The great thing about investing is that we’re using our money to make us more money. The worst part about investing is that it doesn’t always turn out that way.
You don’t need to be told that investing can be risky, and it’s pretty well known that in most cases, the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.
However, there are some investments where this isn’t necessarily the case, and one of them is solar energy.
Is Solar Energy A Safe Investment?
Solar energy is a safe investment for many because there is limited risk involved. In this blog, we’ll run through six reasons why the dollars you put into a solar system can safely earn you even more in the long term:
- Solar Energy Reduces Your Electricity Costs
- The Sun Will Continue to Shine
- Solar Power Has Been Tried and Tested
- Equipment Is Backed by Strong Manufacturer Warranties
- Workmanship and Production are Backed by Solar Installers
- Solar Has Shorter Paybacks and Higher ROIs
1. Solar Energy Reduces Your Electricity Cost
The money you’re “making” on a solar investment comes from no longer having to pay an electric bill. You’re essentially trading the electricity you purchase from the utility for the free electricity your system produces.
With solar energy, you’re reducing an expense you know you’ll always have. If you use electricity, your solar system will save you money by giving you that electricity for free.
2. The Sun Will Continue to Shine
Solar panels use energy from the sun to generate free, renewable energy for solar system owners.
With a solar investment, that’s what you’re dependent on – the sun shining. Let’s compare that to buying stocks. With an investment in a company, you’re dependent on a lot of things – the company’s leadership, its employees, the ever-changing tastes and expectations of consumers.
The sun, however, is the most abundant source of energy on Earth. Each hour, it radiates enough energy to fulfill Earth’s power needs for an entire year.
While it’s true that not all the energy from the sun will find its way to your solar panels, you don’t need to live in California or Florida to get enough sunshine to back up your solar investment.
Solar panels can still produce electricity on days when it’s cloudy, and can still be profitable investments for many people in states not known for their sunshine, like Ohio and snowy New York.
Solar energy is less risky than many other investments because it’s dependent on the sun, not people. If the Earth stops turning or the sun stops shining, we’ll all have a much bigger problem on our hands than our investments.
3. Solar Power Has Been Tried and Tested
Apple, Amazon, Walmart, and even the United States Military rely on solar power as a steady energy source.
A few decades ago, it was easier to question the reliability of solar energy as new technology. But with many solar projects still running years, even decades later, we can see that solar is an extremely reliable source of electricity that’s here to stay.
If you invest in solar energy now, you could have a system that will produce free electricity for you for 30+ years.
4. Equipment Is Backed by Strong Manufacturer Warranties
How many devices or pieces of equipment can you buy that come with a 25-year warranty?
While no one should deny that a solar energy system can be a substantial upfront investment, getting stuck with faulty parts shouldn’t introduce risk to that investment.
As long as you purchase your equipment from a reputable manufacturer of quality solar equipment, be that panels, inverters, racking, etc., you’ll have a hefty warranty behind everything you purchase.
Most solar panels have warranties between 20 to 25 years. Inverters often have warranties between ten to 25 years. The terms and length of your warranty will depend on the equipment you buy and the brand you buy it from.
You can rest easy each night knowing that your solar system should keep on producing. If something happens, you shouldn’t be out thousands of dollars to replace faulty parts.
5. Workmanship and Production are Backed by Solar Installers
While not all solar installers have warranties, partnering with one does eliminate a great deal of risk in your solar investment. If you partner with a solar installer who is willing to put their time and money on the line to guarantee their own work, that’s a sign you’ve found a good one.
Paradise Energy offers a Triple Ten Guarantee, which includes ten years of system monitoring, a ten-year workmanship warranty, and a ten-year production warranty. These are meant to remove the risk from your solar investment.
The production warranty will guarantee the amount of electricity we said your system will produce in our quote. If your system produces less, we’ll write you a check for the difference.
We keep track of this by monitoring how much your system produces for ten years. If we notice anything wrong, we’ll send our team out to fix it right away – because with the Triple Ten Guarantee, it’s not just your money that an under-performing solar system is losing, it’s ours.
6. Attractive Payback Periods and ROIs
Your solar system will start generating free electricity the first day it’s turned on. After so many years of generating free electricity, it will contribute enough savings to have paid for the equipment and installation costs. Once that happens, every kWh your business or home uses turns into money you can spend or invest elsewhere.
Some systems can pay for themselves in less than two years, and some can take longer. It all depends on your specific location and your specific needs.
The more electricity you use and the higher the rate, the more money you stand to save. Incentives also help keep the cost of going solar down and the payback periods shorter. Take a look at real paybacks and ROI percentages for projects in your state with our blog “Payback and ROI of Solar Energy for Farms & Businesses”.
We hope these six reasons help show you it’s safe to invest in solar energy. If you’re willing to bet that the sun keeps on shining and you keep on using electricity, equipment and installation warranties will hold up their end of the deal. When it comes down to it, there’s much less risk involved in going solar than in many other investments.
*Note: This blog was originally published on 11/4/2014 and was updated with new information on 3/10/2020.
