Solar panel installation and maintenance has its own varied prices. Homeowners considering the switch to eco-friendly solar energy as the main source for their properties, need to also consider the switch with associated costs. People need to look at the conception between renewable energy and the current source of electricity they use.
Cost of Solar Installation
Depending on the state you live in, these prices can vary. The national average for a single solar panel installation is $2.85 per watt. The average cost range for a solar panel that is a 6 kW system will be between $15145 and $19280. The average cost range for a solar panel that is a 10 kW system will be between $25250 and $31670.
| Average per Watt | $2.85 |
| Average Range for 6KW | $15145-$19280 |
| Average Range for 10KW | $25250-$31670 |
The greatest advantage of installing a solar panel to your home is how efficient the system works for your home. It is also an even greater benefit to consider when the solar panels also last longer than 30 years. Costs will decrease over time and it is practically consistent to rely on.
You also have to understand that there are several different manufacturers in the solar panel industry. Homeowners should also keep a watchful eye in which state they live in. There are certain states that retain a greater potential for sunlight exposure. What is the most utilitous benefit to installing solar panels atop your home’s roof is the lifespan that they last, because after the system is installed, they can last your home’s electricity production for about 20 years.
Initiating government incentives can heighten the motive but this means you should check for any tax forms that might apply to the installing of your solar panels. Availability of government incentives, however, should be researched further, depending on the city and state you live in.
Whether you decide to purchase or lease your solar panels, you might be looking at a 26 percent tax break. Although this doesn’t mean you’ll be breaking even in an instance, the savings will accrue eventually. Remember, solar panels do not raise any capital or value to your home’s return investment when you decide to sell.
Cost of Electricity
The national cost average of homeowners that use electricity is billed $119.75 per month. Usage of electricity, on average, is about 13.35 kWh. On the national average, homeowners and residents consume about 897 kWh per month. Although, the fluctuation very much depends on which state you live in. Due to how the percentage shifts, the change in both cost and usage goes up and down too often.
Here is a list of the top ten states that use with the most residential electricity on a national scale:
| State | Avg. Electric Rate % | Change Cost Per Month |
| Hawaii | 30.55 -3.8 | $274.03 |
| Rhode Island | 23.41 -3.5 | $209.99 |
| Massachusetts | 22.32 -2.6 | $200.21 |
| California | 21.43 7.0 | $192.23 |
| Alaska | 21.32 -6.0 | $191.24 |
| Connecticut | 21.29 -3.8 | $190.97 |
| New Hampshire | 18.93 -5.1 | $169.80 |
| Vermont | 18.38 -4.8 | $164.87 |
| New York | 18.27 3.9 | $163.88 |
| Michigan | 16.92 7.0 | $151.77 |
Sources for Electricity
As per many generations before this one, natural gas has been the largest source for electric power, almost making up 40 percent of the energy consumption being used throughout the country. Renewable energy is actually a close second, meaning that solar energy and many of the other resources involved in the sector make up about 20 percent, along with nuclear energy.
Coal is the third largest source for electricity, making up about 19 percent of the depletion that makes up the country’s electrical output. Meanwhile, the petroleum industry makes up about one percent.
Renewables Expenditure
Out of the renewable energies that are being used for resources throughout the nation, the one source that generates the most electricity is actually wind powered turbines. Generating about 8.4 percent of the national electricity production, turbines account for 43 percent of overall renewable generation.
Hydropower plants account for about 7.3 percent of the total electricity generation throughout the country. And the overall renewable consumption makes up about 37 percent. Using flowing water to spin a turbine underwater, the plant generator can produce electricity. While solar panels provide about 2.3 percent of the total electricity generation on a nation-wide scale.
In the rat race of renewable energy sources, solar conversion runs third and this is because the demographic and statistics reflect the price and expense of installing solar panels. However, with the decrease of pricing in the manufacturing of the systems, there actually may appear to be an uptick in solar usage.
