Rooftop Solar Panels: Benefits, Costs, and Smart Policies
“Rooftop solar panels have never been more affordable for homeowners, business owners, and their communities. You can now buy solar panels at extremely reasonable costs due to growing economies of rooftop solar PV systems.”
The shift toward clean, reliable, and affordable electricity in the UK is most visible in the rapid proliferation of solar panels mounted on the roofs of homes and businesses. Between the year 2008 and 2014, residential, commercial, and institutional rooftop solar grew on an average of more than 50 percent per year.
Solar is to a great extent, an equal opportunity renewable energy, with sufficient sunshine across the nation to make solar an attractive option in every state. A well-sited five-kilowatt solar system (photovoltaic or PV) can generate the equivalent of two-thirds to three-quarters of a typical household electricity use.
Individuals and businesses have been attracted not just to the environmental advantages of solar power but also to the ability to generate their own power and to the fixed and competitive price of electricity that these systems provide.
The Environmental Advantages of Installing Roof Solar Panels
Unlike fossil fuels that still provide the bulk of the UK power supply, solar panels or PV systems generate electricity with no air or carbon pollution, no ash or other waste products, and no inputs other than sunlight. While the manufacturing of solar panels, like all other energy devices or technical systems, involve emissions. PV electricity generation itself:
Produces none of the other harmful emissions or wasters associated with coal power, such as sulfur dioxide, mercury, nitrogen oxides, lead, and arsenic
Generates no carbon dioxide or other heart-trapping gases that contribute to climate change
Avoids the environmental risks associated with natural gas, including potential water pollution during extraction
Creates none of the long-lasting waste or environmental risks associated with nuclear power
What is more, rooftop solar PV electricity generation involves is little to no water. That stands in contrast to almost all power plants that make electricity using steam. Some of those include coal and nuclear plants, several natural gas plants, and many other renewable energy facilities, which depend on water for cooling. Such kind of dependence often cause problems when cooling water becomes too scarce or too hot. Solar PV systems in contrast need no water to make electricity. It is the most wonderful electricity creation system. These days, there are various companies in the UK that offer solar panels for sale. This makes upgrading to solar in the UK more convenient. You must opt for solar PV upgrade with the help of those UK-based companies that are offering solar PV systems for sale.
Smart Policies: What Makes Rooftop Solar PV Installation Grow
Federal, state, and local policies are the key to the success of rooftop solar and the clean electricity that these systems offer. Examples of effective policies being used today comprises:
Feed-In Tariffs: Under feed-in tariffs, homeowners and businesses are paid under standardized contracts offering fixed prices for solar generation over an established, often long-term period. Available in some parts of the UK, similar feed-in tariffs have helped drive substantial renewable energy development.
Net Metering: Net Metering policies give system owners credit on their utility bills for generating more electricity than they use, generally at the full retail electricity rates.
Solar Carve-Outs: Some states target small-scale solar within their broader efforts to increase investments in renewable energy, needing utilities to invest in solar energy and /or distributed generation as part of their broader renewable electricity standards. Such carve-outs offer solar system owners potential additional revenue.
Tax Incentives and Subsides: In addition to the 30 percent federal tax credit, almost all states have tax incentives for homeowners and businesses for renewable energy purchase, and some local governments offer incentives such as property tax exemptions. Municipalities with property-assessed clean energy (PACE) programs provide financing for purchase of solar PV systems on homes or commercial properties, then recover the costs through property taxes over time.
Ownership Options for Solar Panels
Many homeowners and businesses are taking benefit of third-party ownership options. Under solar leases or power purchase agreements, electricity customers typically pay little or nothing up front for rooftop systems, then get electricity from the systems over a long period at attractive fixed rates. The systems remain the property of the project developers that may be private firms or electric utilities themselves.
In 2014, more than 70% of new residential systems were third-party-owned.
Rooftop solar panel installation is going mainstream. The falling prices and innovative financing structures mean that rooftop solar is more broadly available, and that the pool of customers comes from increasingly diverse economic backgrounds. You can buy solar panels at much reasonable costs. What is more important, some states have policies to specifically assist low-income or disadvantaged populations.
Commercial firms have also embraced rooftop solar PV systems not only to improve their environmental profiles but also to reduce their operating expenses.
Moreover, the falling costs of rooftop solar PV systems results in improvements in the technology and economies of scale among manufacturers. Global solar panel production has increased from 24,000 megawatts in 2010 to 40,000 MW in 2014.
So, make a smart move for electricity creation for homes or commercial places by installing rooftop solar panels in your domestic or commercial places!!
