Most panels today are guaranteed to perform at 80% or better for the first 25 years. Of course, a panel isn’t likely to get to 25 years and 1 day, and then stop working. So there will be useful life in most solar panels for decades. It’s estimated that they will continue producing for up to 40 – 50 years.

There are many ways to answer this question. But here we’ll give you a simple way of answering and looking at this excellent question. You need to know if spending the money to install a solar system for your home electricity needs is going to save you money. Cause really, why go solar if it doesn’t benefit you financially? For most of us it’s all about the money!

Let’s see if you can save some money by going solar:

First, let’s use that you will be living in your house for the next 25-30 years. We will look at how much a solar system adds to your home’s resale value in the 5 Solid Financial Reasons to Go Solar Now section (quite a bit, by the way!).

Most panels today are guaranteed to perform at 80% or better for the first 25 years. Of course, a panel isn’t likely to get to 25 years and 1 day, and then stop working. So there will be useful life in most solar panels for decades. It’s estimated that they will continue producing for up to 40 – 50 years.

Let’s Look at an Average Example: A medium sized house with a $225/month electric bill. You have 2 Options …

1.  You Continue to Buy Your Electricity from the Electric Company:

A safe assumption is utility rates will increase at 3% per year. California electric companies have increased their rates by an average of 6.7% since the 1970s – but we will just keep it simple and be conservative with a 3% increase in rates per year average.

• This means that as the owner of this house you have agreed to hand over more than $31,400 to the utility company in the next 10 years, with no choice (unless you like sitting in the dark with no A/C or heat). And if you believe your electric company will never raise your rates again, you will have spent $27,000 in those 10 years of usage.

• This money will come out of your pocket and into the coffers of your electric company. And it will continue to come out of your pocket forever if you continue to rent your electricity from the electric company whether the rates go up or not.

2.  You Purchase a 6kW Solar System from 35^th Street Solar to Produce Your Own Electricity:

• A 6kW 35^th Street Ultra High Performance N-Type Solar System that would generate enough electricity to get your bill to “net zero” will cost about $23,000 installed.

• But currently the Federal Government will give you a 30% Tax Credit off this figure. Your tax credit would be $6,900. So, $23,000 minus $6,900 means you’ll have actually only spent $16,100 for 30 to 40 years+ of electricity.

• If you 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. 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 $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.

• Your solar panels offer a 25 year performance warranty, and if the panels all suddenly stop working 1 day after the 25 years is up, you will have paid $16,100 for over $100,000 worth of electricity! (This is what the utility company will take from you whether you like it or not over the next 25 years, estimating a 3% rate increase per year, if you continue to rent your electricity from them).

• If the panels last for their expected life of around 40+ years, you’ll be getting a whopping $206,800+ value worth of electricity for the $16,800 investment you spent to install solar. That’s over twelve times your initial investment!

Here’s what the Difference in Costs Look like Between Buying and Renting Your Electricity:

Figures represent a $225 a month electric bill with an average 3% yearly rate increase

So is it worth it financially to go solar?

Absolutely! The numbers scream it out clearly! Who doesn’t like the idea of pocketing all that extra cash for decades?

• With the above example you will break even with your 6kW 35^th Street Solar System in only about five and a half years!

But you might be saying, “It sounds great to save all that money, but I have to come up with $16,100 now, rather than spread out my payments over the years. How can I do that?”

Just finance it!

You probably didn’t write a check out for your house did you? Any big ticket item like this is probably going to be financed. And the beauty is your finance payments are being made with money that you would have been paying to your electric company anyway. You are going to pay both ways, and you are in fact already paying every month – you have been for years. The only question is… are you going to end up paying a lot, or a little for your electricity? We’ll take the little any day!

Just give us a call today, and we will run all your electrical usage numbers to show you what an amazing investment a 35^th Street Ultra-High Performance Solar System can mean for you and your families financial health and savings. We offer the best most advanced equipment at the absolute lowest installed cost to save you when you purchase your system and in the years ahead while it’s working hard for you.