With a 35th Street Solar System you end up only paying approximately 6.8 cents per kWh for the electricity your system produces (see number 4 below for more information). With SCE’s new rate plan their average charge is 18.9 cents per kWh.

1. You Can Expect Electricity Rates to go Up

Since 1980, residential electricity rates for PG&E, SDG&E, and SCE have increased an average of 3%. From the 1970s the average electric cost in California increased 6.7% annually. Installing a solar electric system hedges against these increases by reducing the amount of electricity you consume from the utility company. You literally have a power station installed on your house.

Just a few months ago SCE announced their new Schedule D rate plan. As you can see from the chart below the average increase was 9.9% over the differing tiers starting in July 2014.

SCE Residential Schedule D Rate Plan (cents per kWh): Effective July 7, 2014

After the upfront cost, solar electricity is essentially free for at least the next 25 years. With a 35^th Street Solar System you end up only paying approximately 6.8 cents per kWh for the electricity your system produces (see number 4 below for more information). With SCE’s new rate plan their average charge is 18.9 cents per kWh. This is almost three times what a 35^th Street Solar customer is paying for their electricity.

2. Loan Interest Rates are at an All-Time Low

Not everyone has the cash on hand to afford the upfront cost of a solar system. For those of us who would need to take out a loan, fixed rate loan interest rates have plummeted to as low as 4-5%. With rates these low, the amount you’ll pay over the lifetime of the loan will be significantly less than the amount you’ll pay for electricity over the same period. Home equity loans and lines of credit are great options and their rates are extremely low too. PACE Loans are also available in certain cities in Orange County. With a low interest loan you get to use other people’s money to save your money. Your credit union or bank can help you with a low cost loan to finance your new solar system.

3. You Own Your Home — Why Rent Your Electricity?

Let’s see how financially rational you are. You have two options when it comes to paying for your home electricity:

Option 1:

If your electricity bill averages $225 a month you get to pay $2,700 every year for the rest of your life at an increasing average rate of 3% to the electric company for renting their electricity from them. In 25 years you will have paid them about $100,032 assuming electricity rates only rise at 3% per year(SCE raised rates an average of 9.9% in July 2014). And after the next 25 years you will keep on paying them and all their rate increases, forever.

Option 2:

You purchase a 6kW 35^th Street N-Type Cell Solar System and pay $23,000 right now (by the way … every other solar company will charge you between $30 – 36,000+ for a comparable N-Type Cell system with comparable equipment). You will still need to pay your electric company about $30 every year to cover minimal costs to have an account with your electric company at an annual 3% increase.

Plus, since you purchased your system, you will get a 30% tax credit from the federal government that reduces the cost of your solar system by $6,900, so you have only really paid $16,100 for your 35^th Street Solar System when you factor in your 30% Federal Tax Credit.

Which option do you choose?

Let us help you out with the numbers:

• If you choose Option 1, after 25 years you will have paid $100,032 to the utility company.

• If you choose Option 2, you will only pay $17,194 for 25 years worth of electricity. $1,094 (about $30 per year) to the utility company over 25 years to maintain your account plus the initial $16,100 to install solar, which totals $17,194.

• If you choose Option 1 and don’t use the tax credit to purchase a solar system for you home you will give the Feds your $6,900 in taxes and receive nothing for it. That money is gone forever with no return possible. You will also spend $2,700 for your electricity for the year and get nothing back from that either. So, in the next year you will spend (this is not an option you will spend it) $9,600 in taxes and electricity and have nothing to show for it if you don’t do solar. That $9,600 is 42% of the cost of your solar system that will provide you with energy for decades and save you an astounding amount of money.
  
  

So which option sounds better? Paying $100,032 or paying $17,194 and saving the $82,838?

Is it starting to sound like a good financial decision yet?!

