6 Reasons Why Getting Solar is a No Brainer
By: Eric Huesca, SEO Content Writer
January 27, 2023
If you live in Oregon and are considering switching your home to solar energy, you can take advantage of a wide range of solar-friendly laws passed at the state level. These laws are meant to make it easy for homeowners to switch. Even though Oregon is known for being foggy and rainy, solar panels can still make a lot of clean electricity.
Per person, Oregon’s total retail sales of electricity are pretty close to the average for the whole country. About two-fifths of Oregon’s retail power sales in 2020 came from the residential sector, which also heats almost half of the state’s residents. The business and industrial sectors gave slightly more than three-tenths of the total.
Dad holding his daughter while pointing to his solar panels.
The transportation sector used a minimal amount of the total amount of power.
In a study that came out not too long ago, scientists worldwide expressed concern that if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t drastically cut, the planet’s climate could be severely changed by the year 2100.
These problems, which experts have linked to climate change, have plagued Solar energy in Oregon so far this decade. These include more extended and destructive wildfire seasons, drought, and an extreme heat wave in June 2021 that killed hundreds.
According to a new paper written by researchers at Oregon State University, putting land to use for solar photovoltaic power and farming at the same time could provide 20% of the United States’ total electricity with an investment of less than 1% of the country’s annual budget.
Germany, whose weather is much like Oregon’s, is now the first country in the world to know how much solar energy it makes. Solar panels in Oregon produce much solar energy, especially in the summer. This is because the state has long, sunny summer days and mild temperatures, which make solar panels last longer and work better.
So, people living in homes with solar panels can use that energy all year. Due to all of the reasons listed above, installing solar panels is an excellent investment for most Oregon homes.
On five acres of land at Oregon State’s North Willamette Research and Extension Station in Aurora, Oregon, which is 20 miles south of Portland, a fully functional solar farm that will help farmers will be put in place. The paper’s analysis helps Higgins prepare for the next step in his research on agrivoltaics. During this phase, a fully functional solar farm will be set up.
Solar Law in Oregon
Oregon’s solar access rules, which have been in place since 1979, say that no one selling or agreeing to give away a property title can include terms that stop solar energy systems from being used on the land. These rules were made official. Any parts of the contract that say solar energy systems can’t be used are null and void and can’t be enforced. “Solar energy systems” is a broad term for anything that uses solar radiation to make either heat or electricity.
Because changes to the outside of a home may affect the community and are governed by design or architectural rules in the HOA Codes, Covenants, and Restrictions, a homeowner’s association (HOA) is usually involved when a homeowner decides to put a solar photovoltaic system (solar PV) on their property. The HOA Codes, Covenants, and Restrictions make this possible (CC&R).
In any zone where residential buildings are allowed, a solar photovoltaic or solar thermal energy system can be installed and used on a residential building. Whether the system makes electricity or heat, this is always the case.
In Oregon and Washington, state law says that HOAs can’t completely ban the installation of solar photovoltaic systems as long as the systems meet all of the health, safety, and performance standards set by state and local governments. The Energy Department has worked to make the Solar laws in Oregon easier to understand.
The Oregon Department of Energy’s program is meant to make it easier for people with lower incomes in Oregon to use clean solar energy. If your family’s income is considered low or moderate, you can get a refund for up to 60% of the total cost of your system.
It is possible to put a solar energy system on a home or business building without making the building bigger or raising the peak height of the roof where the system will go.
If you make more electricity than you use in a given month, the kilowatt-hour costs on your electric bill will go away, and you will only have to pay the basic service charges that the utility charges. Most of the time, these rates are about $12 per month. Because of the extra energy, kilowatt-hour credits will be made. These credits will be applied to your future electric bills.
Over time, credits you haven’t used will build up on your account with Portland General Electric or Pacific Power. Because of this, credits earned during the sunny summer months in Oregon can be used to pay for costs that come up during the cloudy winter months.
The Oregon Legislative Assembly made a feed-in tariff for solar power modeled after the feed-in tariffs in Germany. With this feed-in tariff, owners of solar installations can get paid for the energy their installations produce. On May 28, 2010, the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved implementing the trial feed-in tariff rules.
If a person or business in the state wants to install a solar energy system, they can sign a 15-year contract with an investor-owned utility. If they do, they’ll get guaranteed monthly payments for as long as the contract lasts between $0.55 and $0.65 per kWh. The rules that were put in place included these parts.
Financial Benefits
More and more homes are investing a lot of money in solar energy systems. Solar energy for homes is growing at an incredible rate of 16% annually. Using solar power to make electricity requires solar panels, which turn the energy from the sun into something that can be used. If you switch your home to solar power, you can save much money and benefit greatly.
Solar power in Oregon is a type of energy that is good for the environment, clean, and cheap. About 1.4 million homes in India have solar panels installed as of right now. Solar power may save your home, business, or industrial property money.
- Save money
Solar energy may help homeowners save a lot of money monthly on their electric bills through “net metering.” With “net metering,” homeowners with solar energy systems get credit for the amount of power their systems send back to the grid. In its most basic form, a solar power system works by always making electricity when the sun is out. Because of this, there is often too much energy, so the extra electricity you don’t need is sent to the power grid.
- Solar Tax Incentives
There are now good federal tax breaks for people who use solar power. These benefits are available right now. A 30% tax credit can cover almost one-third of the cost of a solar system. This 30% tax credit hasn’t been changed since August 2022, when President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, making it official.
This critical law brought back the 30% tax rate, kept it in place until 2032, and made it apply to any installations made in 2022. In Arizona, people who buy solar energy don’t have to pay sales tax; they also get a one-time tax credit of $1,000.
