Commonly Asked Solar Questions
A solar energy system is an investment that should not be taken lightly. It’s important to find a quality team that offers a quality product selection and is an installation partner. As intimidating as that seems, with the right information, you can make the best decisions for your home, your energy needs, and your wallet.
In this guide, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions about solar power. Discover tips for hiring a professional and compare the pros and cons of using a local company versus a national one.
How many solar panels are required for your home?
The number of panels required for your home varies depending on your usage, the size of your roof, and house position. Generally, the typical homeowner requires around 30 to 40 solar panels to fully power their house. It is crucial to understand the amount of power required on a monthly and annual basis varies based on your location, your consumption, and type of solar panels you choose.
The average American residential customer utilizes just over 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWH) per year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In some parts of the United States some areas receive more hours of direct sunlight per day on average than other regions do, but a solar system consisting of 30 to 40, 250-watt panels can produce 7500 to 10,000 kilowatt-hours of power annually.
Keep in mind these numbers could vary considerably based on the size of your home, the quality of your insulation, the energy efficiency of your appliances, and how many sun hours your panels receive per day.
Today there are plenty of solar panel brands, types, and most importantly wattages. This variable allows you to increase or decrease the number of panels needed for your system. Some panels can produce 400 watts or more. If you live in an area that averages more hours of direct sunlight per day—much like, Arizona — and you build a solar system with 400W solar panels, you would effectively reduce the number of panels needed by 10 and power the home with around 20, 400-watt panels.
To learn more about how many solar panels you will need for your home or for any other questions, please contact one of our Intelligen Resources Solar representatives today. Our solar education experts will help you answer all your questions along your solar journey.
How much does solar cost for a whole house?
The average 5-kWh residential system will cost anywhere between $15,000-$25,000, prior to federal tax credits or incentives, according to the Center for Sustainable Energy. These figures are based on a system capable of generating 5 kilowatt-hours of energy, with an average cost of $3 to $6 per watt.
Your specific solar system could either be priced on the low or high end of that scale, depending on multiple variables that increase or decrease cost. First and foremost, the brand of solar panels can cause the price to vary quite a bit as well as how powerful your chosen panels are. Brands and high-powered panels cause a price increase. In addition, it’s important to note that there are varying local, state, and federal solar incentives depending on which part of the United States you live in that can offset the total cost of your system.
The federal government has created a program for homeowners to take advantage of. As of 2021, the solar investment tax credit (ITC) was reduced from 30% in 2020 to 26%. The ITC is used to provide a 26% tax deduction for homeowners who want to install a solar system in 2021. After 2021 it will dip again to 22%, and after that, the ITC is set to expire.
Every state has different solar incentives, California offers advantageous rebates for homeowners who install solar batteries, and they also offer a net metering program for energy. Some states also offer property and sales tax exemptions that can help reduce total system cost.
Few states offer minimal solar incentives or none at all. To find out more about the incentives and rebates available in your state, take a look at the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) website to get all the details.
Beyond saving you money on your electricity bills and receiving incentives, solar has another financial benefit – it can increase the value of your home. While higher home values typically bring higher property taxes, Texas has a renewable energy property tax exemption so that residents of the Lone Star State don’t pay extra taxes as a result of the value that their solar panels add.
What is the best solar system for a house?
As we stated before there is no one turnkey, a universal, one-size-fits-all solar system that can work for every home in the United States. To meet the varying demands of the homeowner and their needs we must analyze, customize, and conclude what solar system will work best to meet the needs of each homeowner.
You can say the some of the best panels of today are measured on their overall efficiency. Some of the most efficient solar panels available are from (Insert Brand of Solar Panels Here) SunPower and LG, both companies produce solar panels that meet or exceed 22% efficiency. This means that these panels are able to convert more sunlight into energy than the typical solar panel. Typical solar panels have an efficiency rating between 15 and 20%.
Who makes the most powerful solar panel on the market today? A manufacturer out of China called Trina Solar created two different models of solar panels with power outputs exceeding 500 watts. Other companies produce typical residential solar panels that create 250 to 400 watts. This is obviously a major increase in capacity and power for solar systems that utilize these panels.
Regardless of the components, the best solar system for a home is one that is tailored to your needs, usage, and location. Please read this article from the U.S. Department of Energy. It is an excellent resource along these lines, as it breaks down some of the major determining factors for planning your home solar system.
Planning Home Solar Electric System – United States Department of Energy
To figure out what is the best solar system for you, you’ll need to analyze how energy efficient your home is, consider the solar potential of your location, determine your energy needs, and more. Or, you can contact SOLAR Power and ask one of our Energy Consultants to help you find the best solar system for your home.