4. You Lock in Your Cost of Electricity for the Life of Your System

When you purchase a solar system you have the advantage of being able to lock in what your cost of electricity will be. You will not be affected by rate increases from your electric company if your system covers all your electricity needs. Just imagine how happy you would be today if you had the opportunity to lock in the gas for your car at $1 per gallon like it was back in the 1980’s. You have this type of opportunity today for the electricity for your home.

SCE’s Current Rate Schedule:

SCE Residential Schedule D Rate Plan (cents per kWh): Effective July 7, 2014

This is how much you are paying for electricity today if you are on SCE’s standard Schedule D rate plan.

• As your electricity usage increases, you are pushed into the higher tiers and your costs increase. If you use your air conditioning you are very aware of how this throws you into the upper tiers very quickly and how much your bill increases exponentially during the hottest months of the year.

• You are currently paying from .15 to .32 cents per kWh of electricity you use from SCE if you are on their Schedule D rate plan.

• From SCE’s past behavior from the 1970’s till today, you can assume these rates will increase an average of 3% per year. No one can predict the future, but this is what they have done for the past 30+ years. However, this past July 2014 they increased their rates by an average of 9.9%.
  
  

You Can Lock in Your Electric Rate from Your Solar System at 6.8 ¢ / kWh

By purchasing a 35^th Street Solar System you are locking in your rate at 6.8 cents per kWh for the next 25 years. This rate stays the same and does not increase since you locked it in with your purchase. Here’s an example of how this cost factor is determined:

• A 6kW 35^th Street Ultra-High Performance Solar System is only $16,100 after the 30% Federal tax Credit is applied (this is only an example and you may need a smaller or larger sized system to cover all your electric needs).

• This system will produce 9,426 watts of electricity in the 92660 zip code according to The California Solar Initiative’s Incentive Calculator – CSI Standard PV*.

• With an annual production rate of 9,426 watts, in 25 years this system will produce approximately 265,650 watts of electricity (25 times 9,426).

• $16,100 system cost divided by 265,650 watts of electricity gives us a cost per watt of 6.8 cents based on 25 years of production. This is less than half of what the lowest SCE tier is charging today. And it is more than four times less than what you pay if you are in SCE’s Tier 4 of usage.
  
  

And since you purchased you solar system at a fixed cost — your cost for the electricity it produces is at a fixed cost too. And the longer your system produces the lower this number becomes. At 30, 35, 40 years it continues to go down. The rate SCE charges you for electricity constantly increases based on the last 30 years of rate increase data. We are doubtful SCE will not raise its rates in the next 25 years. But hey, we could be mistaken! Perhaps they will become a kinder gentler energy company and be in a giving mood for the next 25 years. Anything could happen!

*The CSI-EPBB calculator is a tool available to participants of the CSI Program to determine the EPBB Design Factor and calculate an appropriate incentive level based on a reasonable expectation of performance for an individual system. Please be aware that actual performance of an installed PV system is based on numerous factors, including some factors that may not be considered in the CSI-EPBB Calculator. While this calculator relies on industry-standard assumptions, and is driven by NREL’s PV Watts v. 2 calculator, there may be other factors that affect the output of your PV System. Your actual system performance may be more or less depending on actual weather conditions, objects blocking the solar modules such as shade, bird droppings, dirt, pollution, ect.

5. Your Property Value is Expected to Increase $5,911 for Every Kilowatt of Installed Solar Capacity

According to an in-depth study published in the Appraisal Journal, homes with renewable energy measures that reduced electricity costs saw an increase in the property value of their homes on average of $20 for every $1 annually saved on electricity costs.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Study

• The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) did the groundbreaking study that for every $1 in annual electricity bill savings that a solar installation offered; the average property value goes up by a staggering $20.
  
  

Let's put those numbers into perspective:

• If your solar installation saves you $100 a month, that comes to $1,200 for the year. This means your system has increased the property value of your home by $24,000 ($1,200 times 20 = $24,000)
  
  

Amazing, right?

