Solar Panels Increase Home Resale Value
Anyone who has lived near Asheville, NC for any amount of time has seen how competitive the real estate market has become. There are homes being built and sold every day at a premium. A recent study has shown there is an earth-friendly way to increase the resale value of your home (vs a kitchen or bath remodel) and make it more appealing to buyers amongst the myriad of other listings.
Real Estate Resale Study
A yearlong study by Zillow.com has shown that installing a Solar Energy System on your residence will increase the value by over 4%. In Asheville, the average home sale price is $284,500 which would result in raising the listing price by at least an additional $11,380. Another study by Berkeley Lab and the US Dept. of Energy found home buyers are willing to pay over $15,000 extra for a home with an already installed solar energy system. Both of these amounts are above the net cost for installing an average sized solar energy system, making the homeowner extra cash even before considering net metering savings on electric utility bills.
One of the most common worries we hear from people interested in residential solar is that they may have to sell their home or are unsure if they will move in the next few years. This should make their decision even easier! It truly is a no-brainer to make the switch to use clean and renewable energy, lower utility bills, and make money when it comes time to sell your home.
Going Solar For Less
For those interested in solar financing, SolFarm offers zero down, unsecured, penalty free (pay the loan off whenever you like) solar loans. Combining a solar loan with the Duke Energy rebate, and the Federal ITC (30% until the end of 2019! Drops to 26% January 2020.), can help you go solar for a whole lot less than you may expect. Contact us for your free quote!
Read More:
https://emp.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/lbnl-1002778.pdf
https://www.zillow.com/research/solar-panels-house-sell-more-23798/
- Published in Solar Energy, Solar News
DC’s Ambitious Clean Energy Requirement
Recently, Washington D.C.’s city council voted unanimously to require the district to use 100% renewable energy by 2032. Additionally, all public transport vehicles and privately-owned fleets will be required to be emissions free by 2045. With the threat of climate change becoming more and more prevalent, this fast-tracked plan will hopefully set a precedent across the country. Quite a few cities have already set renewable energy goals, but D.C. has by far the biggest. There are only two statewide policies, in California and Hawaii, of becoming 100% renewable energy dependent. As we see federal regulations becoming more lax, it is inspiring to see so much change at the lower levels of government.
Much of the funding for this initiative will come from large utility companies who will be making payments into the Renewable Energy Development Fund. Some D.C. residents are already paying additional rates for using natural gas and electricity, which have been funding the REDF. Part of the funding will be allocated to low-income residents, as transitioning a home to clean energy can require more of an upfront cost.
With this push for clean energy, we are pleased to see a boom in solar energy. Washington D.C. mandated that at least 10% of its energy be from the sun by 2041. On the other side of the country, California has already implemented a requirement that every new construction build to include solar panels. There have been countless smaller solar subsidies in other areas that have progressed the industry; including North and South Carolina.
Read more:
- Published in Climate Change, Policy, Solar News
USDA Grants & Loans For Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency
With all the recent talk about the Duke Energy solar rebate there has been little highlighting of funding available for rural businesses and agricultural producers provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. Small businesses in rural areas and many agricultural producers are eligible for guaranteed loans and unrestricted grants to help finance energy efficiency programs. To see if your business is located in a designated rural zone click here.
There are no location restrictions on agricultural producers if 50% of their gross income comes from agricultural operations.
USDA currently offers grant funding up to 25% of the total cost of a project and loans funding up to 75% of the total cost of a project. This program makes achieving energy efficiency for small and rural businesses an attainable goal. This funding may be applied not only to solar energy systems but to hydro-power, wind generation, biomass, and high efficiency HVAC systems.
The goal of this program is to increase energy supply from the private sector and provide more independence for people located further from big energy hubs. Taking large demands off the grid brings down demand and cost for everyone while also providing jobs to local alternative energy installers.
Similar to the Duke Rebate, there are deadlines to apply for these incentives. Click here for the official North Carolina USDA website for details about eligibility, deadlines, and financial statistics about these loans. The South Carolina USDA webpage can be found here.
Give us a call and we can tell you if your company qualifies for a USDA grant and/or loan for your solar energy project.
