Solar Bills Explained

3 Benifits Of Installing Solar Energy - Solar Energy Explained

What is solar energy? This is probably one question that keeps ringing in your mind if you are thinking of alternating your sources of power. Well, solar power is the radiant light and heat that reaches earth from the sun.

Right from the ancient times to date, various ever-evolving mechanisms to harness this energy have been put into practice, the latest and most efficient one being the use of solar panels.

Indeed, this form of energy is increasingly becoming more usable by people either because other alternative sources of power are too expensive or unreliable. Besides defining what solar energy is, this article is a presentation on the benefits and various applications of solar energy.

Benefits of Solar Energy

Environment Friendly

Unlike other sources of power, solar is among the most environmental friendly. It is always very uncomfortable and risky to live or work in a place that is polluted by power production plants. By being environmental friendly,this energy does not even cause noise pollution because solar panels work silently. This makes it a very conducive source of power for use in your home without having to worry about environmental risks.

Cost Efficient

Are you tired of paying bulging power bills at the end of every month? If this is the case then a solar systemis the perfect solution for you. In fact there are no monthly bills involve at all.

All you need is to acquire an efficient solar panel and other components that will enhance the conversion of sun light to power. You well know that nobody will charge you for harnessing sun rays into your solar panel. It's natural. It's free.

Reliable

How many times have you gone without electricity just because your local power supplier cut you off due to various unnecessary reasons? Several, right? At times these power surges are so frequent that you feel like giving up on them.

With solar power, such issues cease! As long as the sun rises every morning, solar energy will always be reliable; however, there can be occasions where the day is cloudy and the solar panel can't harness so much energy, but with a power solar panel, your power supply will rarely stop.

Applications of Solar Energy

Besides supply of electricity, solar energy is used in numerous areas. For instance, greenhouses are common beneficiaries of sunlight. Here, solar energy is used to facilitate growth of various plants like flower under a controlled environment f temperature, light and humidity.

Solar water heating is also another application of solar. This system is composed of a solar thermal collector and storage tanks. It is often used in large water plants, restaurants and accommodation facilities.

Other applications of solar energy include manufacture of solar cars, solar street lighting systems, and solar power satellites among many others.

All the outlined benefits and applications of solar power no doubt explain what it really is. Conclusively, it is essential to reiterate that it is among the most widely used sources of power besides hydro-electric sources.

The quality of solar power you receive largely depends on the quality, and at times quantity of your solar panels.

Learn how to reduce your electricity and power bills, and for more Free information and articles Going here:

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A Lesson on Solar Billing

First up, the solar bill. If you purchased a solar energy system outright with cash, you don’t receive any solar bills except a monthly statement from your solar provider that tells you your system’s production for the month. If you obtained solar panels through a lease or a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), you will receive a solar bill each month from your solar company. If you financed a solar energy system through a loan provider you will receive a monthly solar bill from that organization, this can sometimes be the solar company, but most loans are offered through a third party. 

Here are some quick details about the solar bills associated with each of these financing options:

Solar Lease: Your solar bill from your solar provider will be the same amount each month. The fixed amount you will see on the solar bill is determined by the amount of power your panels were designed to produce over their lifetime. That total is divided into fixed monthly payments for the term of the lease contract.

Solar PPA: You pay your solar company a fixed rate for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) your panels produce. This means that during sunnier months, your bill will be slightly higher than it is during cloudy ones. That might sound backwards but those sunny months are actually when you’ll be seeing the most savings - more on that in the utility portion below.

Solar Loan: Your solar bill will be the same, predetermined amount each month until you pay off the loan - just like an auto loan. A solar bill will come from the creditor you financed your solar purchase through.

Here’s a sample of your PPA bill—new design coming next month—remember yours might look a little bit different and PPA rates will vary based on where you live. Luckily, solar bills are a bit more straightforward than your utility bills. Solar companies do not have access to all of the data your utility company owns in regards to your usage, so most of the information you will receive from your solar company is in regards to the panel production and how much solar energy was produced that month. They may be as simple as this: 

Next up, the utility bill. If you’re thinking, “Wait, I have TWO bills now?” stay with us. It may be a little confusing at first to have two bills, but don’t let it fool you. Your solar panels are still producing cleaner, cheaper energy for you than the utility company - you might just need to do a little math to figure out how much you’re saving.

The good news is, the utility bill piece of your savings equation should be the same regardless of how you’re financing your solar panels. There are essentially two or three pieces to most energy bills:

• Service charge and fees. This is usually a flat rate charged to all utility customers regardless of how much electricity is used. It’s the fee you pay for being connected to the grid. It may appear on your bill as one charge or multiple fees, but it won’t change when your solar panels are active.
• Taxes. Pretty self-explanatory - these are usually calculated based on grid-electricity use, so the more you rely on electricity from your solar panels, the less you’ll pay in taxes. Hooray! It’s important to note that some taxes will be separated out as a line item that you can clearly see, and some utilities include the tax in their rates.
• Energy use. Here’s the part to really get excited about. Your electrical provider charges you a volumetric rate for the number of kilowatt-hours (kWh) you use. Your utility bill will only show the number of kWhs you used from the grid, it doesn’t measure how much electricity you use from your solar panels. In other words, if you were to use only power from your solar panels, this amount would be zero.

Many utilities use tiered pricing, meaning that once your usage exceeds a certain amount of electricity, your rate per kWh goes up. Relying on your solar panels can help you stay in the lower-tiered (cheaper!) pricing even when you need power from the grid.

If your utility offers net metering, it can be slightly more confusing but the savings also stack up even more, so it’s worth following the numbers. When your solar panels produce more solar power than you use, your solar energy system sends the excess solar energy to the grid. With a net metering agreement, you get credit for that excess electricity - usually as a kWh credit that will show up on your next month’s bill or as a total sum at the end of the year.

If net metering is available to you, here is a simple equation you can use to figure out your energy/electricity usage you will be charged for:

Electricity use charges = kWhs used from the grid - credits for kWhs of exces ssolar energy sent to the grid

This simple equation will result in a negative number when you send more energy to the grid than you use. Many utilities with net metering agreements allow you to rollover a negative kWh balance at the end of the month. Some calculate it as a dollar amount credit.

Recommended for you - Monopoly:

Recent MIT study reveals a weird… yet childish-simple 3D solar array… that has amazingly powerful results.

It’s the cheapest, easiest way to effortlessly make your own "personal power plant"... and have a perpetual source of cheap green electricity for anything heading our way.

You don’t have to be an electrician to do it, there’s no maintenance needed, it doesn’t take up a lot of space and the best part: you won’t need to rely on the power grid anymore.

Click Here to See What THIS Disaster-Proof, Recession-Proof, Drought-Proof "Backyard Power Plant" Can Do for You.