The price of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas continues to increase. As a result, the financial incentive to switch solar energy grows stronger. Additionally, there are environmental advantages favoring a switching to non-carbon polluting energy sources like solar. Governments support the trend. They have introduced policies to improve solar affordability and incentives to encourage homeowners and business leaders to go solar.
The incentives are offered by governments at the both the national and regional levels and the range of incentives is very large. It is important to check all relevant public agencies to determine the incentives available in specific localities. Their value can be very significant for both homeowners and businesses.
At the federal level, the 2005 Energy Bill was a benchmark law that introduced significant incentives. It introduced a residential 30 percent energy credit for selected solar products for two years capped at a maximum of two thousand dollars. At the regional level, sunbelt states like Texas, California and Florida are among the leaders in offering incentives.
In the USA, Federal government offers tax incentives to support the installation of a range of solar products including PV systems and water heaters. And Florida offers rebates to support the installation of a range of solar products including water heaters and pool heaters.
Subsidized financing is also available. Several finance companies provide green loans at loan rates subsidized by government to support the purchase of approved solar products. Fannie Mae, for instance, offers green financing to home owners where the purchase price of approved products is rolled-up into to the existing home mortgage loan.
Switching to solar products can be a big boost for the environment. For example, installing a solar hot water can decrease carbon emissions of the average sized household by about 1 ton each year, (the actual figure will vary depending on the fuel source of the existing heater). This is equivalent to the carbon emitted by a petrol car driving 10, 000 miles.
In conclusion, people are increasingly switching to solar energy products. Solar affordability and incentives provided by government are supporting home and business owners make the move. Even seemingly minor products can make a difference. Skylights, for example, allow sunlight to penetrate interiors and avoid electric lights being used. Solar vents extract heat from attics, lowering interior temperature and avoid air conditioning being used. When aggregated across the community even small measures like these can significantly decrease carbon emissions.
At Solar Systems USA, we believe that the need to change from fossil fuel dependency is not only the duty of governments but for us all. Our online solar store has products and information to get you started on this noble task.