Solar Energy Is Cheaper

You found the perfect place to build a home or camp with a great view and lots of land.  The only problem is that it’s a long way from the nearest power line and Penelec wants to charge a fortune to provide you with electricity.  Solar is your solution and you’ll never have to pay the utility a dime.

For rural off-grid applications solar is:

• Safer and quieter than wind
• More predictable than wind
• Less expensive than running a long-distance drop from the utility
• Backed up by a generator for extended cloudy and snowy weather

But most people only make the decision to go solar when the economics work.  So here you can see some real examples of how solar costs less than the utility.

Large Home Far From the Nearest Power Line

Example 1:  You want to build a new home 3000 feet away from the nearest power line.  The utility charges $25/foot for an overhead line.  Their charge will be $75,000 AND you get a utility bill for the rest of your life.  A cheaper option is to have a solar array, battery bank, and backup generator for dependable power day or night.  You’ll be able to have lots of electrical appliances and even a hot-tub if you want.  But be sure your heating system and hot water uses propane.

$60,000 total costs

• $15,600 Federal tax credit (26%)

$44,400 Net cost after tax savings.

You save $30,000 just in building, and you’ll never have a utility bill either.  A 15,000 Watt array will generate an average of 45 kWh per day in the winter and over 75 kWh per day in the summer.  A 40-kWh lithium battery bank will store energy for nights and days of no sun and a generator can charge the batteries for stretches of bad weather usually in the winter.

…or you could just connect to the utility for an extra $30,000 AND pay about $2000 or more per year….forever.

Small home (or big cabin)

Example 2:  You want to build a new home ¼ mile from the nearest power line.  The utility charges $40,000 for the poles, transformer, and service line AND you get a utility bill for the rest of your life.  A cheaper option is to have a solar array, battery bank, and backup generator for dependable power day or night.  Just like the large home example, you will want to use propane (or natural gas) for your heat, hot water, and to run the generator for extended cloudy times.

$40,000 total costs

• $10,400 Federal tax credit (26%)

$29,600 Net cost after tax savings.

You save $10,000 just in building, and you’ll never have a utility bill either.  A 10,000 Watt array will generate an average of 30 kWh per day in the winter and over 50 kWh per day in the summer.  A 20-kWh lithium battery bank will store energy for nights and days of no sun and a generator can charge the batteries for stretches of bad weather usually in the winter.

…or you could just connect to the utility for an extra $30,000 AND pay about $2000 or more per year….forever.

Summer Cabin, Not So Rustic

Example 3:  You have a cabin in the mountains that you use for an occasional weekend and longer stretches in the summer.  You have to run a generator all day and all night for just a few lights and to pump water.  You could truck in gasoline for a noisy generator and spend lots of your leisure time doing maintenance on the generator or just go solar to have trouble free and quiet electricity.

$12,000 total costs

• $3,120 Federal tax credit (26%)

$8,900 Net cost after tax savings.

You’ll have an array that will generate an average of 10 kWh per day with plenty of battery storage for bad weather.  With this you’ll have no problem powering a refrigerator, pump, TV, and lights making your cabin the modern get away that you want.