As a Homeowner,
When you purchase your solar photovoltaic (PV) system from DS Energy Solutions you will benefit by receiving the highest return on investment (ROI) and a faster financial payback on your installed solar power system. This is because DS Energy Solutions maintains its focus on driving down the cost of solar system installation and product procurement so the related savings can be passed on to the homeowner.

DS Energy Solutions as your “Best Price Leader” in the solar industry provides the homeowner with the best quality solar PV systems and best installed kilowatt price obtainable in the USA. With a dramatically reduced solar system installed cost, coupled with the associated and proportional savings on your monthly electric utility bill will add-up rapidly and far exceed the original cost of your solar power system investment over the guaranteed lifetime of the PV system.

While a solar power system lowers your electrical utility costs and provides a means to lock in your rate for electrical power consumption, so as not be to susceptible to future utility price increases, it can also be a great investment for you and your family. Homes equipped with a PV system can have financial returns competitive with other mainstream investments such as stocks, bonds, certificate of deposits (CD)’s, savings accounts or any other financial instrument used as an investment.

The rate of return and financial payback on an installed solar electric system can be demonstrated in several ways as explained in our example below of a typical home in Apple Valley, CA having a $175.00 per month electricity bill as received from the servicing utility company, Southern California Edison (SCE).

This customer receives their electricity bill, without fail, on a monthly basis and is extremely vulnerable to rate price increases, summer / winter rate adjustments and the infamous “Tiered Electricity Rate” structure. The tiered rate structure provides for escalating rate charges when the homeowner increases their monthly kilowatt hour (kWh) usage, consistently and evermore forcing the homeowner into Tier 4 and Tier 5 with higher utility rate charges of .27 and .31 cents per kWh.

By using the DS Energy Solutions solar calculator and Taking the Solar Experience to Size Your System and Realize Your Savings with DS Energy Solutions, we find that this homeowner requires a system size of 6.67kW DC which will take care of approximately 98.5% of their electrical usage. The PV system cost this homeowner $19,810 after a state rebate of $6,384 and a Federal Tax Credit of $8,490, as detailed in the following system summary:

1. Payback Period
A simple method used to calculate the length of time required to recover the cost of an investment. In the case of a solar investment, it is the number of months or years of electricity savings obtained from the solar production, to include the estimated utility escalation rate of 4% per year that will eventually pay for the solar system. In our example, the cost of the solar project after rebates and incentives is $19,810 and is expected to return $2,093 the first year in electricity savings and increased @ 4% compounded per year for a blended annual savings of $2,224, the payback period will be $19,810 / $2,224, or 8.9 years.