Last fall, we took the plunge and added solar panels to our home. Like many people, we were drawn to the promise of lower energy bills, energy independence, and contributing to a greener planet. After a year of having the panels, I thought I’d share our experience so far and whether I think solar is truly worth it.
The Initial Costs and Incentives
Solar is a long-term investment. Our system costs $67,000 upfront before incentives. Fortunately, we qualified for some significant rebates and tax credits that eased the financial hit:
- $17,000 Tax Rebate — A huge help when it came time to file taxes. This is a rebate so the money isn’t seen until you file taxes and only really works if you have paid in enough to get the money back. If your income and tax burden aren’t enough to cover this — it will carry over so that you can file it the next year also…. but if you have very little income tax that would have been owed, you may not recoup the money.
- $14,000 Solar Shines Incentive — This program made a big difference in reducing out-of-pocket costs.
We’re still waiting for our final incentive check, which should arrive this week, and fingers crossed it comes through without any hiccups! For us, the rebate plus incentive covered a little less than 50% of the cost. We did get a system with batteries which added substantially to the cost. The batteries though take the place of a generator we would have gotten…
