The 3 Financial Benefits of Solar Panels for Heavy AC Users
If you live in a particularly hot part of Australia, there's a good chance you use your air conditioner a lot. If you have a refrigerative system or you use AC units throughout your house, you may be sick of seeing your energy bills mount up. Thankfully, there are ways to save money on your energy costs without having to turn down the AC. The best solution is to produce your own energy using solar panels. Here are three ways solar energy will keep your bank balance happy:
Save Money on Energy
The first (and most obvious) reason to get solar panels if you're a heavy AC user is that they'll save you money on energy costs. The South Australian government estimates that air conditioner costs can run from 6¢ to $3.45 an hour depending on the type of system you use and the size of your home (or the size of the areas you keep cool). Some of all of this energy cost can be saved with solar panels. The beauty of solar energy is that you can produce as much or as little as you like; you can have a small panel installed to cover a portion of energy costs or have a full-scale installation to produce all the energy you need.
Use Your AC Less
Another surprising way solar panels will leave more money in your pocket is by insulating your house against the sun's ray. When solar panels are installed on your roof, they prevent some of the heat from getting through to your house. This means you won't need to use the air conditioner system as much as you previously would. Research has shown that the money solar panels save on cooling costs equates to a 5% discount on the lifetime price of the panels themselves.
Sell Power in Winter
While the above two benefits are great in themselves, there's still another way you finances will benefit from solar panel installation: selling back power. Having a lot of solar panels installed can cover your energy costs during the summer, but you're unlikely to need as much energy in the winter when you won't be using your AC as much. Thankfully, you don't have to let this power go to waste because you can sell it to energy companies, or even to your neighbours. Depending on the size of your solar system, this could net you a tidy profit year after year.