Take a look at how much you could save.The following example is based on one of our mid sized kits called the "American II System", calculated at 25 cents per Kilowatt hour times 25 years.
The American II system produces approximately 3.13 PTC adjusted Kilowatts per hour. 3.13 KW times only 5 hours of sunshine per day equals 15.67 Kilowatt hours per day. 15.67 Kwh times 365 days per year equals 5719.55 Kilowatt hours per year.
5719.55 Kilowatt hours per year times 25 cents per Kilowatt hour equals an electric bill savings of $1429.89 per year.
The American system's list price is $32,214.00. After Solarrebate's discount, the price is brought down to $24,970.00 plus tax equals $26905.17. Typical installation cost is approximately $5000.00 which bring the total system cost to $31,905.17.
Now subtract the State's rebate of $14,242.69 (Effective 10/2002) and you get a final system cost of approximately $17,662.48
Next subtract the 15% State tax credit and you're left with a final cost of $15,013.11
System payback time: To find the amount of time that it will take to recover your investment at a 25 cent per Kwh rate, take the $15,013.11 net system cost and divide it by the $1429.89 that you'll save on your electric bill per year and you will find that it will take approximately 10.5 years for the system to pay for itself. Now remember that's only 10.5 years, solar modules have a life expectancy of 40 plus years !
Electric bill savings over a 25 year period: (Now here's where it gets good !) By multiplying the annual savings amount of $1429.89 per year times 25 years you'll get approximately $35,747.25 in gross savings
Next take the $35,747.25 gross savings on your electric bill and subtract the $15,013.11 final cost of your system and you will have saved $20,734.14 in electricity cost over the 25 year period. That's money that will be kept in your pocket not the utility company's pocket !
And that's only using 25 years and 25 cents per Kwh as a factor. Solar modules have an estimated life expectancy of 40 plus years, and do you believe for a moment that the cost of electricity will be below 25 cents per kilowatt hour for the next 25 years ?
The next time you get ready to plunk down $16,000 plus for a new car, imagine that the bulk of it came with a 25 year warranty and that it could last 40 plus years and had no maintenance other than an occasional rinsing off with a garden hose. Imagine that it helped to clean the air instead of pollute it.
Next imagine that the longer you used it, the less it would cost you. And that after 10.5 years it would actually pay for itself, and after 25 years of its 40 year plus life expectancy, imagine that you could actually walk away with an extra $20,734.14 in your pocket.
Now stop imagining, solar electricity is real, it works, and it makes sense for the environment and your wallet. The above example was calculated at 25 cents per kilowatt hour and 5 hours of full sunshine per day, you may not be paying 25 cents per Kwh today, but with rates rising like they are, it may not be long before we all wished for the days when electricity cost only 25 cents per Kwh.
The previous calculations were based on ideal conditions using peak efficiency values, It does not consider the possible cost of money if you were to finance the purchase, and is meant to be used as an example only. Your results may vary depending on factors such as the system size, degree of annual cloud cover, dirt and guano (bird droppings) build up on the solar modules, time of day, obstacles to sunlight such as trees and buildings, and the direction that the solar modules are pointed at.
Click here for more details about the States 15% tax credit.