What are the disadvantages of solar energy?
Although there are many significant advantages of having your own solar system and producing your own solar energy – as well as the potential for both environmental and economic benefits – doesn’t mean there aren’t any disadvantages. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and some people do not like the way that solar panels look versus a traditional roof without them. Yesterday’s solar panels were not as attractive, sleek, compact, and snugly fitting of todays. Our Intelligen Resources Home Solar System is something we take pride in. Our minimalist design eliminates all the unnecessary hardware and utility boxes on exterior walls.
Another potential downside to solar is that some parts of the United States do not get the same amount of sunlight as other parts of the country. Some parts of the country like Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas receive 6 or more peak sunlight hours per day. While coastal regions of Oregon and Washington may only receive four or fewer hours of peak sunlight. You will need to consider peak sun hours, a metric used to assess how many hours per day, to access if solar can be the answer for your energy usage needs.
From shade to night time solar systems efficiency is greatly reduced when light is absent but what if you want to go off the grid? Some people interested in solar might wonder if, by going solar, they can live completely off the grid. This is beginning to emerge with the use of solar and battery technology. Intelligen Resources is currently investing in home storage and commercial storage options for your energy needs. By utilizing batteries we can take the energy produced in real-time and store it for times when solar is limited. For commercial solar users such as schools, government facilities, and businesses, this is less of a limitation thanks to Intelligen Resources Solar + Battery Storage Solutions.
Another disadvantage is the ease of installation. Obviously, it is good to look into being able to install solar yourself and you might think you can do it, but by letting our experts handle it, it turns solar into a very simple process (See our Five-Step Guide). Our professional solar installers have expertise in designing solar systems for homes and commercial businesses. They ensuring the system will capture the maximum amount of sunlight available and save you the most money on your electric bill. Intelligen Resources Solar Dealers also knows the local permitting rules, so they can make that process go as smoothly as possible, and of course, we come with a master electrician with solar experience to handle the wiring. You can get a free consultation to find out what it will take to switch your home or business to solar energy by filling out our Texas Solar Qualifier Survey
Can you get solar panels for free?
Although it would be great to get solar panels for free to produce clean energy for every home it is not that way. You cannot get solar panels for nothing. But, you will sometimes see companies advertising free solar panels like a carrot, but you not paying anything for them is not what they mean. When you see this “free” solar panel advertisement, the company probably either means they are going to lease the panels to you, or they will provide you with a form of a solar power purchase agreement.
When you lease your solar panels from the installer, the company that installed them will still own the panels. Essentially you are just renting them; in fact, you will be still paying for the electricity in the form of a monthly lease payment on the solar panels.
If you don’t lease the panels but rather do a solar power purchase agreement or PPA, the solar company will design, fund, and install a solar panel system on your home and then sell you the power generated by that system for a previously agreed-upon fixed rate. This rate is almost always more inexpensive than the rates available from your traditional utility company, but it’s definitely not free either.
A PPA is usually a 10 year, long-term arrangement. During that time, you may find that you saved money compared to purchasing energy from your utility company. However, the solar company not only receives your monthly payment, but they also get to take advantage of any relevant solar incentives or tax credits. Once the PPA expires, you can extend it, purchase the system from the solar company, or have them remove it. No matter what solar path has chosen you will not be getting a free solar system.
How much do solar panels cost for a 2,000 square-foot house?
You need to first know how much energy you use and why you use it prior to completing a price total for a solar system on your home. For example, 2,000 square foot house with gas heat, low AC costs in the summer, and minimal computers and electronics is going to burn much less energy than a 2,000 square foot house in, say, Arizona or Texas with a big summertime AC load, an extensive home media system and a family of 4 with tons of gadgets, and a Tesla charging in the garage. A 6 kW system designed to cover your air conditioning load during peak electric rates will obviously cost less than a 12 kW system with storage designed to cover daytime and nighttime requirements.
As a general rule figure $2.85—$3.50 per watt before tax credits. A smaller system costs more per watt than a larger system. While there are many variables involved when discussing the efficiency and wattage requirements of your specific home, we can speak in general terms about the cost threshold for powering a 2,000 square-foot house with solar energy. According to the United States Census Bureau, the average new single-family house built in this country today is around 2,400 square feet, which is a significant increase from the 1970s, when the typical new build was in the 1,600 to 1,700 square foot range.
Therefore, it stands to reason that a 2,000 square foot house is roughly typical in the United States. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration says that the average residential utility customer in this country uses right around 11,000 kilowatt-hours annually.
