As I noted on Monday, the cost of solar power is insanely lower than you probably think. But, in that post, I focused on the average cost of solar panels, not specific all-in costs of going solar in your specific location. So, you might be wondering, how much does solar power cost in total?
Naturally, the huge fall in the cost of solar panels has resulted in much lower all-in costs, but those costs vary tremendously across the US due to differences in solar power incentives, solar permitting requirements, other solar power regulations, and the maturity of the solar market in different places.
Really, there’s no substitute to simply getting a solar quote. Your situation will be unique. But some research has been conducted to determine average savings and payback times in various places. Actually, as this infographic below shows, research has been done for all 50 states. (Important Note: this research was based on data from 2011 — as I noted on Monday, solar power costs have dropped considerably since then. How much does solar power cost in your state today? You’d have to get a quote and check.)
As you can see in the infographic, according to this research, it cost about $10,000 on average for a homeowner to go solar in California in 2011, while at the same time it cost about $25,000 on average for a homeowner to go solar in Florida, the Sunshine State! Again, this is because California has much better solar policies. Nonetheless, even the average Floridian would save $30,000–$39,000 over the course of 20 years by going solar. In California, New York, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona, those savings would actually reach beyond $40,000 (on average), but in almost every state in the country, the savings would at least be over $10,000, and would more often than not be over $20,000. Who wouldn’t want to cash in on such savings?
Anyway, check out this full infographic for more:
So, how much does solar power cost? I think the more important question is, how much does solar power save you?!
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