financial

If you have a solar home to sell, you’re in luck! Those photovoltaic panels can be a strong selling point. Solar not only saves homebuyers money on utility bills, it can add substantially to a home’s resale value. It’s also easy to maintain and monitor, and it contributes to building a better energy future. But you need to know a few important things about the home and its system before you put it on the market.

The short answer is: yes.

By 2022, the federal investment tax credit (ITC) for installing a home solar system, a real help in paying for residential solar, is coming to an end.

Along with public-sector initiatives like tax credits, some energy utilities offer or participate in programs that help solar customers offset the costs of installation.

Uncle Sam allows you to claim a credit of 26 percent of the expense of a residential or commercial solar power system installed in 2020 on your 2020 federal taxes.

The tax credits that you can take advantage of when you install a solar system are basically a legacy of the “energy crisis” of the 1970s.

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.