Solar Roofs Arlington Heights IL

This is a question on many consumers’ minds—if I install solar panels in the interest of bringing down my energy bills, how long will it take to pay off and start enjoying the benefits of lower electricity usage?

It depends on a few factors. First, let’s note that the payback period refers to the amount of time it will take your solar investment to pay for itself in saved energy costs. The average payback period for solar systems in the U.S. is six to eight years.

The length of your payback period will depend on how big your solar system is, the rebates and incentives available to you, and how much you’re currently paying for your utilities.

Let’s look at the numbers using our system detailed above: 5kW at a cost of $4.00/watt:

• The basic system will cost $20,000;
• After applying the 30 percent federal tax credit, the cost is down to $14,000;
• Assuming an average energy bill of $100 for a Chicago area home and a solar system that covers 100 percent of your energy needs, this means a payback period of 140 months – or 11.6 years;
• However, we still need to apply the value of your SRECs! If we conservatively assume an average SREC price of $70 (based on market conditions) and a 5kW system generating about five SRECs per year, this will add an additional $350 into your pocket annually;

Altogether, the value of your SRECs will bring your total payment down by nearly 30 percent—reducing your total payback period to 8.2 years.

Note that these numbers are just an example of how your payback period can be calculated. For a detailed quote that takes your exact home specifications into account, use our solar calculator.