You hate fossil fuels (coal, oil). You’re worried about climate change (who isn’t?). And you LOVE the idea of going solar (it’s great!). BUT…you have no idea how exactly solar works, what it will cost you, or how to find a reliable solar contractor who will do a great job at a reasonable cost. That’s why you need the PickMySolar.com Free Solar Guide. It’s the best guide I’ve seen for helping to explain how solar works and the many options people have for putting solar on their roofs.

In fact, PickMySolar.com’s Free Solar Guide is one of the reasons why I’ve teamed up with these solar experts. I am completely committed to helping us get off polluting oil and coal as soon as possible.

Solar energy delivers the clean electricity we all need, but choosing the right solar system at an affordable price can be time-consuming and even confusing.

Using the guide, you’ll be able to tell if your system is fairly priced – and how to shed extra expenses to bring down its cost.

The free solar guide will also help you make sure that your system is truly designed to fit your needs.

And guess what? If your house isn’t right for solar, PickMySolar.com will tell you. They’re not in business to try and sell you anything you don’t need or can’t use.

What’s So Great About Solar?

We all need electricity. But we don’t need to burn fossil fuels to get it.

Using coal, oil and natural gas releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and that causes climate change. Burning fossil fuels pollutes the air with smog and tiny particles that can trigger asthma attacks and even heart attacks. And mining coal, drilling for oil and fracking for natural gas is wrecking the environment by destroying Nature and polluting our groundwater.

Solar is clean energy that we can control ourselves.

Plus, putting solar on your home increases the value of your home just about as much as if you redid the kitchen or added a “bonus” room to your house. And because solar reduces your utility bills significantly, it actually pays for itself over time.

No Risk/No Obligation: Download Your Free Solar Guide Right Here 

Downloading your free solar guide puts you under no obligation to actually go solar. It simply gives you a great way to learn more and then get help if you need or want it.

That’s why I downloaded it. I recommend you do, too.

Note: Partnerships with companies like PickMySolar.com enable us to connect you to products and services that will help you live the green and healthy life you want. We wouldn’t recommend them (and partner with them) if we didn’t believe they weren’t among the best. As ever, our editorial opinions remain our own. Thanks.

The post This Free Solar Guide Will Help You Choose the Right Solar Company appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Do you love the idea of putting home solar panels on your roof but think they’re way out of your price range?

Sad! Wrong!! Home solar panels have never been cheaper to buy than they are now. And given how serious climate change has gotten, they’ve never been more important to install.

Plus, a terrific company called PickMySolar.com makes it easier than ever to make sure you get the right system for your roof with minimum hassle and inconvenience.

We’ve teamed up with PickMySolar.com to help you get the home solar panels you want at a price you can afford.

They’ve put together this helpful free ebook that offers just about the best explanation I’ve ever seen of how solar works and how you can get the best system for your home at a price you can afford.

I suggest you download it now. It will make your life so much easier as you try to decide if solar is right for you.

Over the next 10 days we’re going to show you just why it’s so simple to get your solar system up and running. But first, let’s talk about the money.

Why are home solar panels so affordable?

THE SOLAR INVESTMENT TAX CREDIT

The federal solar investment tax credit (SITC) reduces the amount of federal income tax you pay.

How? SITC allows you to deduct 30% of the cost of your system dollar for dollar from the amount of taxes you would otherwise pay to the federal government.

For example, say your federal taxes were going to be $10,000 for the year.

If you bought a solar system in that same year that cost $25,000, 30% of $25,000 = $7,500.

You’d be able to deduct $7,500 from your $10,000 in taxes, so would only pay $2,500 in federal taxes rather than the total $10,000.

In other words, you could keep $7,500 of your federal tax payment to help offset the cost of your solar system. Rather than pay all taxes, you’d be buying solar. Doesn’t that sound smart?

STATE AND LOCAL TAX INCENTIVES AND REBATES

In addition to reducing your federal taxes, you might also be able to lower your state taxes when you buy solar. For example, in my home state of MD, I can receive up to $1,000 on top of my federal tax credit to install solar panels on my roof.

Contractors in the PickMySolar.com data base can help you figure out what state tax credits or rebates you can take advantage of.

By the way, some utilities reward their customers with cash rebates when they buy and install energy-efficient appliances and solar panels. Again, PickMySolar.com installers will be able to help you figure out if your local utility offers rebates to help offset the expense of your system.

REDUCED UTILITY BILLS

Another way solar panels generate cash is in money saved on your utility bill. Any energy you get from your solar system is energy you’re not buying from your utility. Depending on the size of your system and how much energy it generates annually, you could end up paying little or nothing for your power. The money you save on your utility bill can directly offset the cost of your solar system.

