Are you excited for longer days and warmer weather as we inch our way to summer?
Those long, lazy summer days have one downside: higher power bills as we jack up the air conditioning to cool us down.
If you’re sick of sky-rocketing summer power bills, it’s time to use that summer sun to your benefit. Summer in Iowa and solar can save homeowners on summer and winter power bills!
Iowa homeowners save money year round with clean, renewable solar energy. Keep reading to learn more about how each season affects solar in Iowa and helps homeowners save.
How Seasons Affect Iowa Solar
Before we jump in, let’s take a quick look at how photovoltaic solar works.
When the sunlight strikes the panels, energy from that UV light is captured and converted into electricity. That electricity is sent through the solar energy system, turning into direct current (DC). Then the DC electricity is sent through an inverter where it’s converted to alternating current (AC) for use in your home
If all it takes is UV light to power a solar panel, then obviously solar during an Iowa summer is a great investment. But what happens in Iowa throughout the year and all kinds of weather?
Across seasons, with expected fluctuations in temperature and weather, you’ll see slight differences in the amount of energy your solar panels generate.
However, with net metering and efficient solar panels installed by a professional, solar can power your home year round in Iowa.
Solar Works in Iowa Winters!
So how will your solar panels produce in winter weather, especially if a storm brings heavy snowfall? The great news is that solar panels that are professionally installed can withstand storms of all kinds.
For instance, the solar panels Purelight Power installs are designed to withstand hail falling at up to 50 miles per hour, and can withstand 112 pounds per square foot of snow!
Even with shorter days and grayer weather, your home will stay cozy with energy generated right on your roof. That’s because solar panels today have efficiency ratings right around 20%. What does that mean? That a single solar panel can convert 20% of the sun’s energy into electricity at any given time.
With a system designed for your home and energy needs specifically, and the sun providing enough energy each hour to power all electricity on earth, solar continues to be a great investment even in the dead of winter.
And that’s before we even tell you about extra savings and energy credits with net metering.
What is Net Metering?
Net metering means that during long, sunny summer months when your system is producing more energy than what you’re consuming, the excess energy goes back into the grid.
Because you’re helping power your community as well as your home, the power company has to compensate you. You get a credit added to your account with the power company for every kilowatt you send back.
Then, during the winter, overnight, or during any other times where you aren’t able to produce enough energy for your home, you can use those credits to cover any electricity you do pull from the grid.
Alright, so we’ve established solar works in the summer and winter. But what about spring and autumn when the weather can change from sunny to rainy in less than five minutes?
Solar, Spring Storms, and Autumn Leaves
If you get solar installed with a local professional solar installer, your solar energy system is built and installed to withstand many weather extremes.
Like a stormy spring day with high winds. A solar energy system from Purelight Power would be able to withstand wind over 100 miles per hour, or the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane!
What about rainy weather common in spring and fall in Iowa?
Again, contrary to what you might expect, rain can actually be beneficial for your solar panels by providing a natural way to clean your panels. Having mother nature take care of a bit of spring cleaning for you sounds pretty great.
But you don’t have to just take our word for it. During seasons where the weather is constantly fluctuating, Iowan homeowners can monitor their panels to see if there’s an issue.
When you work with a professional solar installer like Purelight Power, your solar energy system will be connected to a monitoring system. You’ll be able to check your phone or tablet at any time and see how solar is powering your home.
Plus, we’ll be monitoring your system too, watching for any issues that need us to send one of our crew out to fix.
Go Solar and Make the Most of Summer in Iowa
Iowa summers mean long, hot days with plenty of sun. That means you should switch to solar in July, right?
Surprisingly, no. So when is the best time to make the switch to solar to make the most of your first year of solar, net metering savings, and sunny summer days?
Going solar in spring or early summer is the best time to have solar installed and turned on. By going solar before we hit summer, you’ll have the system turned on and ready to use every day of summer sun to build up that bank of net metering credits.
The second best time to go solar is the summer–you’ll still catch plenty of rays with your system, and have a pretty decent bank of credits before your first winter with solar.
Don’t wait until next spring to go solar and miss out on also being able to take advantage of the Solar Investment Tax Credit!
Currently the Solar Investment Tax Credit helps homeowners recoup 26% of the costs of installing solar on your home. But on January 1st, 2023 that tax credit will drop to only 22%!
A homeowner who would have been able to recoup $6,500 on a system that cost $25,000 with this year’s rate for the investment tax credit loses out on $1,000 by waiting until 2023. Maximize your savings while you can.
Save More with Professional Solar from Purelight
Ready to get the benefits and savings of solar for your home with simple, affordable solar?
With Purelight’s zero down program homeowners go solar for nothing out of pocket.
See if your roof qualifies for our $0 out of pocket program today. Save more for less!
