If you’re paying a lot for electricity, let me tell you why you shouldn’t go solar! We are DroneQuote, where we help people go solar, but in this blog, we are going to tell you why if your electricity bill is high, perhaps you shouldn’t go solar. We invested time and effort in telling you not to buy something you could hypothetically buy from us.
Reasons why not buy solar
# 1 – The number one reason to not go solar is if you can reduce your usage enough to not make solar ‘worth it’ for you. Making concerted efforts to reduce your usage before installing solar can show you a solid return on investment for much less than installing solar.
Manage usage
An easy way to reduce your usage is to manage how much electricity is used in your house, when it is used, and how it’s used. Your bill tells you how much or the volume, and sometimes when you’re using power, but not HOW electricity is used.
Energy management systems from companies like Emporia give you detailed data so you can know if it’s your AC unit or pool pump (or both – GASP!) cycling on and off between 4:17PM and 8:52PM when peak rates are at their worst.
The same is true with using smart thermostats to help reduce your usage as they automate energy-saving modes OR smart outlets that you can manage from your phone while also getting per kWh readings from the device.
More efficiency
Next up, after you’ve managed your power consumption, you can hold off on buying solar panels if you can make your home more efficient such that you can use less electricity to render solar ‘not worth it.
Better insulation
Heating and cooling are top contributors to home energy usage in the United States, with 55% coming from air conditioning and heating. Another study from an unverified source also claims that up to 30% of energy losses come from kids turning stuff on and walking away. Poor home insulation can cause your climate control systems to run non-stop and your power bill through the roof.
One of the MOST EFFECTIVE ways to reduce usage AND get a great return on investment is updated insulation in your home. Utilities sometimes offer rebates or incentives for these upgrades, and they may even be eligible for tax credits! We want to hear from you guys in the comments if your utility offers rebates for these upgrades.
Ultimately what you’re looking to do here is to improve your energy efficiency to the degree where you can either lessen the number of solar panels you might install or even avoid installing solar panels in the first place. Can’t beat that price with a stick.
Whole house fan
Whole house fan
Depending on where you live in the United States and the time of year, a significant portion of your electricity usage can be attributed to air-conditioning. A popular alternative to air-conditioning units is a whole house fan which uses up to 85% less power than an air conditioning unit of comparable adequate size. To reduce electricity usage for cooling, you may consider a whole house fan.
A whole house fan works by replacing the warm inside air with cooler outside air. In many cases, a whole house fan is less expensive and functions much quicker than an air conditioning unit.
A drawback to a whole house fan is that to function correctly, you need the outside temperature to be cooler than the indoor temperature. Another flaw in this is that you want clean outdoor air. If there’s particulate matter in the outside air, you’ll want to avoid using the fan.
Installing a whole house fan unit has upfront costs, but it’s much less than solar AND can take a bite out of your cooling costs. Remember, we’re looking to reduce usage before replacing it.
Even if installing a whole house fan doesn’t prevent you from installing solar panels, it can help you make for a more cost-effective solar installation.
#2 – The number two reason solar is not for you is if you have too much shade – Solar panels are called that for a reason, and if you have too much shade, it just doesn’t work. Before we go on, we have to underscore how important this topic is because anything that inhibits electricity production negatively impacts the return of investment. Otherwise, if the panels don’t produce electricity, you buy them from the utility at whatever the current rate is.
Rather than get into the nuances of how solar is affected by shade, let’s discuss sources of shade and how they impact your decision to go solar because not all shade is created equal.
First, there’s shade quantity – If there is a greater quantity of shade, you must consider the source.
Vegetation is a common culprit for shade. If it’s coming from your trees, you have more say in the matter, for the most part, unless the tree is somehow protected, which is a real thing. You can choose to remove or trim them, and while some people may not mind parting with a tree, others might.
What about neighboring trees? Here your hands are tied a little bit more. You’re now at the mercy of your neighbor’s decision. But either way, if it’s on your property or theirs, there are also costs to consider.