It gets better! That study was from 2008 when electricity prices were lower and solar installation costs were higher. In a more recent report from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, researchers were forced to revise some of these earlier numbers.

• They discovered that for every additional kilowatt of installed solar capacity, the resale value of your home will increase by $5,911.
  
  

Again, let's run some numbers:

• With a standard 6 kW solar installation, this means the property value of your home goes up by nearly $36,000 ($5,911 times 6). And this is for an installation that already saves you money the instant it goes up on your roof.

• For a 6kW 35^th Street Solar System you spent $23,000, and the Feds gave you back $6,900 for your 30% tax credit. So it only really cost you $16,100 for the completely installed solar system. But now your home has instantly increased in value by $36,000 according to the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That’s more than double what you paid for it. Plus you are saving money every month on your electric bill.
  
  

In other words:

• Solar panels pay for themselves many times over (while you use them).

• They pay for themselves many times over again (once you sell them).
  
  

This means installing a solar system will not only reduce your monthly electricity bill, but it will also increase your property value:

• The more you reduce your bill, the more your home value goes up.
  
  

So, is going Solar a Wise Financial Decision?

To answer our own question: Yes! Yes! Yes!

• Based on hard facts and numbers we whole heartedly believe it is so worth going solar today. We believe it is such a good investment we purchased our own systems before we started 35^th Street Solar. And then we realized from our experience with other solar companies that we could do it better than any one else and save others even more money.
  
  

The Question really is … “How Could You Not Go Solar?!”

By purchasing a 35^th Street solar system you will be both saving money initially and seeing an incredible return on your solar investment dollars year after year. In fact, it’s so good, we really believe the question isn’t so much is it worth it, but … “how could you not do it?”

• Purchasing solar is 3 times+ less expensive than renting your electricity from SCE at current rates (based on 25 years of your solar systems production).

• You get to lock in your electric cost rate and never worry about SCE raising rates.

• You increase your financial security.

• You receive a guaranteed significant return on your solar investment dollars. More than any bank CD will provide you.

• With a $225 monthly electric bill you break even on a 6kW 35^th Street Solar System in only five and a half years.

• Your home increases in value the moment your system is turned on.
  
  

Environmentalists aren’t the only ones with reason to go solar anymore. Thanks to our governments investing in renewable energy technologies by giving you a 30% tax credit, solar is now a financially intelligent decision in several different and significant ways. We feel this is one of the best financial decisions anyone could make today: It locks in your electricity rate, it’s cheaper than what you are currently paying, and it adds significant dollar value to your home.

The savings are just sitting there waiting for you to take them. We’ll show you how to do it!

The Solar Savings Calculator is a Solar Money Saving Monster!

Can it still get any better? Yes! With our Solar Savings Calculator we can help you completely maximize these savings. We can show you how to squeeze even more financial benefits out of your solar system.

We can turn a great solar system into a financial money saving monster of pure goodness by showing you how to plug into all the money saving options available for you. Such as, evaluating which SCE rate plan benefits you the most, and showing you how to save even more money with it. The differences are surprisingly significant. The Solar Savings Calculator makes it all easy to understand.

• Do you have an electric car? Then you just have to see how all the numbers work with this option and how SCE is practically paying you to run out and get an electric car.

• Do you want to install an A/C unit? It will tell us exactly how this will affect your bill?

• What if you install LED lights? How does this affect what size solar system you need which affects how much you need to spend up front? The Solar Savings Calculator gives us all this information, plus more, to make the most cost effective decisions to save you the most money.
  
  

We are your solar savings experts … we can provide you with more data and more information on how to save with your new solar system then anyone, period. Plus we provide you with the latest, most productive, second generation N-Type solar system available at the absolute lowest cost for you. This system will continue to save you money year after year. We believe installing solar electricity is one of the best financial decisions you will ever make.

Just give us a call today for more information and we will help you begin to save too!