Utility Costs Go Up While Solar Costs Keep Going Down

We couldn’t help but notice this week that SDG&E is planning to raise electricity prices another 7% — one of the largest rate increases in the company’s history, by the way — while the price of solar energy continues to drop and is currently at an all-time low.

This raises the natural question, which is the better investment over the long haul, home solar energy or utility power?

One way to answer the question is to point out, first of all, how much utility power actually costs.

If you’re spending $200 per month on electricity (not unusual in San Diego), that’s $2,400 per year or $24,000 in 10 years — and that’s if prices don’t go up.

But if SDG&E rates do go up at 7% per year (as noted above), your 10-year cost of electricity is $33,000 — not $24,000. Key question: What sort of return do you get on that “investment?” (They let you keep your lights on?)

Here’s how solar compares…. for about what you will spend with SDG&E over the next 7 years, you can OWN a system that provides over 95% of your needed electricity — for the next 30+ years! (That’s like getting free electricity for 23 years!)

At the same time, that solar energy system adds new asset value to your home, value you can re-coup if you decide to sell your home… because now you’re selling a house with zero electric bill. One study said that home value goes up by $20 for every $1 in annual energy savings, just due to your avoided cost.

So, this nifty device that helps you avoid $2,400 in annual energy payment to the utility… also adds $48,000 in new home value to your bottom line, more than doubling your payback.

So remember, as you keep hearing about SDG&E rate increases — and paying those ever-increasing electricity bills — sometimes the price of doing nothing is just too high.

If you’d like to find out what sort of solar investment would work best for your home, give us a call or fill out the form on this website. And we’ll show you how to really put your money to work!

Solar-Powered Electric Cars Save the Planet — and Money, Too!

Nearly every major car company is releasing an electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid in the next 12-18 months. Great news, but it gets even better when you power up that electric car using a PV solar energy system on your home.

Peder Norby's Cooper Mini-E is powered by home solar energy

Peder Norby, a San Diego County Planning Commissioner and Stellar Solar customer, has been doing exactly that for the past 18 months. He drives an electric Cooper Mini-E and recharges it by plugging it into his solar-powered house.

Not only is Peder helping to save the planet — he’s saving a huge amount on transportation costs, too.

Turns out that the cost to drive 1 mile on solar power is about 1/20th the cost of driving the same distance using gasoline!

At $3.00 per gallon, a 20 mpg gasoline car costs about 15¢ per mile to drive.  But solar electricity can be generated at your home for as little as 7¢ per kilowatt-hour and will propel an electric car about 3.5 miles… a net cost of 2¢ per mile!

The last time a gasoline car cost that little to drive was in the 1970′s… when you could buy gas for 39.9¢ per gallon!

To find out more about using solar power to lower your transportation costs, visit our web page.