New year, new you…new solar panels? If you’re considering installing a solar system in your home or business, you may be wondering how much you can earn in financial incentives. The truth is a lot! When combined, local, state, and federal incentives can add up and solidify what a lucrative purchase of a solar system can be for Florida homeowners and businesses. Solar Bear of Tampa has compiled a list of financial incentives you can expect when going solar.
Most people don’t know that installing solar panels can instantly increase your home’s value by over 4% and help you save up to $30,000 across their lifespan. With stats like these, it’s no wonder why the rising popularity of solar energy has led to incredible financial incentives for Florida residents. Currently, all solar system users are exempt from paying sales tax on solar, which significantly reduces the final cost of your system through the Solar and CHP Sales Tax Exemption. Solar is also exempt from property taxes for residential solar panels by the Property Tax Exclusion for Residential Renewable Energy Property exemption. This means that county tax collectors can overlook a home’s solar system when assessing value. These statewide incentives are especially appealing to those who would be subject to sales and property taxes on any other home improvement investments.
Pair these perks with the ever-popular net metering program and you are off to a great start! Depending on your solar system and any incentives you opted into, a bi-directional meter can be installed with your system. If your solar panels produce more electricity than necessary, any excess will be sent back to the utility grid. As it flows into the meter, you earn equal credit on a future utility bill. Currently, Tampa Electric Company (TECO), Duke Energy, and Florida Power & Light (FPL) all offer utility net metering programs in Florida
Our team of energy experts at Solar Bear of Tampa can assist with any financial questions while we customize a solar installation that works for you. Call us at (727) 471-7442 or request a free estimate today.
Maybe you’ve never heard of solar attic fans, but they’ve been proven to improve the quality of your home. They are especially useful in Texas, where the temperature is hotter than average and utility bills are at an all-time high. The Solar Bear Houston team is here to show you all of the incredible benefits that solar attic fans have to offer!
1. Reduces the Heat in Your Home
Solar attic fans utilize solar energy to suck out the hot air in your attic and replace it with cooler air. The result is a much more refreshing environment to enjoy during hotter months. These fans also help with humidity, which is a common issue in Texas homes.
2. Lowers Your Energy Bill
Since solar attic fans help regulate colder temperatures in your home, it also relieves the pressure on your AC unit by causing it to work less than usual. Since HVACs take up most of your energy usage, you can expect a good chunk of your electric bill to be taken out of the equation.
3. Cheaper Than Replacing Your AC Unit
If you are experiencing problems with your air conditioning unit, having a solar attic fan installed can be a much cheaper solution than getting your HVAC completely replaced. It is possible to rely on your attic fan to do most of the work while your AC runs at minimum capacity.
4. Tax Credit Eligibility
Thankfully, there are solar-related federal tax incentives available that can cover as much as up to 30% of your solar attic fan installation costs. Incentives are always changing, but you can ask your local solar panel company for more information on current programs.
5. Prevents Mold and Deterioration
Since solar attic fans help reduce humidity, that also means you’ll have less moisture invading your home. Moisture is a fast track toward mold and deteriorating walls, so fans act as a way to preserve the sanctity of your home’s structural integrity and your personal health.
6. Easy to Install
Getting solar attic fans installed isn’t an all-day process. Since they don’t require a complex system of wires and hookups, the lack of necessary assembly means that you can have your fans installed in as little as a couple of hours.
7. Promotes An Eco-Friendly Environment
The fact that solar attic fans use solar energy and promote lower energy usage makes them a wonderful eco-friendly tool for shaping a better environment. Many products claim to be “green” while hiding behind gimmicks or deceptive fine print, but these fans have no reason to be misleading, since they actually work as intended.
8. Withstands Texas Weather
Texans understand how difficult it can be to deal with intense weather conditions like extreme heat and humidity as well as the occasional storm and hurricane gravitating from the coastline. Solar attic fans have been known to stand their ground in the midst of these occurrences so you don’t have to worry!
Ask Solar Bear Houston About Solar Attic Fans!
If you’re interested in receiving all of the wonderful benefits that solar attic fans have to offer, your local solar experts at Solar Bear Houston! We’ll be able to help you with all of your questions and concerns so you can start saving money and enjoy cooler temperatures in your Texas home. Call (727) 471-7442 today!
With clear skies and almost constant sunlight, Florida should be the perfect place for solar power, right? Well yes, but there is a caveat.
While solar panels need ample sunlight to produce electricity, the extreme heat that comes along with Florida’s sun is not a friend to solar production. Our team at Solar Bear Orlando explains why.
Heat and Solar Panels
To fully understand why high temperatures, zap solar panel efficiency, we first have to discuss how solar panels work.
