January 16, 2020

Its one of the first questions a homeowner asks (along with what will it cost) but honestly there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Whether your goal is to reduce your electricity bill, generate your own clean energy or increase the value of your home, leasing or purchasing a solar photovoltaic ( PV ) system is a great choice and its important to work with an expert to correctly design and size your system.

System sizing can depend on a variety of factors but step one is usually to analyze the electrical consumption of your building. Your solar installer should ask to see at least a years worth of electricity bills and will use this data to determine how many kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy your building requires.

Then the homeowner will need to decide how much of their electricity they want to offset. 100% would of course be the most desirable outcome but there may be some limitations to the roof area that prevent this, or it may not be economically feasible.

An average home in Colorado uses around 6000 kWh per year, so 100% offset would require a 4 kW solar electric system (this would not necessarily be true in other locations as the solar resource varies from state to state).

Once the size of the system has been determined your solar consultant will be able to share information about all of the available financing products, including leases and loans, and facilitate applications to any local incentive programs.

Your 4 kW system will prevent around 4.2 tons of CO2 entering the atmosphere each year.

That’s right.

Your smart financial investment not only provides a reliable source of energy, its good for the environment too.