Solar Payback

Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest questions on the mind of someone looking into solar-powering their home or business is: “What's the payback?”

It turns out this question has many positive answers!

For those who are motivated by environmental stewardship, payback can come in the form of the positive thought that a single solar (photovoltaic) panel, over its 40-plus year lifespan, will offset the need to burn 50,000 pounds of coal!

For someone looking for a more financially secure retirement, payback is the peace of mind that comes in knowing your budget won't be affected by ever increasing utility rates.

Speaking of “peace of mind,” there is a lot to be said of an investment with a guaranteed return (as long as the sun keeps coming up) as opposed to the anxiety of stocks or other similar investments these days.

For someone looking to add value to their home for resale, it's not hard to see that a solar system that will save tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in utility expenses over the next 40 years will make their home more inviting than, say, any of the others for sale in the neighborhood still powered by a huge, for-profit, utility company.

For those who are simply sick and tired of rate hikes, payback doesn't get any sweeter than the sight of a backwards spinning utility meter!

All of these benefits are really just an added bonus when we look at how the numbers add up. If you presently use 1,000 kiloWatt-hours of energy a month, your last electric bill was around $130 and your annual payments come to about $1,500. At the historical rate of electric bill inflation (6%) you will spend $80,000 over the next 25 years, just on electricity! There is no such thing as “payback” when it comes to electricity coming from utility companies…every dollar you spend is gone forever.

Now let's look at the situation for someone who installs a solar PV system designed to eliminate that electric bill: The panels have a 25-year warranty and have a practical lifespan of 35-40 years. If you are able to take advantage of the current rebates and tax credits, you will likely pay $10-15K for your PV system…so over the warranted life of the system you will see a 500-800% return on initial investment and that number doesn't include increased property value.

If you are installing a solar system on your business, the deal gets even better because in addition to rebates and tax credits, you can also apply depreciation to the solar equipment.

If you ask me, that all adds up to a pretty amazing “payback”!

Greg Schaefer

Energy consultant

High Noon Solar

569 S. Westgate Dr. #4

Grand Junction, CO 81505

Office: 241-0209

Website: highnoonsolar.com