Sunday, August 24, 2008

Home Solar Panel Savings

There are many advantages of installing home solar panels on your roof, and not all of them are to do with saving the planet. Lower utility bills, energy independence, maybe some future carbon credit sales, the list is pretty hefty. The trouble is that your wallet isn't going to be so hefty if you go down the normal route of employing professionals to set you up with a complete system, which can cost US$3000 and up. Luckily there are some great ways to get around burning a hole in your pocket.

If you live in Europe there are plenty of government incentives for setting up a solar panel system. You can find out about these incentives by checking your state a federal government environment ministry website. For those of us who don't live in Europe it's a little trickier.
In the USA, solar panel laws and incentives vary greatly from state to state. Some of the better states to be in this regard are Arizona, California, Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. Some of those listed offer up to $5.50/Watt rebates for energy independent households (that's a lot!), whilst some offer a tax credit on the total cost of the installed solar energy system. In New York state this is a 25% tax credit. Again, you'll have to check with your local governing body for exact details.

Knowing that there are so many ways to decrease the cost of installing solar panels is a great incentive to take action now. A popular alternative for having solar panels professionally installed is to build your own solar panel. All it really takes is an easy to obtain guide (you can get them instantly and cheap on the Internet), a few materials from the local hardware store, and some time (1 day, 2 days maybe). Many have found this to be a great alternative, and the least expensive homemade panels can cost as little as $150.

If you're serious about building your own solar panels or wind turbines, check out this how to build a solar panel review site, which has some more information and links to point you in the right direction.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Preston_Lore

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