Cost for Solar Panel Maintenance
Some of the factors that affect the costs of keeping the maintenance of your solar system is knowing the brand. You’ll need to know the amount of panels that have been installed. Homeowners will need to know whether the installation is flat or tilted, and how they could possibly be affected by the elements. You’ll also need to know the height of your property, the kind of inverter you’re keeping, the modifications or repairs you might want or need, the location of those panels, and the necessity of tools.
If you’re looking to pay for solar panel maintenance, the lowest you’ll pay is $150 while the most you might pay will probably be $1000. But to determine if your system needs some kind of necessity to hire a specialist, you need to see how much output of electricity your panels are producing. By inspecting the rate of electricity being produced, you can find out whether the power that is being generated is the same amount as when the panels were first installed.
If this should not be the case, then that will be the first indication to find a maintenance specialist for your solar system. However, some other indicators as to whether your solar panels are faulty, is checking if you’re purchasing more electricity from your grid than usual. The brand that you have should also have a small green monitoring light that may glow repetitiously. If it flashes, you’re looking at an issue.
One major consideration to keep in mind is how little maintenance solar panels actually require. This is because if the installation was done correctly, even cleaning may seem just a minor inconvenience to worry about. Some damages
Cost for Solar Panel Cleaning
Once you have all your panels set up, whether on the roof of your home or a separate grid, the average cost to effectively clean your panels will estimate between $150 and $330. This average accounts for a 2 kW system with 10 panels. However, the average to clean a 3 kW solar system with 20 panels will essentially cost you about $550 to $750.
Whether you live in a drier climate or more humid environment, dust buildup is no laughing matter. Truth be told, snow and snow can actually get rid of that debris accumulation but that doesn’t prevent the panels from being harmed. In fact, it could actually do more damage instead.
In those dry locales, homeowners who have solar panels will have to deal with the issue of dust collection, where dust will be a colossal concern to worry about. By consistently cleaning the dust off your panels, 95 percent of your panel’s capacity and production will continue cycling. Without cleaning on a regular basis, the dust can affect a loss of production by 20 percent.
However, even if you believe that rain could effectively wash away all that rubble, you have to try to understand what rain essentially does to your panels. The complication that rainfall causes is the pollutants that can dirty the system’s surface areas. Fluctuation is a common occurrence with any system you have installed, but determining when the panels need a cleaning, you’ll have no trouble keeping your power capacity to its fullest.
Cost for Solar Panel Inspection
There is the cost to inspect your panels if you’re unsure of what kind of work needs to be done for your system. Due to the necessities of replacing or repairing your solar panels, you’ll typically want to spend about $150 to $300 to hire a technician to come to your house and check whether any components are debilitated or faulty.
Simple inspections should be done at least once every year. Monitoring the health of your solar panels is another route you can take since solar panel companies offer such a service. Remote monitoring can actually be done with a one-time fee or the conglomerate may ask for a yearly charge. The installation company will be provided with reports that thoroughly monitor the power collection and energy usage being processed throughout your home.
By monitoring your home’s kilowatt-hours of electricity, you’ll be able to observe and figure out all of the estimates of how much solar energy is being produced throughout the month. As a result, you can see which proponent of your system may need maintenance done. Common misconceptions of the possible damage that can be done to your solar system will most likely come from the injuries that could apply to the tempered glass.
Cost for Solar Panel Replacement
Replacement for your solar panel system will practically range, on average, about $0.70 to $1.50 per watt. Ultimately, it will all depend on the amount of panels needing to be replaced, which will affect the costs. For an average 2kW system with 10 panels, homeowners should expect to spend a large sum of money to wholly replace the items.
Keep in mind that repair costs pale in comparison to replacement costs. This is due to the fact that you’re essentially reinstalling new panels to your system. Understandably, the cost range will average into $1400 and the estimate can go all the way up to $6000.
A single panel that needs to be removed and replaced will cost homeowners about $100 to $200, and this number will generally need to be multiplied by the amount of panels you own. While you have the panels removed, you can actually simultaneously clean the panels. Doing so will cost you about $10 to $20 per panel.
Cost for Solar Panel Repair
Unlike replacements, repairing the solar panels have a lower range of costs involved. Damaged parts of the system can result in more dangerous situations than expected. Other than the reduction in electrical generation and shorts, you might have to face an eventual fire that might burn down your house.
If you’re dealing with simple broken glass, the cost range is going to estimate from $20 to $400. The damage that is done can be repaired by hiring a technician to come and wrap the panel surface using transparent laminating film. If the damage is too severe, the technician will use a silicone encapsulant to make the repairs instead. Depending on how crucial the damage is, the broken glass will likely require a complete replacement.
Branches that might be getting in the way of your system will cost you about $50 to $200. Obstructions from tree branches will create a blockage from the absorption of the solar energy so you’ll probably need to have the branches either trimmed or outright removed. Hiring a landscaper will finish the job.
Loose wires will, in all likelihood, cause a huge drop in solar production. And like any device that needs electricity, you’ll probably have to deal with a possible entanglement of loose wiring, which you’ll expect to spend about $100 on an hourly basis. Contacting a technician will assist you in cutting through soft silicone so that the hard to reach area of the cells can be re-soldered. They’ll be wary about the cells with bad connections, replacing soft silicon padding.
Unlike a broken glass, you might see a simple crack on the panels, which repairing the component will cost about $150 to $300. A crack can be repaired by soldering the edges of the crack or cracks. If the extent of the crack is too overwhelming, homeowners need to figure out how to replace the entire cracked part.
Corrosion will range in costs from about $150 to $350. Rust and corroding parts will need replacements since repairs won’t be possible on metal that’s already worn down.
Damaged inverter and tiling will cost the most out of the repairs that might need to be done. An inverter that is broken will cost you between $100 and $2000. There are two kinds of inverters to look at. A new micro inverter will cost about $100 to $250. Professionals that will charge you for their assistance with replacing the inverter will charge you about $250. A new string inverter will cost about $1200 to about $2500. Technicians that replace these kinds of inverters will charge you twice the costs of what you’d pay for the micro inverter.
You should also take a consideration into power optimizers which would be similarly categorized with micro inverters. The two kinds of inverters would be labelled as Module-Level Power Electronics. The costs to replace or fix the power optimizer will practically be the same as the micro inverter.
The process in how these units collect power is through your solar panel system. There are two types of currents, the DC, which is the direct current, and the AC, which is the alternating current. The units convert the DC that is coming from the panels into AC that is used as electricity throughout your home or property.
The string inverter, also considered the centralized inverter, is one unit that is stationed in the side of your home. Either the side, basement or garage is where the unit may be situated. While the power optimizers and micro inverters work as multiplied units that are connective to the roof near each of your solar panels.
Tiling will cost between $2000 and $3000. There are temporary removals that you’ll need to make for the solar panels for this process to be completed.
Hiring a Professional or Professionals Through House Tipster
Homeowners that own solar panel systems understand that electricity needs to be provided through renewable sources. However, in that time, whether it’s sooner or whether it’s later, those panels will need to be either replaced, newly installed or physically altered. It is knowing how to do these things and the costs that are involved that acts as half the battle.
One of the many considerations that you should account for is how you can find a professional that can conclusively aid you with the process of installing or removing your cabinetry. And although you could probably do it all yourself, it can be quite a tedious list of tasks to fulfill. And within your extensive notes and research, you’ll start wondering how you can find the perfect professional for the jobs.
As stated previously in the other articles that have been written on this site, all of the labor that stacks along with a DIY can be quite stressful but fret no longer, that stress can easily be relieved. So think about hiring the professionals located near your area! Find multiple estimates by checking out House Tipster, and choose the perfect professional for your home repair needs. How Much Does Solar Panel Maintenance Cost? Find out from professionals near you!
Featured photo by American Public Power Association
