As home heating oil prices fluctuate and consumers struggle to cope with the rising costs of operating their homes, green-minded homeowners are turning to solar power for solutions.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, all the energy stored in the earth’s reserves of coal, oil and natural gas is matched by the energy produced from just 20 days of sunshine.
Homeowners considering utilizing sunlight to reduce energy bills, and lessen their carbon footprint, have two primary choices available – solar thermal water heating and photovoltaic electricity generation.
The photovoltaic process uses the sun to generate electricity and solar thermal uses the sun to heat water. Both are green and both are good. But solar thermal often is the technology of choice for homeowners primarily due to the lower initial cost, greater efficiency and faster payback.
Jim Cika, manager of solar products for VELUX America, recommends that consumers do their homework on the technologies, as well as calculations for how solar-friendly their homes may be, factoring in geographic location, orientation of the roof for solar collectors, costs, tax incentives and rebates that may be available.
The Internet also offers a number of Web sites that can be helpful with an analysis and then with locating products and installers. Findsolar.com and nabcep.org list certified installers by state. Solar-rating.org lists certified solar-equipment manufacturers.
Eere.energy.gov/consumer includes a link to a calculator for initial cost, annual operating costs and determining payback, as well as a consumers’ guide to solar thermal. At nrel.gov, the site offers a consumers’ guide to photovoltaic. Federal and state tax credit information, by geographic area, is also available at dsireusa.org.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association an average-sized, 4.5-kilowatt residential photovoltaic system costs $40,000 to $50,000, before tax credits or rebates. In contrast, Cika said, the average solar thermal hot water system ranges between $7,000 and $10,000.
“On average if you install a solar water heater, your water heating bills should drop 50 to 80 percent – not an insignificant sum when you consider that the Department of Energy says that water heating can account for 14 to 25 percent of the energy consumed in our homes,” Cika said.
While a solar thermal system usually costs more to purchase and install than a conventional water heating system, it can save you money in the long run. How much depends on factors including the amount of hot water you use, your system’s performance, your geographic location, the solar resources available, financing, incentives, the cost of conventional fuels and the cost of the fuel you use for a backup water heating system, if you have one.
If you’re building a new home or refinancing, the economics are even more attractive. Including the price of a solar thermal system in a new 30-year mortgage usually amounts to between $13 and $20 per month. The federal income tax deduction for mortgage interest attributable to the solar system reduces that by about $3 to $5 per month. So, if your fuel savings are more than $15 per month, the solar investment is profitable immediately.
Cika says that solar water heating represents a logical first step for homeowners who want to harness the power of the sun because it is relatively simple technology compared to generating electricity from the sun. “The technologies accomplish different objectives,” he said, “but they both pay increasing dividends to homeowners who utilize them now and in the future.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
