If you are looking to become energy independent, there is no better, more surefire way to do that than to install a residential solar power system for your home.

The average home uses nearly 10,000 kWh of electricity a year. That equates to a little over $1,000 at current rates. Larger homes, inefficient appliances, and more electronics can all make homes use $3,000 or more in electricity annually.

Thinking about all the things that use electricity in your home: television, washer, dryer, oven, fridge, microwave, air conditioners, heaters, and many more, and you can see why you would want to have your own supply of electricity instead of relying upon the power grid. A residential solar power system can take you off the grid or at the very least reduce your dependence on it.

Self-Contained

One of the biggest benefits that a residential solar power system provides is that it provides power directly to your home. That way, you can always rely on it to supply a certain amount of power, and batteries ensure that you can continue using it into the night. However, getting off the grid completely might be an unreachable goal (economically) for many homeowners, as these systems do cost many thousands of dollars.

Fortunately, tax credits provide a large amount of relief, often lowering the cost of these systems by 40% or more. Still, residential solar electric power is a little too expensive to get homeowners completely off the power grid.

In the future though, there will be additional electrical demands placed upon you. Electric cars will need to be charged up. Right now, they can only provide about 30-50 miles on the battery charge alone before they switch over to another fuel source, but in the future, we could see mainstream electric cars getting 300, 500, 1000 mile battery charges. Still, they will need charged up, and this will probably most often be done at your home. Electricity is much cheaper per mile than gasoline, so you’ll still be saving money, but by upgrading your wiring now with a residential solar power system, you can ensure that you won’t run into any problems later.

Installation can be costly, sometimes thousands of dollars depending on the size of the system and the supplier. However, stores like Home Depot are now offering installation of solar kits to customers, and it’s making the process more mainstream. As solar power becomes more mainstream, the prices will be lowered, not only from a retailer perspective but also a technological and production standpoint. Residential solar power systems are now economically feasible, technologically smart, and environmentally moral.

Get Start With Your Self Made Residential Solar Power System Now !

Replacing incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones is another cost saving opportunity that many people are using (and it is a fairly cheap upgrade now as well). Little things such as turning the TV off at night and turning lights off when you aren’t using them can also have an impact. However, the only way to finally break your ties to the power grid is through residential solar power. While costly at first, rest assured that the savings will quickly add up.

Finding the Right Size

There are a variety of residential solar power systems available for residential use. They range, for residential purposes, from 1,000 to 25,000 watt systems, rated for 50 to 1600 square feet homes. Over 25 years, a 10,000 watt system will save a homeowner nearly $50,000 while using 10,000 kWh a year. The savings scale with the size of the system and household energy consumption, so your own savings might be larger or smaller with residential solar power.

Many people choose to supplement rather than replace their reliance on the power grid with residential solar power as solar power systems powerful enough to supply enough electricity for the average home are still a little expensive. $75,000 is a bit much for the average homeowner to get off the grid, even though those savings will help the system pay for itself in a decade or so.

However, you also need to take into account the tax credits that can be applied at both the state and federal level. For a variety of home improvements that make your house green, you can get valuable tax credits. That $75,000 solar power system listed above could get nearly a $35,000 tax credit, effectively lowering its cost to $40,000. Tax credits greatly decrease the cost of residential solar power, spurring the market with monetary incentives.

As our cars make the transition from gasoline engines to electric motors, our power grid will be taxed even further. By beginning to upgrade our power grid with smart technologies and making our homes energy independent with residential solar power, we can ensure the safety of our energy grid for years to come, all while saving ourselves money and protecting the environment.