CURRENT COST OF A HOME SOLAR POWER SYSTEM

Before undertaking a solar energy project, it is good to find out the current cost of a home solar power system. But you must also understand how to calculate the return on investment to consider the potential cost savings down the road.

Figuring out exactly how much your solar system will cost can be hard because electricity rates vary, and each state or country has different rebates that may affect the overall price of your system. But you can simply inquire how much it will cost to put solar panels on your roof.

Current Cost Of A Home Solar Power System

Currently, there’s enormous variation in the cost of solar panels based on the type and efficiency of the solar panels. But the type of panels used for residential solar installations is standard and the costs are basically set globally and they have fallen within the past few years to almost half the price they were in 2008 and about 100 times lower than they were back in 1977.

Unless you provide a detailed description of the job at hand, such as; the amount of wattage required, the type of installation involved, the specific products you want and much more…You cannot get an adequate estimate. This does not mean that there are no reliable ways for you to determine the approximate cost of the project you want to undertake, but it does mean that generic estimates are often less than helpful.

Calculating Your Solar Panel Cost And Return On Investment 

First of all, you need to calculate your solar panel cost and return on investment by establishing your payback period or the point at which your savings equal the cost of your solar power system and then bank your savings in energy costs.

In the calculation of your solar panel cost you need to subtract tax credits from what you paid for the system to come up with an accurate cost.

Solar panel cost

The energy your solar panels will collect

examine the amount of sunlight in your area and the position of your panels to determine how much energy your solar panels is able to collect. 

current electric bill

You need to know how much you pay for your electricity bills by dividing your total bill by the amount of hours of usage or multiplying the number of hours on your bill by the kilowatt per hour charge.

If you are selling electricity you can also calculate the income of a solar system by calculating the power it generates annually and the SRECs you sell to generate.

Calculate the return on investment by dividing the initial investment into the yearly income to get a percentage of the initial investment that is returned annually. 

Payback period

Studies show that an average solar homeowner will save about $20,000 over 20 years from the solar power system.

But again this depends your location’s climatic and morphological conditions, as well as other personal circumstances.

Therefore in all different conditions you should be able to gather comparable solar panel cost information in order to be able to compare the different solutions.

There are other expensive equipments you will need such as batteries and inverters. They are both expensive equipments that certainly have an impact on solar panels efficiency and overall performance of solar panels.

Project size

The size of the project has a direct bearing on the per watt price of the solar panels themselves. Large projects, which require the system to provide over 5,000 watts of power, have a lower per watt cost than small projects. According to a study funded in part by the United States Department of Energy, solar energy systems which provide more than 5,000 watts of electrical power generally cost between $3.80 and $4.40 per watt. Prices for this type of solar energy system, however, were as little as $2.90 per watt, and as much as $6.20 per watt.

Average July 2014 solar PV system prices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart,

Melbourne, Sydney and Perth

The cost of solar panels is around $14,000 and it can take alm0st 4.71 years to get your money back and any energy savings beyond this time frame represents your return on investment. You can get 21% of your money back in the first year alone.

Conclusion

The most valuable solution in getting the current cost of a home solar power system includes all factors mentioned here. However, the cost may not necessarily be the one with lower initial investment if it lasts longer enough to off-set its extra cost or if it yields a higher output.

If you are making a decision for your home solar panels it may be a good idea to visit how much does a solar panel cost and consult with a certified solar panel installer for assistance and professional advice.