Did you know that in some parts of the country, home solar is almost free?
It’s hard to believe, but it’s possible due to a combination of Federal and State subsidies including rebates, tax credits, and lucrative solar energy credits (SRECs).
The breakdown for each part of the country looks like this:
- Federal Solar Tax Credit – Gives you a tax break on 30% of the cost of the solar installation.
- State Solar Credits and Rebates – In some states there are credits you can apply toward your solar system. The often have limitations along the lines of an install size cap and overall cost ceiling. A list of these can be found on DSIRE.
- Solar Renewable Energy Credits – In some parts of the country you can get paid by your utility, just for producing solar energy. This is different from a straight feed-in-tariff, which pays you directly for the electricity you produce. SRECS are a tradable commodity, and in some areas are extremely lucrative. See SRECTrade for more.
Where can I get Free Solar Panels?
Sorry folks, there really is no such thing as free solar panels. At a minimum a homeowner has to put up the upfront cost of the install. HOWEVER, there are a few options to get ALMOST FREE solar panels. These include:
- PPA Solar-Financing - This is where the solar installer actually retains ownership of the panels and basically rents the space on your roof. The good part is you can often lock-in a low electricity rate for as little as $1,000 down. The bad part is that you don’t get to keep all the savings and you lose the other credits you might be able to get.
- Creative Accounting – In all seriousness, home solar is the only home improvement that will pay for itself. So while it isn’t free to get set up, in some parts of the country it can pay for itself in as little as 4 years. After that you’re generating free electricity and potentially solar energy credits that can be sold for hundreds of dollars.
What about building your own DIY solar panels?
Sure, if you’re among the 1% of the population that has an electrician’s certification (you can’t legally hook up the panels to the grid without this), then go for it. This is assuming though that you’re buying panels (which are not cheap). Building your own panels seems along the lines of building your own vehicle. It can be an incredible and rewarding experience, but in the end it would have been cheaper and easier to just hire someone else to do it (or buy retail).
Then Where do I find Solar Panels for Sale?
Glad you asked. There are a few ways to get solar panels for your home these days:
- Search the phone book or google for local solar installers. Unfortunately this is kind of a crap shoot, since you have no idea about the quality of local installers or who you’re getting online. How do you decide who to go with? Ultimately, all of these guys will be trying to sell at the highest price they can, and there is no pricing transparency so it’s impossible to know what a good price is.
- Ask a neighbor. If you’re lucky enough to know someone who has solar panels, ask about the solar installer they used and how it went. The catch is that solar has less than 1% adoption rate in the US, so it might be hard to find a neighbor.
- Sign up with an online solar lead generation service. A quick Google search will show dozens of sights that ‘connect you with solar installers’. Often they will resell your name up to 4 times to get competing bids — that means a lot of phone calls you might not want, and a lot of potential frustration.
- Join a group discount. There are currently a handful of companies that offer group discounts on solar. Basically this means the company vets and preselects one solar installer to work with in an area, and then negotiates a volume discount on behalf of the customers (you). These can be a great deal, but make sure to check out all the details first, and make sure there is no commitment required before you sign up.