14 Best Solar Companies in Isla Vista, CA (Mar 2023 Review)

The Cost and Benefits of Solar in Isla Vista

Solar panels run off a free energy source — the sun — but before you can take advantage of this you must first pay to set up your panels. The installation cost is just one important factor you should bear in mind when looking into installing solar panels. How much it'll cost and how much you can save depend on things including:

• How much energy costs for you: The average household in Isla Vista spends around $900 a year on home energy use alone, so you could end up with that much in savings.
• Your income and budget: This guides what model of solar panels you can buy.
• Incentives: The federal solar investment tax credit, which everyone in the U.S. is eligible for, lets you deduct 30% of the cost of installing your solar panel system from your taxes. Plus, not including incentives, you can save about $30,000 over 20 years on your energy bills.
• How much sunlight your roof gets: If your rooftop doesn't get a lot of direct sunlight, your solar system won't be able to generate as much energy, which will leave you with lower savings on energy bills than a house with a roof that gets lots of sunlight.

Solar is a worthwhile investment for most homeowners. You can generate your own electricity instead of paying for it from the grid and take advantage of solar incentives and rebates, all while helping the environment.

Solar Incentives in Isla Vista

To increase the adoption of solar power, federal and local governments — and even some utility companies — offer incentives to help make switching to solar power more financially viable and accessible. In addition to the federal tax credit incentive, there are also some local incentives, which in almost all cases, stack with the federal incentive, so you get to save even more. Our article on solar incentives has more detailed information on the incentives you can take advantage of in Isla Vista.

Environmental Impact of Switching to Solar in Isla Vista

One of the reasons so many homeowners consider installing solar panels is to help lower their environmental impact. A question many might have in mind is how much can they really help preserve the environment by going solar anyway? How much energy you use is a significant factor to consider. The more energy your household consumes, the bigger your impact when you switch to solar energy. Because solar panels don't release carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere when creating electricity, they're a good substitute for nonrenewable energy sources. In fact, you could lower your carbon dioxide emissions by about 50 pounds each year. As you can see, trading traditional energy for solar has so many other rewards outside of saving money. One of the major ones is that you can help save the planet too.