Simple Steps You Need To Know To Reduce The Cost Of Solar Power

Do you think solar energy just plain costs too much? After receiving bids on either a new home construction, or a remodel project, did you decide it’s just not in your budget?

Are you ready to reconsider? Here’s some information you may not have had. To help defray the costs of that new solar power installation, there are a bunch of new government incentives. According to the U. S. Department of Energy, the following Consumer Energy Tax Incentives are currently available:

“RESIDENTIAL RENEWABLE ENERGY TAX CREDITS

Consumers who install solar energy systems (including solar water heating and solar electric systems), small wind systems, geothermal heat pumps, and residential fuel cell and microturbine systems can receive a 30% tax credit for systems placed in service before December 31, 2016; the previous tax credit cap no longer applies.”

While a tax credit won’t pay for the solar power installation for your home, it will certainly help offset the initial expense. A tax credit generally provides significantly more tax relief than a deduction, and can be used to offset your income even if you choose not to itemize.

Many states are also offering tax incentives…rebates, and or state income tax deductions…to help reduce the cost of solar energy purchase and installation. Using all of the available incentives, you may well be able to close the gap between the cost of a traditional (gas, coal or utility-provided electrical) system, and the cost of a solar power system for your home.

Are you a DIY (do-it-yourselfer)? If you are, or you can follow instructions on putting things together, there’s undoubtedly big savings to be had by installation of your own solar power, or by designing and building a passive solar system for your home. Or you may want to construct your own solar panels, whether you put them into a large array and build an off-the-grid system, or use them for smaller projects. You may want to build them and use them for things like landscaping, battery recharging, hot water heaters, or other smaller energy needs.

If you want to design a passive solar system, with or without an architect, there are a number of good books available. Among them, listed on amazon.com, you’ll find The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling by Daniel D Chiras, and Green From the Ground Up: Sustainable, Healthy and Energy-Efficient Home Construction (Builder’s Guide), written by David Johnston and Scott Gibson, that contains an large segment on passive solar design.

You may have to make a commitment of time and energy to build your own solar energy panels, for either small projects, or to construct a full home solar energy system. However, this can give you a big cost savings and be rewarding at the same time. For the DIYers, there are a number of good books on the market, including Solar Power Your Home for Dummies by Rik DeGunther, and The Complete Idiots Guide to Solar Power For Your Home by Dan Ramsey and David Hughes.

The next thing, of course, is to look at how large your solar energy system really needs to be. Do you use a lot of power now? Could it be reduced? It’s good to look at this aspect before you determine how large a solar energy system you need. What are your family’s energy habits? Do appliances and power strips that draw energy when not in use get unplugged? Do lights get turned out when everyone leaves a room? What about your HVAC system…any leaking ducts or filters blocked? Have you check your door seals? And are you using compact fluorescent (CFL) lights in all of your light fixtures? CFL’s consume less wattage. They also emit less heat because they burn cooler. By becoming energy efficient now, you can reduce your consumption estimate, and plan a smaller solar power system, which will cost you less.

Moving from the personal to the global level, there are two alternative options for solar power cost reduction. The government (taxpayer) can provide larger subsidies for renewable energies, or the government can tax coal, gas and oil, which from the taxpayer’s point of view seems the better alternative. But either option would drive the demand for solar energy up, thereby creating the economies of scale that would drive the costs down.

However, neither of those alternatives may be necessary in the near future. With fossil fuel energy costs rising rapidly, solar energy makes more sense for more homeowners and businesses. As more people select solar energy, mass production of solar power components is driven down. Nearing parity already, solar power will soon be the cheaper option in any event, whatever the government does.

Learn more about solar power costs. Stop by Timothy Peters’s site where you can find out all about home solar power and what it can do for you.