Those of us in the energy efficiency business get asked this question all the time and our answer is usually, “Yes, but…”
You would think this would be an easy one for us in the efficiency field but like anything in life, there are always mitigating circumstances.

Note: If you want to look at a solar installation from the perspective of an investment, here’s an article from another writer on this website: Is Solar a Good Investment?

On the face of it, solar panels are decidedly a good thing – the more we rely on renewable energy and the less we rely on fossil fuels, the better it is for everyone and the sooner the better too. The latest report from the 13 government agencies illustrate that we have very little time to get this right and effect meaningful change for us and and the generations to come.  

But too often I have seen homeowners simply add solar panels to their existing homes and not change anything else in their home’s daily energy life.  If you have an electric bill high enough to consider a solar installation, you should also have the impetus to see where you can reduce first.  Everyone has seen the signs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – and that is at the heart of our solar message here as well.  See where you are using the most energy first and see what you can do to reduce that high energy draw.   For example, I have had many homeowner clients who had what appeared to be simple conveniences in their houses but were actually awful energy hogs and unconscious ones at that.  Homes with heated bathroom floors, for example. 

It seems like a good idea – you are getting up in the middle of the night and walking into the bathroom in bare feet – why not have the floor already warm where you arrive? A lovely convenience but that heated floor not only can cost you $30/month or more but the equipment under the floor comes on during the day and night – outside the scheduled times you set – so that it doesn’t have to jump 15-20 degrees to get to the temperature you desired.  Even if you set the schedule to only run from 9PM til 7AM, the system will come on during other parts of the day so that the floor temp doesn’t drop 15 degrees below the set point.  A huge and inadvertent waste of energy for no purpose.  A pair of slippers by the door keep your feet warm and for half the cost of one month’s heated floor.

There are numerous other features in today’s homes that are “inadvertent” consumers of energy – insta-hot taps by the kitchen sink, audio systems that are never turned off, banks of 40 watt fluorescent bulbs in the garage – that should be examined and eliminated before any solar panel is added to the mix.  You do not want to simply level out your energy use – you want to reduce it and then use renewable energy sources like solar panels for the remaining energy consumption.

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So the answer to the question – “Can I Save Money Installing Solar Panels?” is Yes and Yes.  You can put solar on your roof to save on your electric bills and you can put fewer panels on your roof reducing the cost of installing those panels since you have already eliminated the energy waste in your home.