Solar electricity refers to electricity produced from the sun’s rays. This type of electricity is renewable and non polluting. Solar electricity is suitable for villages and remote areas where it is difficult to install the electric grid. You can also use the solar electricity as a backup option in case of a blackout.
The cost of the solar panel power is about $0.55 per kWh which is relatively cheaper than paying for conventional electricity. Solar electricity in your home can be used to power appliances such as heater and air conditioner. You will have to install solar panels on the rooftop to harness the power of the sun and convert it into electricity. Though you will have to invest about $275 to $600 for installing each of the panels, it will be very cost effective in the long run.
Solar electricity can contribute up to 200 watts of power per day, however the actual number of watts produced per day depend on a number of factors. Hence you should not power your entire home with solar electricity but use it as an alternative whenever you can. You can save considerable amount of money by supplementing your existing power resources in your house with solar electricity.
You can figure out the entire cost and utility of solar electricity by performing an energy audit in your home. You can check the wattage needed by each of the electrical items in your home such as the air conditioner, TV, heater, computer, light bulbs, refrigerator and the fan. You can come to know a lot of things when you do this revealing process and then you can find out how much of the conventional electricity can be replaced with solar electricity.
Once you have calculated the cumulated usage of wattage of all electrical items you can then figure out how many solar panels you will need to produce solar electricity. In addition to saving costs because of solar electricity you can also benefit by contributing towards a cleaner environment and less depletion of the natural resources.
There are some individuals who benefit by selling excess solar electricity produced by the solar panels to the local electricity companies. In case you are living in the USA then you can benefit from the tax credits that the government provides for using solar electricity.