As I am sure you have noticed the cost of your electricity and
gas keeps rising year after year, this inculded with more people
looking to move to living a more carbon friendly lifestyle, many
of us are starting to look into alternative ways to power our
homes. One of the most popular is through using solar power.
How much is it going to cost?
The easiest way to get a solar powered home would to be buy or
build a home that solar power designed into it from the
beginning, but this is not an option for many. The exact price
tag to kit your house out with solar powered system, depends on
a number of factors, that include the following:
Where do you live? The area you live in can have a big
difference on how well solar power will work at your home. For
example, the Seattle area may receive on average about three
hours of sun a day since it's a rainy region while places in
Arizona and Texas receive six to eight hours. Obviously, the
more sun you get, the more efficient your solar power would be.
How much electricity do you actually use in a month? Because
each month may fluctuate wildly, you will have to get a history
of your electrical usage per month and round it out and
determine how much it is per kilowatt hour.
Space availability is another factor for installing a system
for solar power. First of all, you would need a place free of
obstructions. Your solar panels will need full access to the
sun; therefore no buildings, trees or other structures that
would create shade should be nearby.
Do you plan to go straight solar power all the way or
install a system, which allows for electricity access from the
power company as needed? Also, will you try to purchase an
entire solar power system or choose an option, which allows you
to add components as your budget allows?
From the above you can see there a couple of points you have to
think about before deciding if Solar Power would be a good idea
for your home. You may have the money to install a complete
system straight from scratch, but the better option may be to
buy a unit that will allow you to add components inline with
your budget and time. The best place to look would be in your
local yellow pages, or the internet that should give you a good
idea of what is available. The upside to solar power energy for
the home is that you may get some tax credits! It depends on the
state in which you live so you might want to look into whether
you will get any returns such as a portion of the installation
costs refunded to you.
Once you have got the unit, the next thing to think about is
actually installing it. If you are very handy at home and
understand the basics of electricity and mechanical things,
chances are that you could probably handle the project on your
own. However, before you make that ultimate decision, you will
want to check out the warranty for your equipment that you buy.
Some manufacturers will void a warranty if a licensed
professional does not install it. So you have to take the
additional cost of installation into account if that scenario
occurs.
Just remember that there is no "one size fits all" when it
comes to solar power. If you take into account all of the
factors listed above, you will be able to make an informed
decision as to which system would work best for your needs and
lifestyle.
Gavin Dye: Is the webmaster at http://www.solar-power-4u.com
where you can learn about solar
power and other forms of alternative energy you can use around
your home. You can also learn how you can do your bit to stop
Global Warming.
