Making the switch to solar energy is something which every person should do, but one thing that holds many men and women back would be the fact that they believe it is something which is too expensive to get going with. Although it is true that you are going to need to invest some cash upfront, depending on the size of the system, and if you are willing to do things yourself, you are going to find that you are able to end up saving cash. In this post we are going to be looking at some of the different expenses involved to switching to solar and also how you can save cash while doing this.
Even though many folks end up going out and buying everything separately you are going to find that they do sell complete systems to make sure folks have everything they need to get started. You are still going to have to purchase batteries separately, since this is how you will store the energy, so even if they say they are a complete solar panel kit you should keep this in mind. The amount of batteries you’re going to need is going to be depending on the size of the solar panel system you plan on creating and the volume of electricity you end up using every single day. You’re going to want to purchase deep cycle batteries and you’re going to see that you are going to be able to find these just about anywhere and the cost is about $100 each.
While buying an entire system is something that can be very useful, often they’re far more expensive than buying the items separately and you can invest upwards to $19,000 on one of these ready to go systems. For about $300 you’ll be able to pick up a single solar panel that will provide you with 100 W of electricity, and how many you need is determined by how large of a system you are building. For those people that are just looking to cut their electricity costs or power their home if they have a little home and they’re the only ones living there, 3 or 4 solar panels should be more than enough panels. As for people who have a larger home and a larger family, to be able to create all of the electricity you need you may need between 15 and 20 solar panels.
A couple of other things you are going to wind up needing are a power inverter to develop household electricity and a charge controller to be able to charge the batteries. Something I should mention is that I cannot actually provide you with a precise cost for a power inverter, because based on what size power inverter you need, will depend on just how much you will need to pay for the inverter.
For people who shop around and search for the best deals you’re going to discover that a small solar panel system of three or four panels will only end up costing you $1000 to $1500. If you are one of the people that aren’t handy in any way, you will most likely need someone to install the system for you, and this obviously is something that will be an added expense.