Southern California Edison history of utility increase has shown an average 12% rise over the past 25 years. Like most commodities in life, it will not lower with less or more users, but is shown to be continuously increasing even as more solar power is installed. An average homeowner will spend $195,000 in electrical costs alone. With the installation of a photovoltaic system, you can change that to a positive gain after a return on your investment in just 5-7 years!
A properly sized Solar Electric System can offset your utility costs and zero out your bill. You still will have the utility base charge for being connected to the grid, but with a battery back-up system you can eliminate your cost for that as well. The typical savings for solar not only offset your monthly costs, but there is also a potential to earn back what you spent on the system! Yes, you read that right. Over the course of 25 years (which is the warranty of the panels) you will double the internal rate of return that you spent on the system!
While there are no longer rebates available for solar electric systems, the 30% federal tax credit was extended to the year 2021. Your total net cost for a system is 30% less the gross and you can spread it out over a period of 7 years. This means that if you owe between $7-8k, and your system is around $20-$30k, you receive a tax credit that essentially allows you to spend that money in two ways.
High efficiency photovoltaic modules are mounted to your roof and connected to power optimizers that monitor the production of each individual panel. The modules are made with monocrystalline cells that absorb the ambient sunlight and transmits it through copper or aluminum to photons creating direct current that is hardwired to an inverter. This inverter in turn creates alternating current that can be transmitted into your main panel and used as main electrical source.
Do I need to wait for new technology? The best type of panel is one that is a mono-crystalline cell, with high wattage and a plus power tolerance of at least 5. This means that you will be using a cell that is formed from one crystal not several, and grown in its purest form. Higher wattage determines less panels in the square footage covering your roof, and is generally parallel in a name brand quality. A positive 5 power tolerance means that your system will be generating above what it promises in efficiency, which is important given the fact that there will be degeneration after current is run from the panels, and inverter, creating a power loss. It may not seem like a big deal, but when your system is installed and not generating what was promised you will want to have known.