3. Now look at your monthly kwh usage on your bill: For example – here’s what it will cost to install 25 years worth of solar to zero out usage for the very tiniest bill and the very piggiest.
180 kwh a month (about a $20 PG&E bill) = 1.5 KW of solar (DC STC) will cost about $9,137
2,300 kwh a month (about a $800 PG&E bill) = 19.5 KW (DC STC) solar system at about $71,514
$20 a month bill now = $5,509 saved
$14,646 PG&E
-$9,137 solar
= $5,509 cheaper
$800 a month bill now = $504,931 saved
$585,833 PG&E
-$80,902 solar
= $504,931 cheaper
While the savings (and costs!) are much greater for someone with a higher bill, (and even more for bills higher than $800 monthly) than a lower, solar will always cost less than PG&E. If you use a second mortgage to finance your solar, you will initially pay interest on your loan, but the following year you deduct that interest from your taxes, so your net savings are still going to be between $5,000 and $500,000. (If you stay with PG&E; you cannot deduct the 6.7% annual increases!)
Even the tiniest bill can be converted to solar for less than the cost of doing nothing; just staying with PG&E. And that doesn’t even account for the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have done all you can to cut your own carbon footprint: Virtue is it’s own reward. But the financial reward is there too. Every state is different. Some are more solar friendly than here.
But, if you want to put in solar, don’t let some salesperson tell you that it doesn’t pay!
Image via Tiny House Blog
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