With the limited supply of fossil energy people are now starting to find a better way to create energy. Photovoltaic panels offer us a new way to create electricity from the sunbeam. The output is in the form of DC voltage and it has to be inverted to AC voltage to serve our home appliance.

Converting DC voltage into AC will need some more additional solar parts. The way you want your system to be will determine what parts to purchase. Basically there are three different options you may choose. The first one is very popular due to its simplicity: it’s called on-grid, meaning that the output of your photovoltaic panels will be sent to the utility grid for storing. People like this option because it is cheaper than other options.

Why on-grid is less expensive? Since you don’t need to store the solar electricity in batteries you need to purchase the solar inverter only. This cut down the price because solar batteries are quite expensive. Note that because you don’t have battery back up during power blackout you will have no electricity.

If you need power during electricity blackout you can pick up the second option. Similar to the first option the solar electricity is also routed to the grid but a battery backup is added to the solar inverter. Note that this system is more expensive because you need to buy the solar controller, solar batteries and also solar inverter that is different from the inverter we use in the first option. They contribute a significant increase to the solar cost.

For people living in remote places where no utility lines available or for a green energy die hard there is one solution that give you a fully independent electricity system called off-grid. You will have to buy the solar controller, solar batteries and solar inverter which is different from the first two inverters above. Other small accessories such as connectors, wiring, etc. are also need to be added to the list, same as the two option above. To have a better power coverage you may want to integrate a gas generator or wind turbines to the system in case of sun outages or cloudy days.

Now let us see how much really they will cost you. To make a rough estimation you can think about $15K to $60K. The cost will actually depend on how far do you want to substitute your fossil powered electricity. A 100% substitution is not recommended at all because the cost will kill you.

The other factors that also contribute to the price are the quality of solar parts and installation cost. Solar inverters for example has a wide quality range and solar installation cost differs from one company to another.

If you want to reduce the cost there is a good solution offered by the US government. Installing green energy in your house will allow you to get 30% federal tax benefit plus other tax benefit given by the states. By sending the electricity to the grid you also get some credits from the utility company.

Because a full electricity substitution is very expensive you can start with making 15% of the electricity needed. You might be thinking that this number is too small but it will make a difference in the long run. You can upgrade your solar generator anytime once you have enough budget.

If you assume that you need a one time investment only for this system you are probably wrong. Some solar parts have lifespan shorter than the others so you may need to replace some of them after years of operating time while other part such as photovoltaic panels can pass 20 years without problem. It is recommended to add this factor into your solar cost planning.

The best way to determine your solar cost is by contacting some solar companies. They can give you great advice based on what information you feed them.