Have you ever been without power for an extended time period?   I have and on more than one occasion!  The night my son was born a tornado hit our town and we were without power for several weeks.  It isn’t a fun experience, especially in the dead of winter or even summer.  I have often pondered the thought of installing solar panels to help offset some of our energy use or would love to completely rely on alternative energy.  In a single day, the sun generates enough energy to power all the electric utilities on Earth for an entire year!  That is an astounding thought!

Why haven’t we made a change yet?  For our family it is quite simple-there is an investment up front that we just haven’t quite been able to take on yet, but hope to sometime in the future. I thought this photo explains very clear how solar energy works.

There really are so many benefits to using solar power energy, can you imagine receiving a credit on your electric bill because your home produced power that was sent back into the grid?  One of the major benefits of choosing renewable energy source is that you don’t have to worry about loosing your energy when the rest of the area goes black; simply put, you have access to your energy when you need it.   Renewable energy has a minimal impact on the environment, unlike using the depleting fossil fuels.  It produces little to no waste creating a very small, if any carbon footprint.  We all are faced with the rising prices of  fuel each and every day we head to the gas pumps, so we know we will be faced with the continue in rise of energy costs as the supply decreases.

As I mentioned, the reason we have yet to make any type of change would be due to the fact that the upfront costs are quite significant, although they are becoming more affordable. Solar panel systems start to lower your energy costs beginning the very first day, so there is no wait to start receiving the benefits.  There are currently government tax credits & rebates available to help offset some of the initial costs of installing solar panels. If you live in the United States you can search Energy.gov to see what is available in your area.

Have you ever considered solar energy or other renewable energy for your home?

This sponsored post was brought to you by Next Generation – AE.