Using this data as a guideline, we can say that a typical 2,000 square foot home needs roughly 30 250-watt solar panels or 20 400-watt panels. Of course, there are plenty of variables that can affect those numbers, starting with the amount of direct sunlight your home receives on a typical day.
Homeowners in the American Southwest can take advantage of around 6 peak sun hours per day — a peak sun hour is considered to be an hour of direct sunlight that provides one kilowatt of energy per square meter. Meanwhile, homeowners in the Pacific Northwest might only have access to roughly 4 peak sun hours.
Also, there are additional variables like the materials and insulation used to build your home, the presence or lack of energy-efficient appliances and HVAC systems, and more. Your costs will also vary based on the brand and type of solar panel. In general, you should budget around $25,000 to build a solar system for a 2,000 square foot home, but we advise contacting one of our Solar Education Experts to get a quote for your home.
Is residential solar cost-effective?
For many homeowners, installing a solar power system is a great way to save some money, while also protecting our environment. However, there are many variables involved that can skew the financial numbers either positively or negatively for you. Let’s discuss the different questions you need to answer in order to determine the cost-effectiveness of residential solar for your home.
The first major variable is how much you pay for electricity from your utility company. Depending on which part of the country you live in, you might pay as much as 20+ cents per kilowatt-hour for residential power, but other regions can be as cheap as 10 cents per kWh, or even lower. Obviously, the more you’re currently spending on your energy, the more money you can save with solar.
Next, you’ll need to consider how much you’ll have to spend setting up your solar system. There are many variables for this question, including the size and energy efficiency of your home, the amount of direct sunlight your home receives on an average day, whether you plan on buying or leasing your solar panels, and more.
Another vital question along these same lines is which incentives and tax rebates you might be eligible for in your location. Different locations around the country have different government incentives available that can make a major impact on your costs.
In short, residential solar power can definitely save money for many homeowners, but you will need to properly analyze your specific situation to determine how cost-effective a solar installation will be for you.
What is the break-even point for solar panels?
There’s no question that purchasing a residential solar panel system is a significant investment. But when does that investment start to pay off? The important aspect of this question to understand is that once you’ve paid off your solar panels, they keep producing energy for years at no additional cost to you.
There isn’t any single uniform answer to this question, due to the fact that there are so many factors involved with determining the cost-effectiveness of solar energy. However, you can put together a rough estimate by analyzing a few key elements.
You’ll need to factor in how much you’ll invest in your solar panels, which depends on the size and efficiency of your home, and the amount of peak sunlight you receive on an average day. Once you figure out how much energy you need, you should consider how much money you can save through solar incentives and tax rebates in your area. Are there solar tax credits available? How about net metering arrangements with local utility providers? Answering questions like these will get you one step closer to determining your break-even point.
Then, you should figure out how much electricity costs from your utility company, in order to properly analyze how much money you’re really saving from each kilowatt-hour generated by your solar system. If you would like some help figuring out where exactly your break-even point for solar panels would be, contact one of our representatives today. Speaking to a SOLAR Power Energy Consultant will help you determine how much money you can save with solar energy at your home.
More to think about
We will provide you with full payback calculation for different sizes, specifications, designs, and configurations. We will also produce an estimate of how much power a system will produce annually. We believe in the quality of our systems and how quickly the system will see the return on the investment. We will provide the appropriate warranty and communicate that to you every step of the way.
In some cases a smaller system with higher quality components may cost more per watt to install but produce the same amount of power for the same capital investment, last longer and have lower maintenance costs. That’s why our components and installation team stands out in the field.
Going the cheapest isn’t the best option for solar. We make sure that the panels specified are manufactured by a good company with a good history of warranty coverage and durability. While the most efficient panels are made by great companies there are other less efficient panels with great durability which will produce a faster payback. (The less efficient panels will take up more space but produce the same amount of energy relative to their rating).
Prices have been declining every year. Tax credits are being phased out on a declining basis for the next four years. Depending on your circumstances you may want to get going on installation before year-end if you can use the tax credits but I would focus on the quality of the contractor and the system.
The installation will increase the value of your home which can have an impact on your property taxes. There are many localities that give property tax breaks for renewable energy installations (they don’t increase your taxes for the increased assessment relative to your investment.) So check what your local tax rules are.
Also, find out what if any your local net-metering rules are. Some localities provide a dollar-for-dollar credit on excess energy you put back on the grid. Some only provide a credit on generation charges and you still pay transmission and distribution charges. This may have a big impact on the size of the system you install. A 4–6 kW system that only covers 60% of your total annual needs but covers 100% of peak summer daytime AC load may be a better investment than a ten kW system that covers 100% of your needs but does not match your daily use and for which you don’t get full credit on your electric bill.
