A Brighter Future

Benefits of Going Solar

The sun in one hour radiates more energy onto earth than the entire human population uses in one year. It is estimated by scientists that the sun, in its current form, is half-way through its life span and has about 5 billion years left. Let’s face it – that is a lot of solar energy!

Advantages

The advantages of solar are clear. You can save money, raise the value of your home and community, and have greater independence from imported fossil fuels, a brighter, richer and cleaner environment. Most importantly, you can get relief from the volatility of energy prices.

Currently, solar power provides only 2 percent of the power used in the United States. As solar technology improves, the cost of switching to solar energy use will drop. This will help improve our ability to capture and use the sun’s abundant energy.

Helping The Environment

Using solar energy is a great way to not only save money but also help the environment. A 5-kilowatt solar system can reduce greenhouse gasses by up to 9,000 pounds per year!

Energy Independence

Among many other renewable energy sources, solar energy will be the single leading energy source in moving the U.S. closer to be energy independent. Energy independence refers to reducing our need for other countries to provide our source of electrical power. It means we could reduce the amount of oil that we import from other countries, making us a more self-sustaining country.

Let us work together to achieve energy independence by increasing our capacity to generate clean energy from the sun, we also can claim independence from price fluctuations in global energy markets.

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Own Your Power

One of the most significant benefits of solar is declaring freedom from the utility company. As we say here at SPM, “start owning your power.” With us, you can!

Start Reducing Your Electricity Bill

There’s no doubt about it, solar-powered electricity is a cost-saving energy alternative. Depending on the size of your solar power system, it can start generating more electricity than your home consumes, making your meter spin backward. When you go solar, you can decrease your monthly electric bill, instantly saving on electricity month over month.

Generate Free Power

With a solar panel system, your home will generate free power. Even if your solar power system does not produce 100 percent of the energy your house consumes, you still will be reducing your energy bills and owning the power your panels produce.

Increased Costs without Solar

The U.S. energy costs will continue to increase as more homeowners go solar. As more people generate their own electricity, there will be fewer and fewer people paying the utility companies.

How do you think the utilities will pay for the massive costs of maintaining the grid with less revenue?

You are correct, the fewer people paying electricity bills, the utilities will have to pay dramatically higher utility rates to compensate for lost revenue, resulting in higher utility bills.

Increase Your Property’s Value

Homes with solar, based on an article from Money Magazine, sell on an average 4.1% more. For example, a $226,000 home would be worth $235,040 which is an increase of $9,040.

From the same study, there’s evidence that they also sell faster than non-solar ones. As more homebuyers become interested in the benefits of solar, demand for properties with solar panels will continue to grow.

How Do Solar Panels Increase Home Value?

The energy savings provided by solar panels translate into better value for your home. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that every dollar saved on energy through solar increases home value by $20.

That’s a return on investment of 20 to 1. When you sell your house, these better savings equal bigger profits.

According to Zillow, homes with solar panels sell for approximately 4 percent higher on average than homes without solar energy. That means an added value of about $9,200.

Homeowners who switch to solar can see an impressive return on investment (ROI) through their electricity bill savings. The average American homeowner with a solar panel system can start seeing an ROI in 6 to 8 years, that’s an annual return of 16.67% to 12.5%, guaranteed from savings on your electric.

Add to the raised value of the home, that payback can be, for example, 4 to 6 years, or 25% to 16.67% ROI. Pretty awesome, wouldn’t you agree?

Tax-free Savings

The truth is, solar panel systems offer greater returns, the longer you have them. They become tax-free returns since they’re savings, not income. The advantage of solar energy is that even when you decide to sell your house, you still are expected to see a return on investment thanks to the increase of your property’s value due to the solar panel installation.

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The Solar ITC Credits and Illinois solar incentives, combined with the current process of net metering, make it a perfect time to consider solar. Illinois solar incentives and federal tax credits cover about 45-64% of the purchase price of solar, which helps your ROI payback period and faster ownership of producing your own energy.

State Of Illinois Solar Incentives and Tax Credits

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Introducing Illinois SRECs - Your Deserved Payback

The State of Illinois is incentivizing homeowners with an upfront payment determined by how much energy your system is expected to produce over 15 years. You will receive your payment by check from the state, in up to 4 months after your installation.

SREC Payments

The Illinois solar incentive payments utilities make are technical payments for Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) that your system will generate. One Illinois SREC represents the renewable attributes of one megawatt-hour of electricity generated by a solar system.

Utilities such as ComEd must purchase these SRECs from you on terms dictated by the Illinois Power Agency (IPA), a unit of State of Illinois. For most residential systems, they must pay for 15 years of estimated SREC production in advance, when you first install your system.

The Illinois Power Agency sets the prices for Illinois SRECs. Click here to see an information brochure on the program: https://illinoisshines.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DG-Brochure-Update-3-25-2021-1.pdf

Note: These SREC’s are only provided in limited amounts, and once used are reduced, and then will expire. Take advantage of your incentives while they are available. The number of SRECs which a home solar system will produce over 15 years depends on the size of the system (measured in kilowatts). The position of the panels on the home is relative to the sun (south-facing is best), shading, and a few other factors.

Here is an example of a fairly typical system

System size = 8.4 kWdc
Est. production over 15 years = 146 MWh
Est. SRECs produced = 146 SRECs
Price per SREC (group B) – Ameren Utility = $85.10
Total incentive = $12,424

(As stated above, for almost all residential systems this incentive is paid shortly after your system is installed. For very large residential systems these benefits may be paid over four years).

SREC Prices Will Decline Over Time,
And Expire Sooner Than Later

This will only last for the first 5,000-10,000 systems. Once that block of systems has been installed, the price will decline. For each subsequent block of systems, the price will decline further.

Federal Solar Tax Credit

In addition to the Illinois solar incentive, most homeowners can also benefit from a federal solar tax credit. Section 25D of the Internal Revenue Code for a tax credit equal to 26% of the cost of system installed in 2021: