Top San Diego Solar Installers
- San Diego County
- Orange County
- Riverside County
- Greater San Diego area
- San Diego County
- Orange County
- Greater San Diego area
The Pacific Coast hot spot for sun, white sand beaches, and fun attractions, San Diego is known for its mild climate and engaging atmosphere. It’s also known for its promotion of clean energy. San Diego has won multiple Climate Leadership awards and has become a prominent city for solar energy, in particular. Housing some of the top solar production and installation companies in the nation, the city has realized it holds an optimal climate to harvest energy from the sun. California, as a whole, has readily adapted to promoting a clean energy climate (13.55% of the state’s electricity is generated by solar power), and San Diego is no exception.
San Diego Sun Statistics
San Diego is a prime location for solar energy production because of its abundance of sunshine. Averaging 2,978 sun hours per year (out of a possible 4,383), San Diego enjoys sunny days for 71% of the year. The average hours of sunlight per day average around 8 hours and 9 minutes, with summer hours reaching about 10 hours per day.
Considering some cities only see sunlight for a small percentage of the year (e.g., Detroit, Seattle), if you’re wanting to go solar and save lots of money on your energy bills, San Diego is a prime location to live. What are the main benefits of going solar? In your personal life, it’ll equate to much lower energy bills, increased home value, great return on investment, energy independence, and a way to avoid utility inflation. On a more global scale, you’ll be directly contributing to the good of the environment (decreased carbon footprint) and good of the job market (solar occupations are projected to have much faster than average growth according to BLS, because of the uptick of solar energy system installations in recent years). And with the terrific rate at which solar energy systems have dropped in recent years, there are likely to be more jobs available as more people continue to purchase solar.
San Diego Solar Cost
If you’ve been exploring the solar world, you’ve probably seen solar calculators, like Project Sunroof, that project your total cost for installation and how much you’ll save. According to data from the California Solar Initiative, recent statistics show that the average cost per watt for solar energy installation in San Diego ranges from $3.13 to $3.42 – the larger size systems you install will afford you a lower cost per watt. The average solar system size for residential buildings is about 5kW, but the size you’ll need for your home will depend on a number of factors, with typical energy usage the driving factor (the more energy you use, the larger the system you’ll need to install). In San Diego, the cost to install a 5kW solar energy installation system at your home will be around $16,233.
In the first year of installing your system, you can expect to save about $1,578 in energy costs. With an upfront cost of $16,233, what can you expect your savings to be over the life of your system? Within 20 years, you’re projected to save $27,125! and increase your home value by $28,000 (and you won’t even have to pay any taxes on it)! California exempts solar installations from property tax.
Legislation to Save you Money
One of the greatest things about living in San Diego and installing solar panels is that California, in general, is a very clean energy friendly state – and even has instilled that in state legislature. California has mandated that all state utilities must get 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020!
One of the greatest paybacks you’ll get from deciding to go solar is from the federal government. It has been written into legislation that you’ll get a 30% tax credit for deciding to install a solar energy system – as long as the system is installed and operational by December 31, 2019. And that’s 30% off the total cost of your system, installation included! Based on the figures we provided above for a 5kW system, you can shave off $4,870 off the price of your system!
At the state level, The California Solar Initiative (CSI) Trigger Tracker shows how many CSI megawatts (MW) worth of rebates are available in the current incentive step level. CSI is the state’s main rebate program and is a key component of the Go Solar California! campaign that encourages Californians to install solar energy. CSI partners with San Diego Gas & Electric to provide rebates in the utility company’s service areas.
San Diego also provides a special solar incentive for lower-income families: the Single Family Affordable Solar Homes Program (SASH). If you qualify for this program, the entire cost of your solar energy system will be covered 100%.
