18 Best Solar Companies in Philadelphia, PA (Nov 2022 Review)

The Cost and Benefits of Solar in Philadelphia

While solar panels can help save you money on utility bills over time, it's important to consider the upfront costs. Some key things that influence how much it will cost and how much you could save include:

• The model of solar panels you want: More efficient models have higher prices, so that will influence your budget for your solar project.
• Incentives: Along with the federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which lets you receive a tax credit curretnly worth 30% of your total installation cost, your state or local government may offer additional tax exemptions, credits or rebates that can help you save even more. Aside from incentives, you can save an average of $15,000 over the first 20 years with your solar system, too.
• Your city: This affects the average daily sunlight your roof gets, which helps determine how many panels you need.
• How much power your home consumes: Households that use lots of power each month may need more solar panels and, consequently, more upfront cost, but will also save more on their energy bills over time.

Though a solar panel system costs a sizable chunk of money upfront, it can save you thousands of dollars in the long term. The question of how much, though, depends on a number of factors, like the amount of daily direct sunlight available and incentives.

Solar Incentives in Philadelphia

Although a solar power system is typically a large investment, it can save you a substantial amount of money in the long term due to reduced energy bills and government incentives. These incentives typically take the form of cash rebates, tax benefits and/or performance-based incentives. They can reduce the cost you pay for installing solar panels by 30%, upwards of 50% in some cases. For more information about incentives for homeowners in Philadelphia, check out our our article on solar incentives.

Environmental Impact of Switching to Solar in Philadelphia

An important reason so many homeowners are considering going solar is to help reduce their environmental impact. A question many might be wondering about is how much can they really help protect the environment by switching to solar power anyway? As reported by the EPA, electricity production is the second greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions and about 62% of our electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels. Installing solar panels and switching to renewable energy can help reduce that statistic in a city like Philadelphia that generates a fair amount of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Because solar panels don't release carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere when producing electricity, they're a good substitute for traditional energy sources. In fact, you could reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by about 60 pounds each year. As you can see, investing in solar has so many other rewards apart from saving money. One of the major ones is that you can help save the planet too.