13 Best Solar Companies in Colton, CA (Feb 2023 Review)

The Cost and Benefits of Solar in Colton

Solar panels run off a free energy source — the sun — but to take advantage of this you must first pay to install your system. A few main factors that determine the cost of installing solar panels on your home and how much it could save you over time include:

• Incentives: One thing that can make your solar project cost less is the solar investment tax credit (ITC), which is a tax credit that's equal to a percentage of the project cost. You can also save a decent amount of money on your power bills, which can generate an average of $28,000 of savings over 20 years.
• The amount of sunlight your roof gets: This, plus your roof configuration, affects affect how much energy your solar panels can generate.
• How much you spend on energy: The average household in Colton spends around $860 a year on home energy use alone, so you could be looking at that much in savings.
• Choice of solar panels: The kind of solar panels you get will affect your total cost. High-efficiency monocrystalline panels will cost more upfront but can also lead to more savings over the lifetime of your system. If space isn't a constraint for your project, you can go with a higher number of more affordable panels.

So are solar panels worth it? Whether you want to decrease your electric bills, carbon dioxide emissions or both, solar panels are a good investment for many Colton homeowners.

Solar Incentives in Colton

Because solar power is more sustainable than fossil fuels, there are quite a few government incentives in place to encourage people to make the switch. These incentives mostly take the form of cash rebates, tax credits and/or performance-based incentives. They can lower how much you pay for installing solar panels by 30%, upwards of 50% in some cases. Our article on solar incentives goes over more detailed information on the incentives you can find in Colton.

Environmental Impact of Switching to Solar in Colton

One of the most compelling reasons to adopt solar energy is to minimize your reliance on traditional energy sources like burning fossil fuels, which are destructive for the environment. You may be wondering — how much do solar panels help the environment anyway? Something that can severely affect your carbon footprint is your commute time and how much you drive overall. If you install solar panels and drive an electric car, you can significantly lower your carbon dioxide emissions by charging your car at home. Because solar panels don't release carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere when generating electricity, they're a good swap for nonrenewable energy sources. In fact, you could expect to reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by about 50 pounds each year. For homeowners who are concerned about the environment, the upfront cost of solar is a small price to pay for reducing your carbon footprint.