Solar Powered

In our house, we recently installed solar panels to reduce our carbon emissions and also save about 45% of our annual costs for our house’s electricity. My Dad wrote a few questions for me to answer that would attempt to persuade much more people to add solar panels to their own houses, and also to try and persuade others to add them to their own houses.

Why does solar work for our house?

Solar works for our house because we have multiple roof areas mostly south facing that have sufficient sunlight to make a good amount of electricity to be worth the money that they cost.

What is the design?
There are 19 panels on the one side of the roof and 5 on the other side of the roof above Mom, and Dad’s bedroom

How much does it cost?

It costs $20,000  when they are installed, but nothing every year afterward.

How much electricity will it produce?

Our solar panels will produce about 5946 kWh every year for 25 years.

What other financial benefits?

We will save about $2,000 every year for the whole like of the solar panels. At the end of the 25 years, we will have saved $42,596. The solar panels themselves cost about $20,000 so at the end of the panel's lifetime, we will have an extra $22,596 in savings.

What is the installation process?

They drill holes in the roof, and through the rafters. Then bolt on the rails on that are used to secure the panels. They then bolt the panels to the rails, then tomorrow the Electrician will wire the panels to a box that will disperse electricity around the house.

How much more efficient is it?

The energy supplied by the solar is about 45% of all of our annual electricity used. If we don’t use as much electricity as normally we might be able to cut down our monthly prices completely.

	Costs	Borrowing Cost	State Tax Credit	Fed Tax Credit	Electricity Savings	Solar Credit	Annual Net	Total Net
Y 1	-$20,520	-$798	$1,000	$6,156	$1,148	$1,356	-$11,658	-$11,658
Y 2	$0	-$718	$0	$0	$1,194	$1,284	$1,760	-$9,899
Y 3	$0	-$638	$0	$0	$1,242	$1,212	$1,815	-$8,083
Y 4	$0	-$558	$0	$0	$1,291	$1,140	$1,873	-$6,210
Y 5	$0	-$478	$0	$0	$1,343	$1,068	$1,933	-$4,277
Y 6	$0	-$398	$0	$0	$1,397	$996	$1,994	-$2,283
Y 7	$0	-$318	$0	$0	$1,453	$924	$2,058	-$224
Y 8	$0	-$238	$0	$0	$1,511	$852	$2,124	$1,900
Y 9	$0	-$158	$0	$0	$1,571	$780	$2,193	$4,093
Y 10	$0	-$78	$0	$0	$1,634	$708	$2,264	$6,357
Y 11	$0	$0	$0	$0	$1,699	$0	$1,699	$8,056
Y 12	$0	$0	$0	$0	$1,767	$0	$1,767	$9,823
Y 13	$0	$0	$0	$0	$1,838	$0	$1,838	$11,661
Y 14	$0	$0	$0	$0	$1,912	$0	$1,912	$13,573
Y 15	$0	$0	$0	$0	$1,988	$0	$1,988	$15,561
Y 16	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,067	$0	$2,067	$17,628
Y 17	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,150	$0	$2,150	$19,778
Y 18	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,236	$0	$2,236	$22,015
Y 19	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,326	$0	$2,326	$24,340
Y 20	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,419	$0	$2,419	$26,759
Y 21	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,515	$0	$2,515	$29,274
Y 22	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,616	$0	$2,616	$31,890
Y 23	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,721	$0	$2,721	$34,611
Y 24	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,829	$0	$2,829	$37,441
Y 25	$0	$0	$0	$0	$2,943	$0	$2,943	$40,383

The panels themselves cost $20,520, however, we paid $798 in interest for the first year of our loan and were given $7,156 from the State and Federal tax credits. The solar company also bought solar credit from us wich put us up another $1,356. Evry year we also save a bunch of money, until at the end of the 25 years wich the panals will have to be replaced.