Solar energy is continuing to become more popular as more people see how beneficial it is to go solar. In fact, San Antonio was ranked the No. 1 city in Texas for solar power! With more people interested in going solar more myths about solar energy have emerged. We’re here to debunk those myths and tell you the truth about going solar.
1. Solar panels do not work when it’s, rainy, cloudy, snowing or cold.
Solar panels don’t use heat to create energy. So, whether it’s triple digit temperatures or below freezing your panels will still create electricity. As far as when it’s raining or cloudy, the panels are made to work in almost all-weather conditions. You may not produce as much energy as you would when there are clear skies, but you can still produce energy when it’s cloudy.
2. Installing solar energy is complicated and requires a lot of maintenance.
The installation of a solar power system takes about a day and is not complicated when you choose the right solar company. The only complicated part is getting all the permits. If you do your research though and find a 5-star solar company, they will take care of all the permits needed. With the right solar company, it’s a seamless process. A solar power system is very low maintenance. If your solar panels ever accumulate dust or debris, it can easily be cleaned with water. Most of the time when it rains, the rain cleans the solar panels. For more information on how low maintenance solar panels are you can click here.
3. Solar power system price is based off the size of your home
A solar system size varies on you and your family’s wants and needs. The size of your home doesn’t matter since solar panels don’t always have to go on a roof. There are solar carports, solar patios, and ground mounts. The price is based off of many factors like the amount of energy you and your family consume and if you want to store your solar energy.
4. Reselling your home will be harder with solar panels
A home that creates its own electricity is actually more appealing to buyers than homes without solar. There are studies that have found that homes with solar panels actually sell faster than homes without solar panels. A solar power system can actually increase your property value and help you if you care considering selling your home.
5. Solar Energy can still power my home, even if the power goes out.
Your solar system connects to your utility grid and once the grid shuts off, your inverter knows to shut off electricity generation coming from the solar panels. As a method to continue generating electricity during an outage, home solar systems can attach Battery Backup storage to them as an add-on.
6. Solar panels are too expensive.
Actually, if we look at figures from 10-15 years ago, investments in solar panels have generally been on the rise as they are becoming more affordable. Their average costs have fallen by about 30% percent. Globally, it is actually cheaper to produce electricity from solar energy than it is from coal.
7. Solar panels will damage my roof.
One of the most common questions asked in our consultations is: “Won’t the installation damage my roof with all that drilling?”
Luckily, situations where a solar panel installation leads to roof damage is extremely rare. During the process of a solar consultation, any educated company will professionally inspect your roof before considering adding the extra weight of solar panels to your roof. This is then followed by the use of proper sealants and flashings to not only secure the panel mounts, but to seal any possible holes made as well.
8. The government will give you FREE solar panels.
If you’re in the market for going solar, you’re probably aware of the scam ads circling around the internet promoting “Free Solar Panels Issued by the Government”. As a lot of us should realize: nothing is free, but there is some good news regarding government incentives for going solar. You can go solar for $0 down with solar financing options, but federal and state governments do not provide free solar panel installations. While the government won’t cover the cost of a solar panel installation, they do subsidize the upfront cost of purchasing a solar panel system through various solar incentives.
