17 Best Solar Companies in Cedar Rapids, IA (Mar 2023 Review)

The Cost and Benefits of Solar in Cedar Rapids

Solar panels are powered by a free energy source — the sun — but to take advantage of this you will first need to pay to set up your system. Some key factors that influence how much it will cost to install a solar panel system on your home and how much it could save you over time include:

• Incentives: Along with the federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which lets you deduct 30% of your overall installation cost, your state or local government may offer additional tax exemptions, credits or rebates that will help you save even more. Not including incentives, you can save an average of $19,000 over 20 years with your solar system, too.
• Choice of solar panels: The type of solar panels you need will affect your total cost. High-efficiency monocrystalline panels are more expensive upfront but can also lead to more savings over the lifetime of your system. If you don't need to maximize efficiency, you can go with a higher number of more affordable panels.
• Whether or not your roof gets a lot of direct sunlight: This, along with your roof configuration, affects affect how much power your solar panels can make.
• average energy usage: The more energy your home uses on average and the larger your current energy bills are, the more money you could save by going solar.

So is a solar panel system worth it? Whether you hope to lower your energy bills, carbon emissions or both, solar panels are a worthwhile investment for many Cedar Rapids homeowners.

Solar Incentives in Cedar Rapids

One of the benefits of installing a solar panel system is earning federal and potentially state incentives. These incentives typically take the form of cash rebates, tax breaks and/or performance-based incentives. They can cut the cost of going solar by 30%, upwards of 50% depending on where you live. Our article on solar incentives goes over more in-depth information on the incentives you can benefit from in Cedar Rapids.

Environmental Impact of Switching to Solar in Cedar Rapids

One reason so many people are thinking of installing solar panels is to help bring down their environmental impact. But you may be wondering — how much exactly can you help the environment by using solar power? If your family consumes lots of energy, you can impact the environment even more by switching to solar energy. Even though solar panel production emits carbon dioxide, the panels make up for it by greatly lowering the amount of CO2 you would have released if you still used traditional energy. In Cedar Rapids, you can reduce your carbon footprint by 90 pounds a year with solar panels. Since solar energy is renewable and produces electricity without free from carbon dioxide emissions, installing solar panels is one easy step you can take to help the environment.