Five Reasons to Invest in Solar Energy

The Go Green Guy | August 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

Five Reasons to Invest in Solar Energy: A Guest post from Ryan Shipley

Okay, so solar panels may be expensive to install and they aren’t going to win any architectural awards; but isn’t that a small price to pay? The pros outweigh the cons tenfold and more when it comes to investing in solar energy and here are five reasons why.

1.) Rising Energy Bills
The cost of conventional energy on public systems isn’t going down. Fossil fuels are only running out, there is a limited supply of oil and gas on the earth and unless we have millions of years to wait for the process to re-ignite, we will be short soon. It’s the same with any product; higher consumer demand equals higher cost. We could see energy bills double or triple when fossil fuels really begin to become scarce. Investing now in your own energy systems will pay for themselves long before the fuel crisis hits. Solar energy won’t run out, demand will rise but costs cannot.

2.) Sustainability
The crowning flaw of the energy systems we use today is their shortfall in sustainability. A lot of fuss is being made about companies reforesting areas devastated by their need for packaging. Real sustainability is the optimisation of a resource that cannot falter. Blight or fire could eliminate a plantation and set the reforestation program back fifty or a hundred years. Solar energy won’t deplete whilst the sun shines, and if the sun stops shining then heating our homes will be the last of our worries.

3.) Financial Incentives
Once the original installation cost has been made back by money saved on bills, you can continue to use them as personal energy. However, the government in the UK offers a buy back scheme in which you are paid for generating your own electricity. You get paid from your Feed-In Tariff and the Grid Benefit. Couple this with the costs saved on your bills and you can earn in excess of £10,000 in the long term.
In the US, Solar projects often qualify for a number of government incentives. Potential subsidies include: rebates, tax credits, grants, Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs), and accelerated depreciation. In some cases the combination of Federal, State, and local subsidies can offset up to 70% of the total installed cost. There is also a federal buy back program.

4.) Cleanliness is next to Godliness
Solar Energy doesn’t contribute to the greenhouse effect. What more can I say in its defence? Unlike types of fuel which need to be burned, solar energy does not harm the environment. By taking your foot off the pedal in terms of global warming, the earth will begin to heal itself. So not only are you harnessing free energy and getting paid for it, you’re also doing your bit to save the planet. No brainer?!

5.) Get Creative.
I know that the first thing I said was that solar panels ‘aren’t going to win any architectural awards’ but tell that to the developers of ‘solar trees.’ Decorative means of producing solar energy isn’t beyond us; solar trees take on the appearance of metallic twigs and branches with solar panels for over sized leaves. Think outside the box, you don’t need to have an array of panels across your precious thatched roof. You could have a bank of them as a modernist wall, construct a futuristic car port out of them, the sky (or the sun) is the limit.

Author Bio: Ryan Shipley works for solar panel suppliers and believes in the importance of renewable energy to remove the dependence on non-renewable sources that pollute the environment. He currently works for [All Eco Energy] who are suppliers of [SMA inverters].