The general contractors of Carlson Harris are intimately familiar with all possible distinctive features that can be used to craft the perfect custom luxury home for their Naples, Florida-area clients. With almost 50 years of luxury homebuilding experience in the area, Carlson Harris has established a stellar reputation for building one-of-a-kind homes that delight the senses and include all amenities needed for opulent living. And while the general contractors are highly attuned to delivering the best in homeowner comfort, entertaining, and esthetics, they are also skilled at incorporating superior functionality and efficiency in their luxury home builds.
With this in mind, today we will discuss the benefits of installing a solar power system in your Naples-area custom luxury home. Given that we live in the “sunshine state,” solar-powered homes make perfect sense, whether retrofitting an existing house or installing solar panels with your new home build.
SOLAR POWER BASICS
Solar power relies on photovoltaic cells to convert the energy from sunlight into electricity. While the first working photovoltaic cell was developed in the 1880s, it took almost 100 years to create solar cells capable of cost-effectively converting sunlight into energy. Advances in solar cell technology since the 1980s have made solar power the cheapest source of electricity in history as of 2020. While solar power currently generates less than 5% of the world’s electricity, that represents a big jump from its 1% contribution in 2015. The International Energy Agency is pushing to make solar power the world’s largest source of electricity by 2050.
In the U.S., solar energy is the fastest-growing source of power generation, delivering over 90 billion kilowatt hours of energy in 2020, a significant increase over the 1.2-billion-kilowatt hours generated in 2010. Florida is the fourth largest generator of solar power in the nation and ranked second in new solar power installations for 2021.
TODAY’S SOLAR PANELS ARE DURABLE, LESS EXPENSIVE
The robust adoption of solar power for homes is partly driven by technological advances that make today’s solar panels—which consist of an array of photovoltaic cells—much more durable and less expensive than those on the market a decade ago. Today’s solar panels provide reliable energy for years and require minimal maintenance, primarily periodic cleaning.
CUT THAT NAPLES ELECTRIC BILL
By going solar, you can significantly cut or even eliminate your monthly electrical bill. Additionally, Collier County power companies offer net metering to their customers. Net metering provides solar-powered customers with credit for excess electricity their systems generate during the day, which offsets the costs of energy they need from the electrical grid at night when the sun isn’t shining. Depending upon how much electricity your solar panels can add to the grid, you might even be able to earn some cash compensation for your excess electricity .
Overall, the annual savings from electric utility bills will help pay for the initial cost of your solar panel installation. According to Energy Sage, the average payback period for solar panel installations for Collier County homes is 11.4 years.
SPEAKING OF COST SAVINGS!
While the cost of installing solar power for homes has been declining for two decades, cost savings are further enhanced by federal and state incentives. For starters, the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit provides homeowners with tax credits equaling 30% of the installation cost. Florida incentives include sales and property tax breaks. Solar panels and the cost of installation are entirely exempt from the state’s sales and use tax, and any added value to the home from solar panel installation is excluded from the property’s taxable value.
BOOST YOUR LUXURY HOME’S RESALE VALUE
Your custom luxury home is probably already worth a lot of money, but houses equipped with solar panels typically sell for almost 5% more than comparable homes lacking solar power. According to analysis from the Zillow Group, 80% of homebuyers report that energy efficiency is a critical consideration in their buying decision. Well, solar power indeed represents peak energy efficiency.
REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
Adding solar power to your home puts you at the forefront of the global effort to “go green” and reduce carbon emissions. You might sport an opulent Naples home that suggests a massive carbon footprint but offset its apparent impact on the environment by gilding it with solar panels. With your Tesla in the driveway, no one can accuse you of being environmentally unfriendly.
TO LEARN MORE, CONSULT WITH CARLSON HARRIS
Solar power isn’t just a fad that will subside in a few years—it’s a viable source of clean energy that will become a crucial component of the nation’s power grid. Thus, Carlson Harris encourages all of its custom luxury home clients to consider the benefits of adding solar power to their Naples-area home builds. To learn more, contact Carlson Harris today at 239-352-2460.
