Articles on solar power are easy to find of late. After all, the industry has been experiencing major growth in recent years. Unfortunately, many major media organizations keep publishing articles that state that a true solar power revolution is a few years away. This, in turn, prevents many people from doing their own research and purchasing a solar panel system.
The typical false statement that is made is that solar energy will be cheaper than conventional energy in just a few short years. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Anyone that has done just a little bit of research knows that solar power has actually surpassed grid parity; It’s cheaper than fossil fuels right now.
So why does this bad information get published? For two reasons. Firstly, the cost of solar power comes from numbers provided by the major solar leasing companies. Acquire a solar panel system from one of these companies and you will pay much more than you have to. Secondly, most journalists will take all of the PR and statements of price from these companies as an overall industry fact. It takes a really good, hard working journalist to dig a little deeper to find the real story.
There’s no need to call out any particular media organization. They’re all putting out very similarly misinformed articles about the cost of solar power. The fact is that they are inadvertently doing a disservice to all of their readers. The bigger picture is that they are slowing down a much needed switch to renewable energy sources like solar.
The real story about the solar power industry is that it is expanding rapidly. Every 4 minutes (and dropping) there is another solar panel installation that is completed in the U.S. For cash buyers or homeowners who get FHA backed green energy loans, payback on solar is about 5-8 years. After that loan period, homeowners will benefit from virtually free energy. Smaller, local solar installers save their customers many thousands of dollars compared to the big solar companies.
The bottom line is that millions of American homeowners can payoff a $10,000 to $15,000 (on average) solar loan in less than ten years instead of signing a 20-30 year contract with a solar leasing company and end up paying an extra $10,000 or more.
The companies that are offering a much more realistic price for solar will eventually benefit from good word of mouth. After all, they are offering the same product, and, in many cases, much better service than their larger competitors.
In this David Vs. Goliath battle, expect David to win out in the end.
