Common Myths about Solar Energy

 

 

 

Myth 1: Solar energy is too expensive
– The truth is that with solar financing options such as a solar lease, you can go solar for zero down and start saving up to 15% or more on your electric bill today!
– If you want to buy a solar energy system at home in CA, on average it’ll cost you about $10,000 with a 9 year payback period. (1BOG) And you’ll never have to pay an electric bill again!

Myth 2: Solar energy is unreliable. I’ll wait until the technology gets better
– Solar panels typically come with a manufacturer’s warranty for 25 years and they’ll most likely last even longer. How many electronics do you have with a 25 year warranty?

Myth 3: Solar won’t work for me. It’s too cloudy where I live.
– Germany has five times as much solar power as the U.S. despite having the amount of sunshine of Alaska, the lowest in the U.S. (Washington Post)

Myth 4: Isn’t solar hard to maintain?
– Solar energy generally requires almost no maintenance during its lifetime, which is typically 30 years or more. Besides an annual cleaning, the solar panels pretty much take care of themselves.

Myth 5: Solar energy isn’t for me. I’m not an environmentalist or into techy things.
– As long as you like saving money, solar energy is for you!
– Homeowners will save an average of over $40,000 over the life of the solar energy system (Clean Power Research)
– A solar energy system is being installed every 4 minutes in the U.S. By 2016, it’s projected to drop to every 83 seconds. (Greentech Media)

 

Exciting Facts about Solar Energy

 

 

 

 

 

An Abundant Resource
– The energy in twenty days of sunshing falling on Earth is the same as that of all the coal, oil, and natural gas known to humans. (Rooftop Revolution)

A Booming Industry
– California installed more megawatts of solar energy in 2013 than it did in the last 30 years combined (CALSEIA)

Solar for Everyone
– In CA, solar installations are overwhelmingly taking place in middle-class neighborhoods, where median incomes range from $40,000 to $90,000 (Center for American Progress)

A Job Creator
– Twice as many Americans work in solar energy as they do in coal minds (Bill McKibben)
– Solar is generating jobs 10x the nationalaverage (The Solar Foundation)

Useful Websites
Energy Facts: energyfactcheck.org
Info on Solar Costs and Paybacks: 1bog.org/blog/infographic-how-much-does-solar-cost/

 

What happened to Solyndra? Are solar panels not doing well?

 

 

 

 

– Quite the opposite! Solyndra showed us the good news about solar. That the costs of solar are coming down dramatically, making it harder for some companies to compete, but making solar more accessible to Americans.
– The cost of solar energy in the U.S. has come down 60% since 2011 (Clean Technica)
– The DOE loan program has a 97% success rate with only 3% of loan recipients, like Solyndra, failing.