financial

Of course it’s an affordable, clean source of renewable energy. But what you might not know is that solar power is also an economic jobs engine—in fact, it’s the top energy job producer in the United States. According to the 2018 National Solar Jobs Census, America now has more than 242,000 solar workers. The job census reports that solar energy adds jobs 17 times faster than the overall economy.

You’ve seen solar panels on top of houses, and you know they’re there to produce energy. Beyond that, solar power may seem pretty complicated. The truth is, it’s fairly simple. 

As a business owner, making an investment like switching to solar energy might be seen as risky by some, in a seemingly complicated and ever-changing market. However, drive around most American cities today and you’ll see solar panels being installed on the roofs of more and more businesses every year. Do these companies know something you don’t? Not anymore. Clean, reliable solar energy makes sense everywhere the sun shines.

You’ve heard about the many advantages in generating electricity for your business with solar, and by now you may even know some other business owners who are doing just that. So is it time for your business to go solar? Let’s review a few key questions you’ll want to consider at the outset.

The switch to solar puts you in some pretty powerful company. A short list of major corporations that are expanding their solar presences includes:

• Target
• Walmart
• Apple
• Costco
• Kohl’s
• Amazon
• Macy’s

These and other top corporations added 325 megawatts of installed solar capacity in 2017. To offer perspective, that’s enough electricity to power over 65,000 homes, from one year of added capacity.  This transformation of our energy mix is only accelerating, and has now scaled to the degree that your business, big or small, can and should take part.

It’s no secret that the federal government and many state governments want businesses to go solar. Often this desire is expressed in the form of valuable tax incentives.

Solar energy is on the rise. Within the U.S. in 2018 alone, a new solar project was installed every 100 seconds. The increase in popularity can be attributed to a number of items.

You’ve done some research and decided that a solar PV system would be a wise choice for your home and that buying would be better than leasing. Assuming you’re not planning to purchase the system outright with cash, now is a good time to consider your financing options. Here are some guidelines.

Anyone who’s looked into solar energy likely has run across the term net metering. This term describes a billing mechanism that allows you to store/bank unused solar energy on the local power grid and later reclaim its value in the form of “free” energy when needed.

Electricity is big business, so it makes sense that there are some things about solar energy
that electric companies don’t want consumers to know.