- Published in Solar Energy, Solar News
Australia Offering Battery Subsidies
Similar to the rebate that Duke Energy is offering locally here in North Carolina to its customers for the installation of solar energy, the Southern Australian government has just announced a $70M subsidy for residential battery systems. Currently, batteries are by far the most expensive aspect of a solar energy system but are not necessary components unless your goal is to be completely off-grid or have sustainable backup power during power outages. Adding batteries to a solar energy system can tack on an additional $10,000 or more, but this subsidy would offer up to $6,000 back to homeowners; making batteries a more realistic option.
The goal of the battery subsidy is to provide 40,000 households with energy storage systems to reduce peak hour energy usage. Removing this large of a load from the grid will drastically reduce demand of traditional energy power plants thus lowering the cost of energy for every customer.
For traditional energy sources, such as coal fired power plants, it is very costly to ramp up production to meet peak demands. Unexpected peak demands are worse in that, in some cases, it may take hours for a plant to drastically increase production to meet an unplanned, sudden demand. Unexpected peak demands can cause blackouts (loss of power) and brownouts (low voltage) in the event that the power plant cannot meet the sudden increase in load.
Hopefully we can expect more clean energy incentives such as this in the US as we see the positive implications they have had in other progressive countries.
Interested in a free quote for battery backup power for your home or business? Give us a call!
Click Here for more information and original article.
- Published in Policy, Solar News
Solar Tariffs Less of a Threat Than First Predicted
After President Trump approved the solar panel tariff earlier this year, prospects for the American solar industry were not the brightest. However, those predictions may prove to be false.
Having employed more than 250,000 Americans in 2017, the solar industry has seen tremendous growth in the last decade with a small decline in 2017. The solar panel tariff, while attempting to protect American solar panel manufacturers, put the larger part of the solar industry at risk. Manufacturing in Asia is simply cheaper than manufacturing in America, regardless of product or protections. With tariffs raising the price of solar panels imported from China to aid American solar panel manufacturers, solar panels became an option less people could afford. For solar installers, the shrinking pool of potential customers is not ideal. The tariffs created a sizable setback of 2018 solar installation projects.
However, the effect of the solar panel tariff may not be as extreme as some feared. China committed to renewable energy and remain committed; production of Chinese solar and wind energy has only increased. In fact, within the country, they have begun transitioning solar and wind from subsidies to auction, effectively proving that in a country dedicated to lessening its dependence on fossil fuels, renewables can be economically competitive without government interference.
Solidly focused on solar, China has already managed to lower production time and cost between the time the tariffs were put in place and today. The tariffs may be a short-term benefit to American solar panel manufacturers, but even with the tariffs, that benefit will not last. As China pulls subsidies from wind and solar, the Chinese solar panel market will become more competitive than it already is by increasing efficiency and decreasing cost.
The solar panel tariff temporarily wounded the American solar industry, but it was not a fatal blow. Solar energy technologies will consistently decrease is cost as time goes on and the solar industry will thrive because of it.
- Published in Policy, Solar Energy, Solar News
Trash to Solar
As the need to distance ourselves from fossil fuels becomes more urgent due to climate change and pollution in general, solar power is emerging as a leading alternative. It can be scaled to be used by individuals or large utilities; and best of all- it’s renewable. However, large scale solar farms require large tracts of land that have long and regular periods of sunlight. Suitable areas can usually be found in many rural settings and deserts, but transferring that energy over lengthy power lines to more populated areas can be expensive and inefficient.
A new trend is emerging that seems like a promising answer to this inconvenience – building on retired landfills! When a landfill is full it is covered with a polyethylene cap, a thin layer of soil, and finally grass. Despite it’s more pleasing aesthetics, this brownfield ground is still mostly unusable as it is unstable and not suitable for building large structures. Because of the gasses and toxins emitted by the covered landfill the growing of crops is also not a viable option. However, this acreage is perfect for large scale solar farms. Ballasted anchors are used to stabilize the solar array to avoid penetrating the landfill cap. This specialized racking system allows for thousands of solar panels to be installed on this otherwise unusable land; producing a lot of clean, renewable energy.
Landfills are typically built outside of, but close to, city limits and already have access to the power grid. This makes transporting energy for use in more densely populated areas much easier. Right now, there is an estimated 10,000 capped landfills in the US alone, and that number is only growing. The construction of large solar farms would not only positively impact the environment, it would create thousands of well-paying and sustainable jobs on land that is otherwise sitting unused.
- Published in Climate Change, Solar Energy, Solar News, Solar Technology