In a nutshell, solar panels use the sun’s photons to produce electricity. Photons push electrons out of the atoms that make up solar panel cells. These electrons then zip around the circuit within the solar panel. It is this movement of photons and electrons that produces an electric current.
One factor that plays a role in how much power each electron creates in its original state before it gets knocked out of its electron. On a cool, electrons are in a nice, relaxed state and when the photon kicks them out of the atom, they become more energized. This change from low energy to high energy produces a high current.
The situation is different on a hot day. The heat within the solar panels already has the electrons in an excited state. This means that they can’t pick up much energy when they are dislodged by the photons.
So even though the solar panel may get the same amount of sunlight on a cool or hot day, the panels will produce more energy on a cool day.
Plus, depending on your solar panel brand, and the temperature of your roof, high heat may steal away as much as 10% of your solar system’s efficiency.
How Hot is Too Hot?
So how much heat can solar panels really handle? Well, it depends on the solar panel brand and the panel’s temperature coefficient.
Each solar panel brand has an efficiency rating, with an average of 15%. This number refers to how much sunlight it can convert into usable energy. Each solar panel brand also has a temperature coefficient, which explains how well the panels will perform in high temperatures.
Generally, though solar panels need ample sun to function, they don’t begin to lose their efficiency until the temperature rises to 77 degrees. When the temperature reaches this point, for every increase in temperature above 77 degrees, a solar panel loses efficiency by the rate of its temperature coefficient.
This explains why on hot summer days, the performance of your solar panels can be diminished. This can be problematic during these hot days when you want to use your solar energy to help keep your home cool.
Beating the Heat
So, is there a way to beat the Florida heat to ensure that your solar panels are working efficiently?
Consider:
Choosing the Right Solar Panels
The best way to manage the issue of heat is to choose solar panels with a low temperature coefficient. Most PV panels offer a temperature coefficient between -0.35 and -0.5.
There are also solar panels called thin-film panels or (TF). One of the biggest benefits of these kinds of panels is that they can handle heat better than their PV counterparts. Most TF panels offer a temperature coefficient of around -0.2 and -0.25. There is a catch though.
PV panels are more efficient than TF panels, so unless you live in an extremely hot area, they won’t match PV panels’ efficiency.
Choose the Right Solar System Size
When you work with Solar Bear Orlando, we will calculate your average monthly energy usage to determine the ideal size of your solar system. We will also keep your area’s average temperatures and temperature coefficient in mind when making our recommendations.
This is another reason why you should consider working with a local solar panel installation company like Solar Bear. We are familiar with the weather patterns in the Central Florida area, and understand how hot summer months affect the efficiency of your solar system.
Choose High-Quality Installation
While there is no way to prevent diminished solar panel efficiency during the hottest days in the summer, your solar installation company can install your panels to keep them as cool as possible to limit lowered efficiency. For example, it is common for installers to house panels in a thermally conductive substrate to help vent heat away.
Also, roofing like Spanish tiles and asphalt shingles absorb heat, so your installer may mount your solar panels a few inches above the roof to counteract the higher ambient temperature.
Choose Solar Bear Orlando
Ready to go solar in Central Florida? Call Solar Bear Orlando to learn more about our solar panel systems and how we can boost your system’s efficiency.
Feeling a little extra with all that unused power from your solar panels? Solar Bear of Tampa can help with that. As more and more people turn to sustainable ways to produce electricity, one of the most common options is a solar generator system like solar panels. But if the panels are producing more electricity than you are using, where does it go? Can it be used elsewhere? Solar Bear of Tampa shares a few bright ideas.
Generally, the efficiency of your solar panel system will determine how much sunlight can be converted into electricity. The system will then produce the precise amount of energy required to power your household. However, there are times of the year when panels may overproduce, leaving you with more energy than necessary. The good news is that the excess isn’t lost and can be used in different ways. After fulfilling your home’s electric loads, any excess energy can be fed back to the utility grid that it is connected to. Fueling the grid with this clean solar energy alleviates the load on local electricity. This can benefit all residents in your community with additional savings!
Net metering is another way to take advantage of excess energy production. With this program available through your utility company, any unused solar energy is converted to bill credits that you may use at your discretion. Most tend to use them during winter months, when sunny conditions can be rare. Currently, all of Florida’s investor-owned utilities, Florida Power & Light (FPL), Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric Company (TECO), and the Florida Public Utilities Corporation, offer this program to their customers.
If you’re interested in learning more about the power of solar energy and its financial incentives, speak with our team of experts at Solar Bear of Tampa. Call us at (727) 741-7442 or schedule your free estimate online today!
