Tag Archives: installed cost of solar panels

Looking to go solar? Here’s everything you need to know in 2023

Whether you want to save thousands on electric bills, lower your carbon footprint, or fully electrify your home, going solar is a great place to start. Adding solar panels to your home is an easy and popular way to boost your home’s value and energy savings.

While solar panels are certainly a sound long-term investment, they’re also a big purchase, so it’s important to be confident in your decision. We’ll explain how to determine if solar will work for your home–and how to get solar panels at the best price. (Spoiler alert: comparing quotes is the way to go.)

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Adding solar panels to an existing system: what you need to know

If you’ve gone solar, you’ve already decreased (or possibly eliminated) your electricity bill. But you may want to add more solar panels to your existing system; your solar panel system could be undersized to begin with, or you might have increased your electricity usage since installation due to new additions to your house, new appliances, or adding an electric vehicle (EV) purchase.

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Why is solar more expensive in the US than in other countries?

The cost of solar has plummeted in the US over the last five years. With solar prices dropping to an average of $2.77 per Watt for residential solar shoppers, the industry has hit a very important and impressive milestone. However, the cost of solar in the US remains higher than the cost in other countries, most notably Australia. But just how much less expensive is solar in Australia, and is it possible for the US to slash solar costs even further?

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Solar trends to watch in 2021

Over the past year, in the face of constant and unprecedented headwinds, ranging from COVID-19 to an unfriendly presidential administration, the solar industry has proved incredibly resilient, with home solar installations growing 7 percent in 2020. But what does 2021 have in store for solar? Will this growth continue? In this article, we look at the three areas that will determine the industry’s fortunes in the coming year: business trends, technology, and government policy.

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Why is my solar panel system more expensive than my neighbors?

It probably doesn’t surprise you to learn that the cost of solar varies by state, but what other factors make a solar panel system more or less expensive? If you’re comparing quotes with your neighbors and notice a big difference in cost, it’s probably due to one of five main factors:

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Why did my cost to go solar increase after a site visit?

Many shoppers, especially those using EnergySage, receive all of their initial solar quotes online before ever having a company visit their property. Occasionally, we hear back from customers about instances where they received an original, online quote for one price and, after a site visit from the installation company, the price increased. What happened?

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Highlights from the Tracking the Sun report

One of the best resources for tracking trends in the solar industry was just released. The recently published annual Tracking the Sun report from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) describes price and technology trends for distributed solar projects nationally, collecting project-level data from approximately 1.6 million systems through the end of 2018. The latest edition of the report, which is now in its twelfth year, finds that prices for distributed solar power systems continued to fall in 2018, that industry practices continue to evolve, and that systems are getting bigger and more efficient.

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Solar permitting & inspections: an overview

Installing solar panels requires electrical and construction work. With this type of work comes safety concerns, and as such, your local government and utility company need to ensure that your solar energy system meets specific electrical and building codes before it goes live.

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