18 Best Solar Companies in San Francisco, CA (Aug 2022 Review)

The Cost and Benefits of Solar in San Francisco

When choosing a solar company, most homeowners or business owners wonder about the costs the most. Some significant things that impact how much it will cost and how much you could save include:

• System size and type: Some models are more expensive than others, so the one you choose can raise or lower your upfront cost. Plus, the more solar panels you need to buy, the more it'll cost.
• Electricity consumption: The average home in San Francisco doesn't use much energy, and so may not see as many savings on their power bills.
• Average daily sunlight: Since San Francisco gets lots of sunlight, your solar panel system will most likely be able to produce enough energy to power your whole home, which affects how much your electricity bills will be.
• Incentives: The federal solar investment tax credit, which everyone qualifies for, lets you deduct 26% of the cost of your solar system installation from your taxes. In addition, not including incentives, you can save about $31,000 over 20 years on your energy bills.

Thanks to solar panels decreasing in cost as well as local and federal solar incentives, they are a sound investment for many homeowners.

Solar Incentives in San Francisco

In an effort to increase the adoption of solar power, federal, state and local governments — and even some utility companies — offer incentives to help make solar more economical and accessible. When you install a solar panel system, you can take advatage of the federal tax credit, or ITC. This credit currently lets you reduce your tax bill by 26% of the cost of your solar panels. Plus, there are often some local incentives that you can benefit from to further save. Check out the table below to see what incentives you can take advantage of.

Environmental Impact of Switching to Solar in San Francisco

There are lots of reasons to switch to solar energy, like saving on electricity bills and helping to reduce your carbon footprint. But how much can using solar energy instead of traditional energy actually help the environment? The average person has a rather large carbon footprint. Between their car, which is responsible for over 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year, and electricity for their home, it can be overwhelming to think about what to do. Going solar is a simple thing you can do to help. Since solar panels don't release carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere when producing 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. Since solar energy is renewable and produces electricity without a carbon footprint, installing solar panels is one easy step you can take to help the environment.