At ASG we are often asked “What are the benefits of going solar?” or “What’s in it for me to do so apart from saving big?” It makes complete sense to know why you should invest in something, and want to have your questions answered. These are fundamental questions, that of course, we have answers to. If you’re new to solar energy or solar panels as a concept, it is our goal to provide something of a miniature crash course on the main reasons folks opt to go in for solar.
Providing Clean Sustainable Energy
Ask anyone what their #1 reason is for going solar, and they actually won’t say it is the savings. Yes, the savings are there, and we will for sure get into that, however, the main reason we find that a majority of our clientele have opted for solar energy is because they’re aware of the impact their energy choices have on the world in which we all share. Simply put, burning coal or traditional use of fossil fuels contributes to poor air quality and overall levels of pollution. You don’t need to be an environmental scientist to know that, it is something we’re all taught in school! An apt comparison would be if someone made the mistake of lighting a campfire indoors – because you have no ventilation, all that smoke has to go somewhere – and it does; on you, your pets, in your lungs, on all of your belongings. Things will smell like that smoke for a very long time. Now imagine that the campfire in this analogy are the factories that put out the harmful pollutants and smoke – and the home in this comparison is our planet. We have about 62 miles above sea level of “air” before we reach the edge of our atmosphere. It seems like a lot, but not if you consider that the distance between Philadelphia, PA and New York City, NY is over 90 miles of ground travel. To make it super easy to understand, most of the pollutants, due to their molecular structure, are unable to escape the boundaries of that atmosphere. Gravity, combined with other elements(such as the magnetic field), has created that boundary in order to protect us from the vacuum of space. This means once those factories make harmful smoke and pollutants, they usually can’t get out. This adds a thick “layer” of pollution at the top of that barrier; the ceiling – so to speak. That layer is what is directly contributing to what is known as the “greenhouse effect”. That greenhouse effect is a main contributor to global warming and climate change.
The climate is supposed to change naturally, every few hundred to every few thousand years depending on other scientific factors that we won’t get into in this article. However, due to pollution, this is accelerating that process at an alarming rate. For most of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we can remember snow storms on Halloween, or even earlier. As of the publishing of this article in November 2022, we have yet to see our “first frost” in New Jersey. So many holiday related songs will no longer make sense in the future, because there will be no such thing as snow for the holidays. We can’t build snow people, or “dream of a white Christmas”. While solar panels cannot reverse the damage that fossil fuels have already caused to our planet, getting solar panels will be a way for YOU to DIRECTLY slow that process down significantly – and the more folks choose to go solar or opt for other clean energy solutions, the better off we all are. We need to maintain that environmental balance. Being a part of the change we wish to see is definitely a reason to go solar!
Combat Rising Energy Costs
Let’s face it – nobody likes to see high electric bills. We can’t think of a single person or family that wants to factor in the potential of a fluctuating costly electric bill into their monthly budget. Wouldn’t that money be better spent on doing things you love or providing for yourself and your community? Even if you weren’t an environmentally conscious person, which many folks aren’t, to each their own – we all feel the pain of having to empty our wallets. What makes it worse, the cost of your electric bill without solar is just a roll of the dice from season to season. Grid prices are determined by the companies(yes there are regulations of course) and NOT by you. There is no way that you can predict if you’ll need to run your air conditioner in the summer months due to an unexpected heat wave, the same as you can’t predict how much your heat will need to be on in the winter. By switching to solar, you’re taking control of one of your highest monthly costs. Another one of the benefits of going solar, is that when you do this, and you have excess power(which many do!), you can sell that back to the grid for profit. Talk about self reliance! If poor weather causes the grid to fail, that won’t matter to you, because your home will no longer have to solely depend on it! For further reading regarding this, check out our article that talks specifically about how you can save big with solar!
Increase Your Property Values
Staying with the theme of profits and savings, let us look at it from a different aspect. People who are trying to sell their homes will often remodel the kitchen just prior to listing, because we all love a great stone countertop! That’s what most house-flippers do to get the house to sell. Have you considered one of the benefits of going solar to be an increased property value and home value? Real estate statistics show that homes with solar panels fetch a higher price as modern day consumers are leaning into eco-friendly options and features. Solar panels are the new granite countertops! Prospective home buyers that are already facing the high costs from an inflated and competitive real estate market will see a home with solar panels as a way to mitigate some of the fees associated with purchasing a new home. Simply put, your investment into a solar panel system will only help you if you ever want to move or sell your home. With a solar setup, you can expect to see a higher profit from your sale than someone with the same home that does not have solar panels. Not to mention, if more homes in your neighborhood opt for solar, this will increase the property value of that area, putting your home in a desirable destination for potential buyers to want to look!
Government Tax Credits
The Department of Energy, on September 8th 2022, published an article that talks about the changes recently made by legislators in a way that will impact homes that have solar or are thinking of going solar. An excerpt from their article reads, “Those who install a PV system between 2022 and 2032 will receive a 30% tax credit. That will decrease to 26% for systems installed in 2033 and to 22% for systems installed in 2034. If you’ve already installed a system in 2022, your tax credit has increased from 22% to 30% if you haven’t already claimed it.” For that full article click here. The time to act is now. The benefits of going solar are real. On August 16th 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law – which amongst other things will expand upon the Federal tax credit for solar photovoltaics(that just means people with solar panels). There are many fraudulent claims being made online by other “companies” that claim the government will pay for your solar or things of that nature – and that simply is not factual. We’ve actually written a whole article about that, too, which you can read here. There are tax breaks and incentives that are legitimate, as we have just listed, and they are able to be verified on government websites. These figures are not just vague “free government solar” claims; they have come directly from articles published by our government that are online and available for everyone to see.
Reach out to us today, and find out about the benefits of going solar! If you already have a system, ask about our referral program!