With increased charging efficiency, more appealing shingles, and better financing options. There’s never been a better time to make the switch. 

Here’s how you can benefit from new advances in solar technology for your home:

Better Tech—For Less

Over the past decade, advances in solar energy have helped the cost of solar panels to drop by almost 80 percent. While many homeowners opt to lease their panels, purchasing panels has now become so affordable that it might make more long-term financial sense for homeowners to consider buying instead. Because solar is now cost-competitive with natural gas, homeowners have been leading the charge in solar upgrades—even in states where investments in solar energy are low priority.

It can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 to install solar panels on your roof. However, you may be eligible for financing programs, like PACE (property assessed clean energy) financing. PACE enables homeowners to leverage their home equity to finance improvements that save energy or use renewable energy.

Use Solar-Generated Power at Night

Batteries for storing excess energy generated by solar panels are becoming more efficient, too. Depending on the brand, the battery can charge during the day, which will then allow you to use any extra energy you may have generated at night. This allows it to serve as a backup battery, too, such as protecting your home during a power outage—to keep your lights on, Wi-Fi working, and refrigerator running.

Solar Shingles

If you’ve ever balked at installing solar panels on your roof because you wanted to maintain your home’s aesthetic, you’re not alone. One of the many advances in solar technology is solar shingles. These new cells are “designed to look and perform like shingles and roof tiles. Depending on the company you decide to use, your solar shingles might replace parts of your roof altogether—or they’ll be installed just like terra cotta tile roofing to maintain your roofline.

More Efficient Cells

The average solar panel has only about 20 percent efficiency. Silicon cell panels, the most common solar panel material, capture and convert anywhere from 16 to 21 percent of the sunlight they’re exposed to during the day. But advances in solar cell materials might improve efficiency within the next few years. Cells made from materials like perovskite and quantum dot might “lower costs and increase solar potency,” encouraging further investment in solar energy.

Perovskite solar cells can be painted or sprayed on a surface from an ink solution or churned out of a printer like a newspaper. This flexibility means they can be attached to virtually anywhere.

Prime Solar Energy Is Here To Help!

As you consider whether solar panels are a sound investment for your home, make sure you take into account cost, warranty, longevity and overall efficiency, but just know Prime Energy Solar will be here to help guide you thru the process. So the next time you are search solar company near me or solar panels near me, click on the local leader of Solar Polar Installation, click on Prime Energy Solar.