Residential solar panels are becoming more and more popular as people become increasingly concerned about environmental issues. The sun gives us a nearly unlimited supply of clean, renewable energy but the cost of building and installing a photovoltaic system has always been a long-term investment. The substantial upfront cost and the fact that it can take more than a decade to see a positive return on investment is the primary reason that it has taken this long for the use of solar energy to become more mainstream.
As the technology advances and the demand increases, the price of residential solar panels will continue to go down and although they are becoming more affordable, it can still be pretty expensive to get a new system set up. A 2000 kW system will cost approximately $20,000 installed. This would be enough to power either a very small or very energy efficient house. The more panels you add to your system the more electricity you will be able to generate but that comes at an added cost.
One way to substantially reduce the cost of setting up your own system would be to take advantage of federal tax credits. There is currently a federal tax credit of 30% of the cost of your system. This tax credit will remain in effect until December 31, 2016 and applies to both new construction and existing homes. There are some stipulations that must be met and your photovoltaic system must meet your local fire and electrical code requirements but as long as you can comply with the stipulations you will be eligible for a substantial savings on the cost of your system.
Another way to reduce costs is to look for used or damaged panels. An older panel will lose approximately 10% of its efficiency but can still provide a good amount of electricity for many years. Damaged panels can often be fixed fairly inexpensively and it would be a much less expensive option than buying new ones. To find used or damaged panels you can contact contractors that do solar installations. They will sometimes remove older panels from a home before installing new ones for their customers. These older or damaged panels will have to be disposed of and you may be able to pick these up for pennies on the dollar.
The least expensive way to set up your own system is to actually build and install your own residential solar panels. It is possible to put together your own solar powered electrical system with nothing more than parts that are available at your local home improvement store and of course some detailed instructions.
Putting your own system together is a lot easier than you might think and there are some great instructional materials available that will show you how to do exactly that. There are courses that will tell you which components you’ll need and where to get them. They will then give you detailed instructions with pictures, diagrams, and even videos that will show you step by step exactly how to build and install your own panels. The total material costs to build your own panels is under $100 which is approximately 10% of the cost of buying a panel at retail prices. With the proper instruction putting your own system together is not terribly complicated and it could save you a fortune.
