In the previous two articles, we discussed the basics of how solar electricity works and how you can lower your overall energy bills by installing solar panels. In this article, we will examine the cost of solar electricity and how much it has actually decreased in the last 10 years.
Cost Of Solar Electricity
The price of solar electricity has decreased significantly in the past decade. Today, solar panels can be purchased for less than $0.06 per watt, and most utilities will grant you an upfront payment plus a discounted rate for the rest of the year. There are dozens of solar energy cost calculators online that can help you figure out how much solar energy will cost you annually in your area. For example, here’s a calculator from SolarCity that’ll tell you how much money you’ll save and how many kilowatt-hours of electricity you’ll produce annually by installing solar panels on your roof.
But what if you want to know how much it actually costs to run your home solely on solar energy? In the United States, this question is generally answered by the electric company, which calculates the average cost of electricity and adds an extra amount for the cost of generating it with solar (as opposed to fossil fuel). We can do the same thing here in Australia, with the exception that the average cost of electricity in Australia is much higher than it is in the United States. This is mainly due to the fact that the Australian dollar is much weaker than the U.S. dollar, causing the cost of everything from gas to oil to electricity to rise. In general, the cost of solar electricity varies by location, but is generally somewhere between 5 and 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Price To Date
Even considering inflation over the past decade, which increased the cost of almost everything, the price of solar electricity has declined significantly. The current price of photovoltaic solar electricity in Australia is around 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is still a lower cost than what most people are paying on their current electricity bills. The price will vary by location and size of installation, but it’s always somewhere between 5 and 10 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Overall Decrease In Cost
Since the introduction of the solar tax credit in 2006, the cost of installing solar panels has decreased by more than 95%. This is mainly due to two reasons. First, the installation costs have decreased thanks to the introduction of solar-friendly products (like silicone sealant, for example) and newer, more sophisticated tools (like lasers). Second, the price of solar panels has dropped dramatically due to increased competition and improved production processes. The result is that today, you can buy a 10-watt solar panel for less than $0.15, which is 20 times what it cost just a few years ago.
To put this into perspective, the overall cost of installing and running a home gym powered only by solar energy would be $16,440 per year, which is less than $0.25 per day. Compare that to the $23,400 it would cost you to run your home with gym equipment and electronics powered only by electricity generated by fossil fuels like coal or natural gas, and it’s clear that going green is more affordable today than it’s ever been before.
Solar Panel Delivery And Installation
Another significant cost that you’ll incur when installing solar panels is the cost of delivering and setting up the equipment on your roof. This is generally going to be done by a professional contractor, and it can range from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars. The cost will generally be based on how many stories your roof is, the amount of weight that the truck can carry and the time of day that you want the installation done. If you’re in a big city, it might also be based on how far you live from the depot. The price will basically include everything, except for the raw materials used (like the photovoltaic cells themselves), and it usually takes one or two days to a week to complete (depending on the size of the order).
As we discussed in the last article, setting up automated monitoring and measuring devices like those made by SolarCity is also going to be pretty expensive. In general, these devices will set you back a couple of hundred dollars, and it’s usually going to be included in the cost of the system. In some cities, there are also additional costs that you’ll have to pay to have the power hooked up to your home. In most places, this will be done for free (aside from any extra fees that your electricity supplier might charge), but it still costs you something to have the electricity switched on and off as required.