With COVID-19 changing every single industry in the world including clean energy industries, the solar industry has surprisingly grown – especially residential solar. The pandemic has made it clear the type of energy that will be sustainable for the future.
Even with many uncertainties that the pandemic has brought to our energy infrastructure, homeowners have come to the realization of how crucial and important gaining energy independence is.
It doesn’t matter if you are a doomsday prepper or you are looking to save money or even want to avoid power outages and rollouts, going solar is the best option.
Rising Energy Demand During the Pandemic
The International Energy Agency reported that renewable energy in the US included a greater share of all energy methods than it did before COVID-19. Although the increase is only 5%, it shows how consumers have realized how power sources can affect them financially. If you combine that with the fact that people need electricity for survival, 5% is actually a significant number. However, natural gas is still the leading resource that powers the United States, renewable energy has increased more than coal power plants are.
Decrease Electricity Demand Since COVID-19
Regardless of the type of power source being used, the overall demand for electricity has decreased, despite the work from home orders given in the beginning of the pandemic. While there have been changes in demand for electricity it can be traced to a number of sources, one explanation for the decrease is many business owners and homeowners know utility companies are in the business of producing coal-based power, which for a while has been scarce and increasingly expensive for some time.
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This has made it hard for coal-based power businesses and homeowners to justify their rising power bills. The US unemployment rate reached nearly 15% at its highest in April 2020, which has been the worst US economy since the great depression.
The Work-From-Home Orders Flattens the Electricity Demand
With about 42% of the employed US economy working from home reliance on coal-based power has increasingly dropped. With a huge portion of the Gross Domestic Product comes from solar-powered businesses such as IKEA, Intel, Macy’s and Target, a comparable amount of solar is produced by homes that have solar power installed. While residential solar installations aren’t surging, the work-from-home economy has performed a stress test for performance on solar which passed with flying colors.
The current economy state has also reduced company energy consumption and transportation, reducing all traditional coal-based electricity use greatly. High-energy activities that conflicted with work schedules such as laundry, vacuuming, and the usage of large appliances now have become more evenly throughout the day, reducing peak hours and demand usage hours.
The Security of Having a Battery Backup
The electricity sector’s reliance on renewable energy during the pandemic should shift the attention from coal-based energy to solar energy, which is the most cutting edge renewable energy.
Installing solar in your home or business is step one, but step two requires a battery backup, which allows homeowners to power their homes and businesses during rolling blackouts and power outages by using excess solar energy produced by their solar system.
Energy Independence During COVID-19
Homeowners are facing uncertainties with many things including electricity prices and availability of traditional power sources during COVID-19 pandemic. The next step to understand the tiers of energy independence for homeowners and business owners is to know the 5 tiers. Tier 1 is total reliance on the power grid with tier 5 meaning complete independence from the grid.
Tier 1
Homes are being powered by coal since the US’s Industrial Revolution 1880. Unfortunately, most homes are still currently powered this way even in 2021. If a power outage occurs, homeowners have to wait until dark so the utility company can fix it, and also pay high prices for coal-base electricity.
Tier 2
Usually designed to generate enough energy to meet the family power usage, solar powered homes have arrays installed. However, the solar power systems don’t store any of the excess solar power that is produced by the solar panels. These homes rely on the grid during the night or when the sun isn’t out.
If the homes have solar panels that produce more energy than what is being used, the solar power is exported back into the grid and credit is given to the homeowner. While that is helpful, recent net metering changes in various states with high percentages of solar-powered homes only credit solar homeowners for the energy their home produces and exports back into the grid at about 90 cents to the dollar.
Tier 3
Solar Home Backup Battery is a great workaround for the utility company as your very own “energy broker” for your excess power you put back onto the grid, instead letting the homeowners consume that power at a market rate value. When a home or business has a home solar backup battery, the excess solar power that is produced during the day is stored. For example, the Tesla Powerwall.
When you add solar and a backup battery, the homes can work entirely without having to use the grid and it can store power that can be used on a different day. Over time this can greatly affect solar ROI.
Tier 4
Solar homes with home battery backup can cover all of your home consumption and travel needs, making your home futuristic as it can get with renewable energy. However, homes are still tied to the grid.
Tier 5
Off the grid homes have complete independence from the grid and don’t rely on utility companies. While homeowners with solar and battery backup can prepare for an outage, off-grid homes don’t use them, unless there is a malfunction or the equipment breaks. There are few places in the United States that homes are completely off-grid, but nothing is stopping people who have suffered due to the Pandemic from becoming homesteaders and taking their home energy off-grid.
If you are a homeowner living in San Diego County or Orange County, now is the time to discover how solar can change your life. If your electricity bill is over $150 dollars per month, it won’t be getting smaller any time soon, a solar power system and backup batteries might be the right investment for you. It’s effective to be cautious when the market is booming as it is too aggressive when the market is down-turned. We understand it can be a significant investment, but solar for your home is a sure thing. Utility companies rates will only be rising yearly.
Contact us today by filling out the contact form below or calling us at 858-252-2280 to set up your free estimate with one of our solar consultants today. Sunline Energy is one of the top solar companies in San Diego. We offer quality solar panels, roofing and battery storage for homes and business. Check out our customer testimonials here.
