How Can You Lower Solar Power Install Cost?
When combined, solar and efficiency delivers the greatest return on investment, home performance potential, and environmental benefit. Rather then trying to sell you the largest solar system possible, we advocate first lowering your home’s energy needs with efficiency improvements. Then we can design a custom solar system that is properly sized to your new, lower electricity needs. Energy efficiency is less costly than solar. By providing energy efficiency services alongside your solar installation, we offer the most cost-effective way to invest in solar.
Call us at (510) 540-4860 to find out how solar power and energy efficiency can work for your home.
Our Solar Services
Our Solar Philosophy: Reduce Before You Produce
The most effective way to implement solar systems is to reduce your electric consumption before you move to solar. This is simple common sense. Why install a larger solar system with a higher upfront cost when instead you could reduce your electric system and then install a smaller solar system. This maximizes the value to you over the long term by reducing your energy consumption and allowing smaller, more efficient units to power your home. There are a number of energy efficiency steps that can be taken that will reduce your energy consumption and make your home more ready for solar power. Some of these include:
Ways to Reduce Before Your Produce:
- Conduct a Home Energy Audit to identify areas to improve efficiency.
- Install LED or Compact Florescent lights that save a lot of electricity.
- Use Energy Star rated appliances that operate with high efficiency.
- Install a learning thermostat such as the Nest which prevents accidentally leaving on heaters and a/c.
- Install gas appliances instead of electric as gas appliances are more efficient.
- Make sure you have high efficiency Heating and Cooling systems (HVAC).
By implementing these energy efficiency measures before installing solar panels you can minimize the size of the solar system needed and maximize your long term savings. If you drive an electric vehicle, such as a Leaf or Plug-in Prius, there are even ways to connect your solar panels to charge your EV battery to save even more money.
Call us at (510) 540-4860 to ask how you can reduce before your produce in your home.
Cost-Effective Solar
Many homeowners install solar photovoltaic systems for practical reasons such as lowering their electric bill and green reasons such as reducing their carbon footprint. Yet many homeowners are unaware that more affordable alternatives exist to maximize your savings on money and energy. Our solution at Advanced Home Energy maximizes the cost effectiveness of solar by installing a solar system that is sized to your home after implementing energy efficiency measures.
The “Solar Sweet Spot”
That’s what we call a solar system size designed for rapid payback. It is optimized to take advantage of tax credits, rebates, net metering and PG&E tiered rates. The solar sweet spot takes your consumption out of the higher tier rates where you are paying more per kWh consumed and places you in the baseline tier rate where energy is very cheap.
Where’s your solar sweet spot? Call us at (510) 540-4860 to speak with an energy efficiency and solar expert.
