If one thing is becoming increasingly clear about the economy, it is that the country is currently in an energy and power crisis. In 2022, the average residential electricity rate has risen higher than in the last ten years. In some states, citizens are paying as much as 15% more than they paid for electricity during the previous year.
What is causing this spike in the cost of electricity? The primary reason everyone likes to point to this is the rising cost of gas. But even before this relatively recent development, electricity bills were already rising. The reason for those past price increases is that the existing electricity infrastructure is grossly ill-equipped to handle natural disasters.
The grid is also being stretched to its limits by demand from America’s growing population. In response to these twin pressures, power companies invest much money into new transmission lines, renewable energy, and power plants with lower greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of those expansion projects has been partially transferred to consumers.
And this situation is not likely to change soon. Although gas prices have started to stabilize, the likelihood of staying that way for long is slim. Also, the drive to repair and upgrade the electricity grid is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. This means that ordinary citizens should brace themselves to pay even higher electricity prices.
What can you do about it? You cannot influence the gas price or stop the companies from expanding their infrastructure and charging you for that expansion. However, if you are a homeowner, EPM Iowa Team advises there is one thing you can do to gain control over how much money you spend on electricity. You can install solar panels on your property.
Why is this the best time to transition from dependence on the grid to an electricity source you own and control? Here are seven reasons why there has never been a better time than now to go green with your electricity.
1. Gain control over your electricity bills
Installing solar panels in your home will reduce your electricity bill by as much as 40%. Not only will your costs be lower, but they will decrease with each year you own the panels.
Solar panels let you take control of your energy costs in place of ever-increasing electricity costs that are entirely outside your control. Apart from the price of the panels, storage units, and installing the system, it costs nothing to run a solar panel.
2. Keep your home powered during an outage
You can almost trust the grid to go down when bad weather hits. If that weather persists for an extended period, your entire home will be without power. You do not have to endure this experience when you have solar panels. During the day, the panels make and store electricity that you can use at night.
3. Installing solar panels lets you plan and protect your wealth
Incessant hikes in power costs rob you of money that could have gone to worthy causes. You don’t know how much money you pay to the power companies until you install solar panels in your home. Instead of fluctuating rates, your monthly power bill will be nonexistent, and you can use the money you save to build wealth.
4. Take advantage of tax incentives
You qualify for government assistance when installing solar panels in your home. This assistance comes in the form of tax credits and exemptions. Depending on your location, you can get as much as 20% off your solar panels. These tax breaks are the equivalent of the government paying part of your electricity bills.
5. High return on investment
The amount of money you save on electricity bills when you install solar panels means you recoup the cost of buying the solar panels in a very short time. Solar panels have a faster payback period compared to other upgrades you may want to do to your home.
6. Boost the value of your home
With solar panels installed on the property, you can improve the value of your home by tens of thousands of dollars. Most homebuyers do not want to go through the hassle of installing solar panels, even though they want it. If you already have installed solar panels, it will help you attract more attention from buyers, who will be willing to pay you more for the property.
7. You will be protecting the environment
It may not look like much, but a solar panel on your home is one less home that contributes to the destruction of the environment. Residential buildings account for a considerable portion of carbon emissions in the United States. By installing solar panels on your property, you become one less home in that depressing statistic.
