New Years Resolution to Go Solar in 2024

To truly gain peace-of-mind during a Coronavirus lock-down, we recommend that homeowners consider a solar battery. With the recent safer-at-home initiatives that are rolling out across the United States, offsetting your current electricity costs with solar may be a great way to maximize your savings in 2024.

Plus, imagine the resiliency that you'd be able to achieve even during a quarantine. Your home is now the center for your kid's education, meals, work, etc. The amount of electricity needs that your home will require during the COVID-19 stay-at-home initiatives will only increase.

Imagine if you were in an incubation period for 14 days, and the electricity goes out half-way. Staying at home for two weeks could be challenging enough, but having to stay home without power could make the challenge even greater.
Peace-of-mind can be hard to come by during those times. Especially in California, where we’ve had to endure a few difficult fire seasons that show how frail our utility companies can be. Regardless of the reason, we have seen more and more homeowners interested in gaining independence from their utility company and having an energy backup solution that allows their home to stay powered for multiple days.

The federal tax credit for solar is at 26% if you go solar before the end of 2033. To be eligible for the Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), a Federal Tax credit, your solar energy system must be operational by December 31st, 2033. For this reason, it is better to act sooner than later. If you wait until 2034 to install your solar system, the tax credit will be reduced to 22%, 10%, and in 2035, the Federal Tax Credit for homeowners will then be phased out entirely.

If you are looking to purchase your system, when you decide to go solar will make a substantial difference. We always recommend that you consult a qualified tax expert around tax advice. A qualified tax expert will best understand your current financial situation and give you relevant advice that best matches your goals.

If you go solar in 2024 and your system costs $25,000, you will get a 26% tax credit and be eligible for a $6,500 tax credit. ($25,000 * 26 percent = $6,500)

If you go solar in 2034, that same costing system will only be eligible for 22%, which means a $5,500 tax credit. But for homeowners to wait until 2035, it then drops to 10%, which would be a tax credit of $2,500.

Going solar today will save you money by replacing your current electric bill with a cheaper one. By resolving to go solar in 2024, you reduce your dependence on expensive electricity from the grid. 

One of the primary reasons people go solar is to reduce their dependency on expensive electricity from the grid. To meet the state of California's sustainability energy standard that is calling for a 100% (percent) renewable energy by 2045, California's utility companies are building new infrastructure. Yet this infrastructure development isn't being paid out by the utility company's profits. They are paid out by homeowners who pay electric bills. That is why we have seen such substantial increases in the cost of our electricity across all California utility companies like, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), LADWP (Los Angeles Department of Water and Power), and PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric).

Getting solar for your home can make a lot of sense for those with a high electric bill. With a higher electricity bill, you will typically see greater savings. A solar panel system may not completely eliminate your utility bill, but by properly managing your power usage and sizing the solar energy system correctly, that bill will be substantially reduced.
The devastating fires such as the one that impacted Mendocino Complex and Paradise have impacted the way our utility companies prepare for fire season by preemptively implementing a power outage. Starting in 2019, California utility companies like PG&E decided to reduce the risk of a wildfire by shutting off power to high-risk transmission-line areas on high fire-risk days.

We started to see the preventative blackouts implemented by California’s largest public utility, PG&E and quickly saw other major utility companies like San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE) following in suit. This practice is likely to open up the window for more and more widespread extended blackouts all across California. In addition, to the unplanned power outages, these planned outages can leave homeowners and businesses without power for days, even weeks.

The most important consideration for most homeowners considering solar is the impact going solar will have on their homes. That fear of the unknown around how solar impacts your home sale and value is what makes adopting a solar PV system so tricky. By installing solar panels on your roof, you will improve your home value in numerous ways.

As a home buyer, if you saw two identical properties, wouldn't you pay more for a home that costs less to operate? When you install solar panels on your home's roof, you can not only add value to your home, but you may also help it sell faster as well. An analysis done by a government-backed study from the Berkeley Lab showed that solar had a 3.74% positive impact on the average sale price for homes with a solar energy system. For a home in California that costs $700,000, a 3.74% (percent) increase would mean a $26,180 increase in your home equity. Would you prefer to sell your home for $700,000 or $726,180?

In general, the more environmentally conscious a community is, the more value solar may add to your home. Homeowners in areas like San Francisco, San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles are typically more prone to be environmentally conscious.

We're here to help! We know that the topic of solar energy is somewhat complicated, so we've even put together a series of commonly asked Solar FAQs and a Solar Glossary.