Yes, if done right switching to solar could be a much smarter financial decision for you and your family. Many factors can come into play, such as your energy usage, roof orientation, and shading. Several states and cities also have rebates, which can dramatically affect the install price. Recently, Congress extended the Federal Tax Credit, which takes an additional 30% off the net system price (after rebates).

Photovoltaic cells were developed at Bell Laboratories in the early 1950s as a spinoff of transistor technology. Very thin layers of pure silicon are impregnated with tiny amounts of other elements. When exposed to sunlight, small amounts of electricity are produced. They were mainly a laboratory curiosity until the advent of spaceflight in the 1950s, when they were found to be an efficient and long-lived, although staggeringly expensive, power source for satellites. Also, the utility companies couldn’t figure out how to get their wires out into space, so PV was really the only option! Since the early ’60s, PV cells have slowly but steadily come down from prices of over $40,000 per watt to current retail prices of around $5 per watt, or in some cases as low as $3 per watt for distributors or in very large quantities..

PV modules last a long, long time. How long we honestly don’t yet know, as the oldest terrestrial modules are barely 45 years old and still going strong. In decades-long tests, the fully developed technology of single- and polycrystal modules has shown to degrade at fairly steady rates of 0.25%-0.5% per year. First-generation amorphous modules degraded faster, but there are so many new wrinkles and improvements in amorphous production that we can’t draw any blanket generalizations for this module type. The best amorphous products now seem to closely match the degradation of single-crystal products, but there is little long-term data. Most full-size modules carry 25-year warranties, reflecting their manufacturers’ faith in the durability of these products. PV technology is closely related to transistor technology. Based on our experience with transistors, which just fade away after 20 years of constant use, most manufacturers have been confidently predicting 20-year or longer life spans. However, keep in mind that PV modules are seeing only six to eight hours of active use per day, so we may find that life spans of 60-80 years are normal. Cells that were put into the truly nasty environment of space in the late 1960s are still functioning well. The bottom line? We’re going to measure the life expectancy of PV modules in decades - how many, we don’t yet know.

PV modules are very easy to mainitain. Because they have no moving parts, they are virtually maintenance free. Basically, you keep them clean. If it rains irregularly or if the birds leave their calling cards, hose the modules down. Do not hose them off when they’re hot, since uneven thermal shock could theoretically break the glass. Wash them in the morning or evening. For PV maintenance, that’s it.

An inverter is an electronic device that  transforms the low-voltage DC power we can store in batteries to conventional 120-volt AC power as needed by lights and appliances. This makes it possible to utilize the lower-cost (and often higher quality) mass-produced appliances made for the conventional grid-supplied market. Inverters are available in a range of wattage capabilities. We commonly deal with inverters that have a capacity of anywhere between 150 and 7,000 watts.

This is a solar panel that makes electricity when exposed to direct sunlight. PV is shorthand for photovoltaic. We call these panels PV modules to differentiate them from solar hot-water panels or collectors, which are a completely different technology and are often what folks think of when we say “solar panel.” PV modules do not make hot water.