If you're lucky enough to live in San Diego, CA, then you know that it's one of the sunniest and most beautiful places in the country. From lush Balboa Park to the stunning Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, you're never far from an outdoor excursion.
Have you ever thought about harnessing that gorgeous sunshine and using it to power your home or business? If you've been thinking about making the switch to solar power, now could be a perfect time.
With a pleasant climate and more than 3,000 annual hours of sunshine, it makes sense to go solar in San Diego. Today, we're taking a closer look at why this is the case and how you can get started today.
Before we dive into the many aspects that make this city ideal for solar power, let's take a step back. How does this form of renewable energy work in the first place?
Put simply, a solar panel system converts sunlight into electricity. Inside each panel is an array of photovoltaic (PV) cells, which contain electrons. When the California sun beats down on each panel, those electrons loosen and create an electric current.
When the current flows out of the panel, it's known as direct current (DC) energy. A piece of equipment called an inverter converts the DC energy into the alternating current (AC) energy that your local electrical grid uses.
Overall, this is an exceptionally clean, renewable, effective form of energy. If you're a San Diego resident looking to save money on your monthly utility costs and do your part to help the environment, switching to solar is a smart move. Let's take a closer look at a few reasons why.
As mentioned, there are thousands of sunny hours in San Diego every year! In fact, one study found that the city sees an average of more than 265 bright days annually. This is a significant amount, especially compared to the national average of just 205 sunny days.
For residents, this means more than just plenty of time spent outdoors. It also means that your solar panel system will be put to great use. As the sun hits your system, you can generate an impressive amount of solar power!
Alternatively, think about how much money you'd spend in HVAC costs trying to cool your home down when it gets that hot!
While solar panel systems can technically work in primarily cloudy climates, they don't always operate at peak capacity, especially when there's little to no sun peeking through the clouds. In San Diego, those darker periods do occur, but they're far less frequent.
Another reason to look into solar panels if you live in or near San Diego? Making this switch can save you a substantial amount of money!
In December 2022, local news outlets, including NBC 7, began reporting on the higher energy rates that San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) was set to impose in San Diego County in 2023. By January of this year, the average homeowner's utility bill was expected to rise by nearly $30 per month. Stories like this one reveal it was closer to hundreds of dollars in some cases, even as SDG&E made $915 million in GAAP earnings in 2022, up from $91 million in 2021.
In their defense, SDG&E has attempted to explain away the spike, blaming everything from cold weather to the low capacity of gas storage facilities. The most feasible explanation attributes the price to the rising cost per unit of natural gas, which is known as a therm. In January 2022, one therm cost the company only $2.36. One year later, it rose to $5.11.
Natural gas is considered a fossil fuel, along with coal and oil. If you use any of these forms of energy to power your home or business, you're reliant on the going market price. Suppliers are required to pay this price to purchase the fuel on behalf of their customers.
If the market price goes up, suppliers raise their own rates. In turn, your costs go up.
You don't have to worry about that when you rely on solar power instead. If you can eliminate or simply reduce your reliance on the local utility grid, you'll notice the difference in your monthly utility bill. In addition, if you wind up producing more energy than your property needs, you can even send that energy back to SDG&E through a process called Net Metering, which could save you even more money.
Here's a quick look at how it works.
In San Diego, grid-connected solar energy system owners who generate an excessive amount of solar energy can feed it back to the grid. For every kilowatt-hour (kWh) you contribute, you get a credit on your utility bill for almost the full retail value of that kWh. The difference in payment is only a few cents, usually reserved to pay for environmental benefit programs that all SDG&E customers pay.
You can use this credit to access the grid during periods when your solar panel system isn't making enough power to meet the demands of your property. It's a smart and easy way to maximize the return on your solar investment.
Finally, another reason to go solar in San Diego is that it's simply better for the environment! When you aren't burning fossil fuels, you aren't releasing dangerous greenhouse gases into the air. This helps slow the pace of climate change, which benefits everything from wildlife habitats to our direct and indirect water supplies.
One property can make a significant difference, protecting the humans and wildlife that rely on the city's ecosystem for daily sustenance.
Now that you know a little more about why it's smart to embrace solar in San Diego, are you ready to learn how? At Semper Solaris, we're here to make the process easier than ever before.
As a trusted, veteran-owned solar company, we can help you save even more on solar today. From initial design to final installation and support, we're there every step of the way. Book an appointment today and let's get started!
