Will solar save you money? Here's an honest look.
“It’s a quiet revolution begun by ordinary people with the stuff of our daily lives.”
Will solar energy save me money?
Whenever you research online, you see varying claims for solar savings.
They seem sensible. Or are they far-fetched?
It’s hard to find the truth.
Maybe you’ve even seen those ads claiming solar energy is free.
Before we dive into whether solar can save you money, we’ll clear up that tall tale: switching to solar is not free.
Nope. Never. Nice try, tricky advertisers.
Sigh.
But still… wouldn’t a simple answer about solar savings be nice?
Unfortunately, solar energy is a bit more complicated than some solar energy companies would have you believe.
Because our roofs, utilities, and energy needs are all different.
Not to mention, the political climate around clean energy seems to always be shifting. Which means financial incentives from the federal and state governments are slippery to keep track of, unless you make it your full time job (don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for!).
All that to say, it’s possible—even likely—that switching to solar energy will save you money.
It’s also possible it wouldn’t.
That’s because several variables have to sync up to turn solar panels into savings.
An expert can help you quickly put your solar puzzle together.
You’ll need answers to questions like:
How sunny is your roof? How much energy does your family use? How many solar panels fit on your roof? Does your utility offer net metering? Etc etc.
You can easily see there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.
Get our top tips for understanding your home’s solar potential, today.
But you might be surprised that one of the most important factors in understanding if solar will save you money isn’t related to the sun at all—it’s about mindset.
Consider this quick illustration:
Imagine, for a moment...
What if you could cut a deal with your utility company?
You’d purchase all your energy for the next 20 years up front. In return, they’d give you a deal—a lower price.
And even as utility rates rose for your neighbors, even as inflation increased, you’d hardly notice. Because each month, you’d pay just a small fee for your utility meter—about the cost of a few pints of local beer—to keep the energy you’d already purchased flowing into your home.
How does that sound?
Back to reality…
Your utility company won't offer that to you.
They’d lose money. That wouldn’t work with their profit model.
But if that scenario sounded good, you’re in luck. From a financial perspective, that’s how switching to solar energy works: you buy future energy up front—so you can save month to month.
By putting solar panels on your roof, you’re investing in your own personal power plant.
Only instead of finite fossil fuels, you’ll power up from the sun’s endless energy supply.
It starts with your mindset
Investing in solar is for future planners.
If you’ve got a sunny roof, your solar panels offset your electricity use pretty evenly, and your utility company offers a good net metering system, you’re probably in good shape to save short term on your utility bills. Perhaps significantly. Many of our clients do. But still, the biggest financial gains are long-term—typically, 8-12 years down the road—when you’ve paid off your solar investment but your electricity is still mostly covered each month.
So before even looking at how sunny your roof is, ask yourself:
Are you thinking short-term right now? Like a robin digging for worms for breakfast?
Or are you in a long-term frame of mind, like when the same robin flies up high to find the perfect branch to build a nest?
Once your solar panels are up and running, what you’ll pay each month depends on several factors.
Homeowners tend to land in one of three categories.
Homeowner #1
Some of our clients—the ones with the sunniest, most spacious roofs and friendliest net metering set ups—reach net zero.
Reaching net zero means their solar energy system entirely covers the energy usage in their home. So each month, they pay just for their utility meter.
Clearly, this is the most beautiful scenario for going solar.
But plenty of homeowners find it financially worth it to go solar even without reaching net zero...
Homeowner #2
For other homeowners, summer—and sometimes part of spring and fall—is net zero.
Over winter, their household might use more energy than their solar panels can offset, for one reason or another. So in the colder months, these homeowners pay a small utility bill.
Influencing factors include:
Lack of roof space for enough panels to completely offset their energy use
How much electricity their household uses
A tree that throws a little shade—but not so much it makes sense to remove it
But for these homeowners, even that winter utility bill is still less than their pre-solar utility bill was. So they, too, save money each month.
For both the above two scenarios—regardless of whether they’ve used one of our zero down loans or up front cash—once their solar panels are paid off, any electricity their solar covers becomes truly free.
Homeowner #3
The sun is available to us all. But sadly, that doesn’t mean our homes and lifestyles have been built to support solar energy. Sometimes, solar just doesn’t fit.
A few reasons a homeowner wouldn’t save money with solar:
Their roof size won’t allow for enough solar panels to offset their energy use
Their utility company has an unfriendly net metering program, yielding less savings for the homeowner
Too many beautiful trees shade their roof. Sometimes it’s not worth the trade!
If a homeowner falls into this category, we’d never recommend they go solar. Unless, of course, finances don’t matter. But we’re not sure we’ve run into those people yet.
What about loans versus up front cash?
Conventional wisdom says you’ll save more with a cash purchase.
Often, that’s true.
But say you’re ready to go solar... only you don’t have that cash right now?
Or what if solar isn’t the best use for those particular funds?
It’s likely a solar loan will be a little more per month than your utility bill was. Look at it like a hedge against rising utilty rates (and they always rise). So while your neighbors’ utility bills get higher and higher—while you’re paying your system off, you’re locked into one monthly fee you can safely plan for.
For a while, you’ve just shifted paying your monthly energy bill to your bank instead of your utility company.
So without spending your own money up front (your hard-earned savings is still in the bank)... your month to month bills have stayed roughly the same, or risen a little due to the loan payment being slightly higher—$20 seems to be an average number for our homeowners who go solar with a loan.
The best part?
Those payments end once you’ve paid for your solar energy system. So while the rest of your neighbors are still paying their utility bills month after month, you’ve got extra funds each month for good wine, weekend trips, or who knows, maybe finally getting that electric car.
Interested in seeing whether a solar loan versus cash would make more sense for you?
Both are popular choices. We crunch all the numbers—so you can get a clear picture of what makes most sense for you.
Think you might have a good roof or ground space for solar?
Our solar experts can walk you through how viable your home is for solar—plus crunch the numbers necessary to understand what your payback would look like. We’ve even put together a resource that will help you answer the question How many solar panels do I need?
Or maybe you want a rough estimate for yourself of your home’s solar potential? We have some a solar tips resource for that too
And no matter your situation, any solar energy company worth your time won’t install a system for you without helping you understand exactly what your bill and return on investment would look like with all your unique variables.