12 Best Solar Companies in Columbia, IL (Oct 2022 Review)

The Cost and Benefits of Solar in Columbia

The cost of installing a solar panel system has gone down greatly over the past few years, but it's still a significant investment for most homeowners. The installation cost is just one important factor you should consider when looking into installing solar panels. How much it'll cost and how much you can save depend on things including:

• Average daily sunlight: Since Columbia gets a decent amount of average daily sunlight, your solar panels can generally produce enough energy to power your whole home, which influences how much you can save on your energy bills.
• How much you spend on energy: If your local energy rates are quite high, there's a better chance you'll see a higher return on your investment in a solar panel system. In Columbia, you can save an average of $83 a month on your electricity bills.
• The kind of solar panels you can buy: This hinges on what your budget is.
• Incentives: Tax-paying citizens who purchase and install a solar energy system this year can save 30% of their total solar spend by taking advantage of the federal solar investment tax credit. You can also save about $16,000 on your utility bills over 20 years without incentives.

So is a solar system worth it? Whether you hope to lower your electric bills, carbon emissions or both, solar panels are a solid investment for many Columbia homeowners.

Solar Incentives in Columbia

There are a lot of reasons why adopting solar power is beneficial. One of them involves some government incentives you can take advantage of. There are a lot of federal, state and local rebates and tax credits that earn anywhere from 26% to 50% of your money back after installing solar panels. For detailed information about incentives that apply to you, see the table below.

Environmental Impact of Switching to Solar in Columbia

Switching to solar energy can have a beneficial effect on the environment. But how much can using solar energy instead of traditional energy actually affect the environment? If your family uses lots of energy, you can have an even greater impact on the planet by switching to solar power. Since solar panels don't release CO2 emissions into the atmosphere when generating electricity, they're a good trade for traditional energy sources. In fact, you could lower your carbon dioxide emissions by about 100 pounds each year. As you can see, going solar has so many other perks outside of saving money. One of the main ones is that you can help save the Earth too.