11 Best Solar Companies in Wheeling, IL (Oct 2022 Review)

The Cost and Benefits of Solar in Wheeling

The cost of installing a solar panel system has gone down significantly in the past few years, but it's still a significant investment for most homeowners. Some key factors that dictate how much it will cost to install a solar panel system on your home and how much money you could save over time are:

• Your city: This influences how much sunlight your roof receives, which helps determine how many panels you need.
• Incentives: The federal solar investment tax credit, which can save you some money, lets you deduct 30% of the cost of your solar system installation from your federal taxes. Plus, not including incentives, you can save about $13,000 over 20 years on your energy bills.
• The model of solar panels you want to get: Higher-efficiency panels are more costly, so that will shape your budget for your solar project.
• How much energy costs for you: If your local energy rates are high, there's a good chance you'll end up with a higher return on your investment in solar panels. In Wheeling, you can save an average of $75 a month on your electricity bills.

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

Solar Incentives in Wheeling

Adopting solar power has many wonderful benefits. Not only can it help protect the planet, but you can also save some money on your installation with various government incentives. You qualify for the federal solar investment tax credit (ITC) for the tax year you turn on your solar panels. You can also possibly pair the ITC with other state and city incentives. You can learn about the incentives you can use in the table below.

Environmental Impact of Switching to Solar in Wheeling

Making the switch to solar power is a good way to do what you can for a greener future. But how much can switching to solar actually help the environment? As reported by the EPA, electricity generation is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and about 62% of our electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels. Using solar power can help bring down that number in a city like Wheeling that produces a sizable amount of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Because solar panels don't release CO2 emissions into the atmosphere when creating electricity, they're a good trade for nonrenewable energy sources. In fact, you could lower your carbon dioxide emissions by about 90 pounds each year. For those who care about the environment, the upfront cost of solar is a small price to pay for the offset carbon emissions.