For example, say your system generates enough energy to offset $100 of your monthly utility bill. Over 12 months, you would save $1200. In just 15 years, you’d save $18,000 on your utility bills, savings that help offset the original purchase price of your solar system.

SELLING POWER YOU GENERATE TO YOUR UTILITY

When your solar panels generate more electricity than you can use, the excess power actually gets fed back into the utility grid, giving you another opportunity to offset the original cost of your system.

Usually, your meter spins forward to indicate that you’re buying power from your utility company. But when you send your excess solar power back to the utility company, your meter will actually spin backwards and you’ll earn a credit in your account! In most states, the utility will figure out your net energy use – how much you buy versus how much you send back to the utility – and only charge you for the net. The more solar your system generates, the less your overall electricity costs you.

Utilities may meet their requirement to derive a certain amount of their power from solar by buying what’s called an SREC from you (see below).

Take a look at this graphic explanation of how solar works.

Here’s how your investment in home solar panels saves you so much money.

Original cost of your system – ……………………………..………………$25,000
Federal tax credits ………………..…..$7,500
State tax credit …………….…….….… $1,000

Net System Cost (after deducting tax credits) …………………………$16,500

Utility bill savings over 25 yrs
(factoring 3% utility increase annually) …………………………….. $43,751.12
Projected 10-year SREC Earnings
(factoring $12/SREC reduction annually of current value): ……….$16,260 *
Total Savings Over 25 Years ……………………………………………… $60,011.18

25-year Lifetime Savings: ………………………………………………….  $43,511.18

* SRECs = Solar Renewable Energy Certificates. Utilities in some  states are required to derive a certain percentage of their energy from solar. They can get that solar from homeowners. Homeowners receive one “SREC” for every megawatt hour that their home solar systems produce. That amounts to about 12 SRECs per year with a 10 KW system. You can get paid a set price to lock in the value of your SRECs up front. This YouTube video explains how SRECs work to earn you more cash back on your home solar panels.

INCREASED PROPERTY VALUES

Here’s one other way that putting solar panels on your roof generates real cash in your pocket: by increasing the sales potential of your home.**

Home solar panels are viewed as upgrades, just like renovated kitchens or a finished basement. But they can cost a lot less than a new kitchen or downstairs and have a greater financial return.

Homebuyers across the country have been willing to pay $15,000 more for a home with the average size solar photovoltaic system mounted on its roof, report researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory who studied the trend. They also found that homes that had solar panels actually sold faster than those that did not!

So if you install home solar panels, not only may you end up saving $8500 on your initial installation, and over $40,000 total on the lifetime of your system, but you could get $15,000 more for your home when you sell it.

How Do You Pay For It? Finance and Loan Options

If you need to finance your purchase, one option is to take out a Home Equity Line of Credit.

But another option is to take out a loan.

Essentially, you can replace a significant portion of your utility bill with a low-interest loan. That way, you can still take advantage of the federal tax credit and added home equity that solar provides.

The most popular loans are 12 years, though in most cases you can pay them off sooner if you prefer. Your panels are warranted for 25 years of energy production, so far outlast the length of your loan.

You can also lease your panels, though purchasing saves you the most money over time.

PickMySolar.com has pulled together this terrific explanation of all your options for purchasing, leasing and financing your solar panels. Their team can also help you figure out what state and utility rebates are available to help offset your costs.

PickMySolar.com Helps You Figure It All Out

PickMySolar.com can help you save even more by managing the process of getting competitive bids for your entire project. That’s because PickMySolar.com has built a competitive bidding platform that enables you to:

• estimate the size and kind of solar system you need
• get cost-effective bids from pre-qualified solar companies near you
• maximize your solar rebates and incentives

This bidding platform is what takes the hassle out of choosing your solar system, too. We’ll talk about that in the next blog post (but it’s all explained in their free ebook if you want to check it out right away.)

For now, I hope you’ve realized just how affordable picking your own solar can be.

By the way, it costs absolutely nothing to explore getting solar with PickMySolar.com (which is why we give it such a big “thumbs up.”

Their platform is free to use. You can go through the entire process of figuring out what system is best for you, what it will cost upfront, and what rebates and tax credits you can tap into without paying a fee or deposit of any kind.

PickMySolar.com will deliver three bids to build your system, but if you don’t like any of them, it still won’t cost you a dime.

So what do you have to lose? You can start the ball rolling here by downloading your free ebook.

Disclosure: Our partnerships with companies like PickMySolar.com enable us to bring you opportunities like this free way to figure out your solar options, at no cost to you. We only recommend companies we’re behind 100% so you’ll be able to make the best decision for you. Thanks!

NOTES:
** Increased property values based on Redfin survey.