Building structures is another cause for shade. This can come from things like chimneys or dormers, but sometimes the shade is caused by a neighboring building. Again, if it’s not too much shade, you can work with it, but too much shade from any source will render your solar panel investment less fruitful.
If you feel like shade may be a concern for your system, bringing this up with whoever is helping you buy solar is critical. Confirm that the shade considerations have been factored into the estimates of solar production. We can’t stress this enough, if the system doesn’t produce at the level you based your expectations, chances are very high – Snoop Dogg high – that you may get a nasty surprise from the utility for all the electricity you bought from them.
#3- If you don’t use enough electricity, there is less room for savings. If your usage is so low that installing solar will not show you enough monthly savings or delay your return on investment, then perhaps you may not find the logic in going solar. This is where taking a closer look at efficiency upgrades mentioned earlier pays off.
#4- If you have your bill handy, look at how much you spend PER unit of electricity. The cost per kWh plays a big role in people’s decision to go solar and is reason# 4 why you shouldn’t buy solar panels. Take your total bill amount and make sure you’re looking at electricity-only charges; otherwise, you’ll throw your numbers off. Divide this total dollar amount by the total kWh used in your billing period. This number is your cost per kWh or, in a more familiar energy unit, your cost per gallon. The further apart your cost per kWh from the utility to that of a potential solar loan option at .10/kWh, the more attractive solar becomes because that starts to increase your savings. Perhaps today’s rates are manageable for you, but that’s your number four.
#5- Sometimes solar is just not what people need, and that’s a great reason not to go solar.
If you’re moving soon in the foreseeable future, we don’t care what anybody says; we’ll pay the first realtor $500 to bring me proof of a house sale they lost because the house didn’t have solar. And look, we help people buy solar. But we’ll be the first to admit we’ve heard of situations where existing solar didn’t do any favors in selling a house. So if you might move relatively soon, perhaps hold off.
If you have solar and are selling the house, worry not; this link here will show you how to prepare your solar system to showcase it as an asset to a homeowner.
Return on investment is also super critical to keep in mind. Because ROI is objective to your personal circumstance, it is worth noting that solar ROI varies so much on different factors because you want to make sure this investment aligns with your expectations. Though there is much to be said about the cost of electricity today vs. tomorrow, there’s that too.
And finally, we should remind you that the most efficient solar panels today are rectangular. While most people get solar because they don’t want to look at their bills, some people don’t want to look at solar. Depending on the roof orientation of your home, or other variables, it may be that panels would be best-placed front and center. That’s sometimes not the life some people want to live, and while there is sometimes a way to compromise, like using less efficient roofs, other times there isn’t.
#6- The number one reason why you shouldn’t install solar is if, where you live, your utility doesn’t offer net metering. Unless you have a dough like dominos to spend on batteries, not having net metering is almost always a reason why NOT to install solar panels.
Almost always kills viability
Net metering is probably one of the most appealing reasons to go solar, as you can earn by selling your excess solar energy to the grid. Net metering is what makes solar work financially, as it allows you to store your surplus power with the utility in the form of money or benjamins.
Unfortunately, some places in the United States do NOT offer net metering. It means that if you send the utility electricity, they will pay you the wholesale rate on the market. Sometimes that’s 70-85% less than what your electricity is worth, and that ain’t right! So if you don’t have access to net energy metering, solar may not be a good decision for you!
Having said all of that, there are still companies out there that, if given the opportunity, will tell you you should go solar and how it’s the best thing ever and you’re gonna love it!
DroneQuote has reviews from people who we’ve told not to buy solar. The fact of the matter is that one of the biggest things that set DroneQuote apart in this industry is our fiduciary approach to make sure that we are offering you only what is of benefit to YOU. If you want to get the facts on whether or not solar makes sense for you without putting the sale first, click on the link to learn more and see why people leave us the reviews they do.
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Hasta la vista, baby!