The sun plays a very important role in our daily lives.
Aside from the fact that it provides life itself, it also provides light and heat.
Can you imagine yourself walking in utter darkness all your life?
Countries all over the world have experienced what the sun has to offer.
While there are places on the earth that the sun cannot reach quite enough, there are also many places that are lucky to have enjoyed the constant presence of the sun every day.
But aside from giving the world a show of its beautiful sunsets and sunrises, a series of innovations has led to the discovery that the sun still has something incredibly good to offer.
As we shift our lives into a more tech society, the usage of fossil fuels has also increased to power up the industries and the economy.
The continuous usage of these sources has put the environment on the edge of the cliff.
But researchers have found a way to minimize the impact by applying the concept of green energy.
What is green energy?
Green energy is the concept of using alternative energy sources to minimize environmental effects without having to give up power usage.
More and more people are looking forward to converting to green energy to power up their homes and buildings because it’s more environmentally friendly.
With this in mind, the concept of solar energy has been created and has brought up a series of questions.
Some of the questions that are commonly asked by netizens are:
- “How many solar panels are needed to power up my house?”
- “How much does a solar panel cost?”
And to briefly answer that question, the number of solar panels used (as well as the amount you might have to spend) will depend on different factors.
A couple of the main factors include the amount of sunlight that will hit your roof every day and the amount of energy that you use in your house on a regular basis.
Installing solar panels at your own home, however, may still be on the expensive side for some.
But over time, the cost for the solar panels and the installation itself has surely gone down.
A company called Chariot Energy offers 100% solar energy at an affordable price without needing to install your own personal solar panels.
However, before you make an impulsive decision to install solar panels in your own space, it’s important to understand the concept of solar energy and what solar panels offer.
If you are interested in more, please tune in because there is a bunch of information ahead!
The Falling Price of Solar Energy
One of the most accessible forms of renewable energy that are currently available in the market today are solar panels.
Solar energy has gained popularity among people because it imposes a series of advantages.
One of the significant benefits that solar energy has to offer includes the reduced amount of greenhouse gas emissions.
Furthermore, when you use solar energy in your home, this source can increase the value of your home by up to $15,000.
In Texas, the usage of solar panels is no longer uncommon amongst people because the solar panels installed in this state have enough to power up to around 350,000 homes and businesses.
If you wonder why there is a sudden expansion of solar energy usage, this is because the price of generating solar electricity has come down.
From 2014 to 2019, the cost of solar panels has dropped by around 34% in the state of Texas alone.
On top of that, the price of solar panels and their installation has decreased by 70% from 2009 to 2019 in the United States.
With this dramatic drop, the demand for solar panels and the usage of solar energy to generate electricity in residential homes have grown exponentially.
How Many Solar Panels Are Needed to Power My Home?
In the United States alone, the average electricity consumption used in the house is 10,400 kWh.
If you are planning to install the standard 250-watt panel to power up your home, you will need to install 28-34 solar panels.
However, you need to keep in mind that the installation of solar panels is a highly individualized process unlike the traditional utility grid, that’s why it’s quite expensive.
This article has listed three steps that are recommended in order to determine whether installing solar panels is the best decision for you:
- The first thing you need to do is to determine your electricity usage in kWh. This information can be easily found in your electricity bill. If you don’t know how to read it, you can easily find someone who can.
- Once you already determined your electricity usage, divide it by the estimated solar panel production. The exact estimation depends on your property and your location. This might be a little complicated.
- Lastly, to determine how many solar panels you need to power up your entire home, divide the obtained number by the wattage of the panel (the average watts of a solar panel is usually 250). There are many professionals that can help you with this.
This estimate will help you determine how many solar panels you need and it will give you an idea if installing solar panels in your house is a feasible choice.
The most important things to know are your monthly electrical consumption and professional solar panel installer can easily analyze how much you need.
How Much Will It Cost to Install Solar Panels at My Home?
Even though there is a rough drop in the installation cost, the average solar panel installation will most likely be at $10,000 and above, excluding the 30% federal tax credit.
And it’s undeniably true that completely using solar energy to generate electricity for your entire house might still be financially difficult for some.
In the future, there is no doubt that solar panels will increase production capacity and will continue to drop in cost.
The majority of the homeowners that have solar panels usually connect to the utility grid through a process known as net metering (NEM).
Net metering is a good alternative option for homeowners who want to become more environment-friendly while also decreasing their electricity bills at the same time.
However, although this setup is self-sufficient, it’s also very rare.
An off-grid solar panel system still remains a challenging feat.
But worry not, because there are other options to still use green energy to generate power in your own home.
How a 100% Green Electricity Plan Is a Great (If Not Better) Alternative to Solar Panels
In the United States, the country of Texas is on the 10th spot in terms of solar capacity accumulation because Texas has a particularly sunny climate.
With this, the solar industries in Texas took this advantage to grow their electricity generation and their manpower.
Hence, more and more homeowners have grown an interest in solar panels and solar energy.
However, the cost and the production capacity of solar panels still hold back some people especially in these pandemic times.
Since there is a possibility that solar panels can create more electricity than the home can consume, most residential homes have no area to store extra solar power on sunny days.
Also, in terms of the cost, electricity companies powered by solar energy have found an economic concept that allows homeowners to pay a lower bill if more and more people opt to switch to using solar power as an electricity source rather than having individual solar panels installed in their home.
Many solar power companies have strived to successfully bring solar energy to each household by building huge scale solar farms that generate the electricity that this company delivers.
This way, people can use 100% green energy while lowering the cost of their electricity bill.
In this way, there is no need to install individual solar panels in your own home because there are other better and cheaper alternatives available.
You simply need to do some due diligence.