The post These 5 Cash Benefits Make Home Solar Panels Too Cheap to Ignore appeared first on Big Green Purse.

I’ve been partnering with Our Power to let you know about community solar, and especially, to make sure that if you live in New York, you don’t miss your chance to sign up and find out when community solar New York projects become available. When Our Power’s Jessie Sitnick told me about her aunt, Toby, and why she signed up, it was such a great story, I asked her if she’d share it with you. I won’t be surprised if, when you read about Toby, you think to yourself, “That sounds just like me!”

How Toby Discovered New York’s Best Kept Secret:
Community Solar New York

As Toby flipped through the real estate pages of the New York Times last weekend, sipping her morning cup of coffee and enjoying the sunlight flooding her Brooklyn kitchen, this is the headline that caught her eye.

“I’ve been ready,” she told me. The problem was being able to take advantage of it.

“I never thought we could do it. Not where we live and not at the current cost.”

All that changed when Toby found out about community solar.

Admission: I was the one who let her in on the secret. I work in the environmental sector and we’ve bonded over the years chatting about social issues. We were on the phone and I asked her if she had heard about this new legislation that got passed in New York, which basically will make it possible for people to buy solar power from local solar gardens. That means no panel installations on your roof, no fire code worries, no big capital investments.

She said, “Count me in!”

Then I told her about Our Power, an organization that connects people to community solar projects as soon as they become available. “So I signed up,” she says, “because this is the kind of thing we’ve really been waiting for and I decided, I’m not going to miss it.”

Meet Toby – Child Psychologist, Life-long New Yorker, Hopeful Grandma

With her stylish silver hair, bright eyes, and bohemian jewelry, Toby is the quintessential baby boomer. Now in her mid-60s, Toby still works long hours as a child psychologist. Her husband is retired; her children are grown up and living on their own.

“The last big thing I want out of life is grandkids,” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

“The thing is, when you get to this point in life – it’s no longer so much about you anymore. You start thinking a whole lot more about the world your kids are facing, the world your grandchildren might face. And you think, how can I make this better for them?”

Toby has always cared about the environment. She recycled before it was cool. When her son started having asthma attacks as a little boy, she worried about the air quality in the city. Was living here hurting him?

She’s kept her eye on the renewable energy movement for the past five years or so. She believes switching to solar is as much about taking a stand against climate change and pollution as anything else.

“I have friends who live outside the city – Long Island or out in the country – and they put in solar panels. It was a big deal. I mean, it was expensive, a big decision. But I was really proud of them for making that choice. Living here, it never really seemed like an option.”

“How Are We Not Doing This?”

As Toby scanned the New York Times article, the stories sounded familiar. Couples, about her age, taking out loans to afford the upfront cost of panels. Or being told that, even though they were willing to pay, that it wasn’t worth it because their roofs were flat or shaded by other buildings.

“It’s frustrating when you want to do the right thing, and you see other people doing it, but it’s just not available to you,” she said.

Toby knows that solar technology has become much more affordable in recent years and that there are also a lot of new government incentives in New York to help people convert. Living in the city is expensive, she notes.

If solar can help lower her electricity bills, that’s huge.

“When you read that these people’s electricity bill went from over $250 per month to about $36 per month, you think, how are we not doing this?” she asked, referring to the Brooklyn couple cited in the article (a filmmaker and TV producer in their late 60s).

“But then you read that it cost them almost $7,000 up front to install the panels! I get that that’s a lot less than it used to be. Still, that’s not a small amount money.”

Going, Going, Gone…

What surprised Toby the most was that the article didn’t refer to community solar at all. “They mention these solar co-op groups people are starting, which is great. But that still means people installing panels on their roofs and that’s not going to be an option for everyone. Our roof is flat, we’re surrounded by buildings. So for us, community solar will be a better way to go. But it still seems like it’s a bit of a secret.”

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I asked. “Well, I guess right now it’s kind of good for us because I expect that as soon as more people know about this, those community solar spots will fill up pretty quickly.”

It’s not lost on Toby that these new projects will only be able to serve about 2% of New York households.

Get in On the Secret

Nevertheless, she says, “ultimately I really hope people wake up to this idea. I hope the media start talking about it too because there are plenty of people like me who are ready for solar power. We want to leave the world a better place for our grand kids. We just need the opportunity.”

Are You in on New York’s Best Kept Solar Secret?

Become an Our Power Insider today.

NOTE About Our Partners – Partnerships with groups and companies like OurPower.solar enable us to bring you valuable information that helps you live the green life that’s important to you. Our editorial opinions remain our own.

Don’t Miss These Related Stories

The post Do You Know What Toby Knows? appeared first on Big Green Purse.