- Long-Term Value
Homeowners may save money by installing solar power systems. If you spend a lot of money on a system to power your whole house, you must know how long your solar panels will keep working. According to estimates, solar power systems usually last between 25 and 30 years.
The rate at which your solar power system breaks down does not have to be a factor in how long it can continue to work. Solar panels usually lose 0.5% of their efficiency every year. This means that after 25 years, your system will still work at about 88% of its original capacity.
- Increase in property value
Installing solar panels on a property often leads to a rise in that property’s market value, in addition to saving money in other ways. So, even though you might get a higher price if you sell, lease, or rent the property, it’s important to remember that selling it outright may be your best option. Solar panel installation in Oregon can last up to thirty years when the owner can save money on energy costs.
- Tax benefits
Investors in the solar installation may get a tax break in the form of accelerated depreciation during the fiscal year in which the installation was done. In addition to these benefits, money made from solar energy may be eligible for a tax break for the next ten years. Different states may have different ideas about how to apply this law.
Solar Adaptability
Solar energy is the power of technologies that use the sun’s rays. Photovoltaics, also known as PV, and concentrating solar thermal power are the two main types of technology used to make electricity from the sun (CSP).
- Photovoltaics
Photovoltaics, which PV is short for, is what you know best. PV can be found in solar panels. When sunlight hits a solar panel, the solar panels’ photovoltaic (PV) cells take in the light and use its energy to make electricity. Because of this energy, electrical charges are made. These charges move in response to an electrical field inside the cell, which in turn causes electricity to flow.
Photovoltaic solar systems are today’s most common and widely used solar power systems. A photovoltaic panel is usually made up of several solar cells. Each solar cell makes a direct current, which converts into an alternating current. A solar cell system is a group of photovoltaic, or PV, solar panels connected to the parts they need to turn sunlight into electricity.
The basic idea is that the movement of electrons causes the flow of electric current. For this to happen, photons, which are light particles, must first excite the electrons in the outermost shells of the atoms that make up certain semiconductor elements.
- Concentrated solar power-
Solar thermal power is a method that uses heat from the sun. This heat is used directly or turned into mechanical energy to make electricity. This process is called “concentrated solar power.” This heat is used immediately (low-temperature solar thermal) or turned into mechanical energy, then used to make electricity.
Archimedes and his flaming glass may have been the first to use concentrated solar power. For this type of energy, mirrors and lenses focus much of the sun’s rays onto a single receiver.
Solar concentrators only work when they are put out in the full sun. The fact that the mirror is on a platform that can turn to follow the sun throughout the day makes the project harder and more expensive. Because of this, they are primarily used in places where it is mostly sunny, and there are more apparent days than cloudy ones.
In the second type of thermal solar power technology, collectors are used to focusing the heat of the sun’s rays so that a transfer fluid can be heated to a very high temperature. The fluid heats a network of water, which turns into steam and spins a turbine, creating energy.
Getting Solar in Oregon
People are installing solar energy systems at a rate that has never been seen before. This is because people are becoming more interested in renewable sources of electricity. The decision to use solar energy in your home or business is a big one that could have a significant impact, and the process may seem scary and hard. At this point, we come into the picture.
Before you decide to put solar panels on your property, you should figure out how much energy you need, consider whether your home is a good fit for solar power, look into the Solar incentives in Oregon, and get multiple quotes from qualified installers.
Building a solar panel system involves five steps:
- An engineering site visit
- Getting the necessary permissions and paperwork
- Placing an order for the necessary equipment
- Installing the solar panels
- Getting approval and interconnection
Here are the essential steps that need to be taken before you switch to solar energy in Oregon–
- The first consultation also includes a site survey.
- Evaluate your electric bill.
- Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits of the Proposal
- Engineering, as well as administrative duties.
- Explore available incentives.
- Examine the available options, then choose an installation.
- Solar Panel Installation.
A Healthier Oregon
Solar energy is a technology that is better for the environment. It’s a great way to get energy and one of the most important green and renewable sources. It is a significant part of making energy solutions for sustainable development a reality.
Solar power is a beautiful way to make electricity because it is possible to collect a lot of energy from the sun daily. Concentrated solar power and solar photovoltaics are both always getting better so that they can keep up with our growing energy needs.
Renewable energy in Oregon comes from things that nature can replenish and doesn’t put a lot of greenhouse gases or other pollutants into the air. These energy sources are all around us and come from the sun, the wind, the water, waste, and the heat from the Earth.
Some solar power facilities may need water to clean solar collectors and concentrators and keep turbine generators cool. In some dry areas, using a lot of ground or surface water to clean collectors could hurt the ecosystems that depend on these water sources. Also, a solar power tower’s concentrated beam of sunlight could kill birds and insects that fly directly into it.
Energy is needed for both human groups to stay alive and grow. As a direct result, the need for energy has steadily grown as human civilization has grown. Also, the world’s population has grown a lot in the last few decades, which has made people more dependent on technology and increased their need for energy. Also, green technology sources are essential to getting energy in a way that is good for the environment, especially in the fight against climate change.
“Sustainable energy development” refers to the energy sector’s growth in making, distributing, and using energy. This growth is based on the principles of sustainability. Because of how they use energy, both industrialized and developing countries will significantly affect the environment. Because of this, the global sustainable energy system needs to become more efficient while at the same time reducing its pollution.
Solar energy is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, but if the rest of your house isn’t as energy efficient as it should be, switching to solar may not be the best investment for you right now. Before you decide to install solar panels, investing in energy-saving appliances, windows, and insulation would be best. It would help if you also considered how old your roof is because the age of your roof is a big part of whether or not your property is suitable for solar energy.
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