of these incentives will be in existence. The Commonwealth Rebate has already been decreased recently plus the federal tax credit is threatened every year.

Lastly, as this market grows, an increasing number of financing options are becoming offered to homeowners, making solar energy affordable for anyone. If you’ve always wanted to buy solar panels, there has never been a more rewarding time than the present!

Gary S. Best lives in Massachusetts and spent months investigating the different incentives and financing options before deciding to invest in a five kW solar panel system in 2011. He has since created a website, www.MassSolarInfo.com, educating residents about solar energy in Massachusetts and providing them with a way to easily get free estimates and save up to $500 off their own installation.