Rooftop Solar Power
Rooftop solar power in the U.S. is one of the most fastest growing markets in the country. Fuelled by high electricity prices and a new environmental consciousness, more and more consumers are taking up the challenge to install their own domestic solar panels. It’s no longer a secret anymore, cheap solar panels are now available for the regular consumer and are now easier than ever to mount yourself. Even the White House has got solar panels now! However, I’m pretty sure the president wasn’t up there with his screwdriver.
Stats
The U.S. currently has about 600 megawatts of rooftop solar photovoltaic panel installations. The majority of our solar energy production is still coming from thermal solar, but this trend is slowly starting to move towards photovoltaics. China, who are currently the World’s largest solar panel producer, are currently running at around 300 megawatts capacity for solar roof panels. This is only half of what the U.S. is currently doing but China has plans to increase this capacity to 3 gigawatts (GW) of rooftop solar by 2015 and 25 GW by 2020. With access to cheap solar panels right on their doorstep China is tipped to soon become the World leader in domestic solar power production and output.
Costs
The good news is that rooftop solar panel prices are tumbling. This is mainly due to the increased supply coming offshore (mainly China), and also a decrease in demand from countries within the European Union. Since 2009 the solar panel cost for a basic home system has fallen by around 25%. If you add in the Federal and State tax breaks and subsidies you’re looking at savings of up to 75%.
Recommendations For Homes
The best rooftop solar panels to get are the ones you can install yourself. It’s now a fact that cheap DIY solar is the definitely the only way to go. Expensive solar systems are a thing of the past. It’s no longer a case of are solar panels worth it? The answer is always going to be YES! The most efficient solar panels are still the monocrystalline solar panels as they have a higher output and also will last longer than polycrystalline panels or solar panel shingles. If you’re seriously looking at a rooftop solar system be sure to get one of Top 10 home renewable energy guides. These guides have the best information on how to find, assemble and install solar panels for your home.
Rooftop Solar Challenge
The U.S. Department of Energy is currently running a competition called the Rooftop Solar Challenge, which aims to help reduce the red tape and paper work currently preventing many people from accessing the tax breaks and subsidies offered by the Federal and State authorities.
This is an open competition and the winning team will receive funds to actually implement their plan. The whole point of this exercise is to hopefully make getting solar panels for your home easier, faster and cheaper than the current system which can be quite convoluted.