3 Reasons to Consider Solar + Storage for Your Home

As homeowners look for ways to save money on energy, lower their carbon footprints and improve the resiliency of their homes, rooftop solar panels paired with battery storage are becoming an increasingly popular choice.

By working together, these technologies can generate and store clean energy, lower your electricity costs and provide some serious benefits your local power grid, essentially turning your home into “a mini clean energy power plant”.

In this month’s blog, we look at three solid reasons why a solar-plus-storage system might be the right choice for your home:

1. You can contribute to a cleaner energy ecosystem.

Solar panels produce electricity from sunlight, which means you’re using clean, renewable energy instead of fossil fuels, like coal or natural gas, from the electric grid. When you pair solar with a battery, you can store extra power and use it later, like at night or during a power outage, further lowering your carbon footprint. In some areas, you can even sell your clean power back to the grid (either from the battery or directly from the solar panels), which helps the grid become cleaner – among other benefits that we’ll discuss next.

2. You can save money over the lifetime of the technologies.

No doubt about it – installing solar panels will be a huge investment for your home. But it can pay off in the long run, especially if you pair the panels with a battery. According to EnergySage, the average rooftop solar array costs about $20K, but “the average U.S. homeowner will save around $50,000 over 25 years after installing solar panels,” though this varies significantly by the electricity costs in your area, how much your typical electric bill is and more. Some states offer incentives to help with the cost of solar, and with electricity prices set to rise in the years to come, producing your own energy could be an even smarter financial move.

3. You can keep the lights on at home and help stabilize the grid.

With battery storage installed at home, you can keep your lights, refrigerator and other essentials running during blackouts or storms. But that’s not all – installing a solar-plus-storage system can help your entire community. Batteries can send extra power back to the grid during times of high electricity demand, like during a very hot summer afternoon, making it easier to manage electricity and prevent outages. In some cases, home batteries can even delay the need to build new power plants. In this way, your home becomes part of a stronger, more flexible energy system.

Solar panels and battery storage aren’t just good options for your home – they’re good for your wallet, your community and the planet. If you’re thinking about going solar, now’s a great time to explore your options, especially before federal incentives end. A cleaner, smarter energy future starts right on your rooftop.