Solar Energy: How Home Owners can Save Money While Protecting the Planet

LongIsland.com

Putting aside all of the social and ecological advantages, Investing in a solar system for your home or business is one of the highest yielding, safest investments you can make.

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The “Solar Perfect Storm” is here right now with average system paybacks in the 3-5 year range and return of Investment in the 20-33% range.  Thanks to technological advances and lower material costs due to increased production and Asian competition, the average solar installation price is now $4.00 per watt and lower.  Attach the third best rebate program in the nation through LIPA with the state and federal tax credits and you have an investment return that sounds almost too good to be true. But it’s not.  It is a proven reality here on Long Island!

As if all this weren’t enough, this investment is GUARANTEED!  For this return to work there are only two variables.

1-    The SUN must continue to shine the same way it has for thousands of years and not fall from the sky.

2-    Utility rates stay the same and do not significantly drop. Historically, electricity costs have risen 2%-4% a year since Thomas Alva Edison.

The simplified version is this:

You can now install a solar system on your home that will produce +/- $ 2,500 in electricity per year on your home or business.  After LIPA rebates and state and federal incentives, the cost can be under $9,000. One way to look at it is that in about three or four years, your investment is paid back 100% and that system will be producing free electricity for the next 21 years guaranteed. The other way to view this is that a $ 9000 investment will produce a guaranteed minimum of $ 2,500 in income for the next 25 to 40 years. It’s a safe bet that electric rates will steadily increase at a rate of at least 2% a year. That means in 25 years, a $ 9,000 investment will be generating over $ 4,000 per year in offset electricity and will have produced over $ 80,000 in tax free income. These are all very conservative numbers and are subject to slight variations depending on your personal application, but this data is compiled through over 600 installations that SUNATION Solar Systems has completed. There are also new financing options that eliminate the upfront costs, some with 0% interest and no payments.

Other benefits include:

  • Significant benefits to the environment.
  • Increased value to your home or business
  • Controlling your monthly and yearly utility costs.

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait till oil and coal run out before we tackle that." - Thomas Edison,1931

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This article was written by Scott Maskin, Co-Founder SUNATION Solar Systems, Inc.

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