With a “Stay at Home” directive in place or not, more companies are realizing a benefit by their workers working from home either full or part time. There are many reasons for this:
- Transportation costs – both monetarily and mental – are reduced
- Commercial Real Estate costs – desk space, computer capacity, parking – can be greatly reduced or eliminated. This allows for other productive uses of that space.
- Employee satisfaction and retention are improved in many cases.
Indeed, many jobs are data processing and customer service that fit well with remote workers. A decent computer, connectivity and a safe, comfortable workspace allow many workers and employers the advantages of employee productivity away from the office setting.
However, spending more time at home, with computers, lighting, servers, modems, monitors, heating and air conditioning adds to the employee monthly power bill. The remote employee may not recognize this until they start looking over the power bills. Adding the cost of the kid’s remote schooling and entertainment with computers, etc will just compound the issue. Worthwhile though it is to be off the freeways, there is still a big cost to run all this equipment.
A Solar Power system can sometimes supply almost all the power needed to run a home and home office in Western Washington. Some houses will actually become “Net Zero” by producing as much electricity, spring, summer and fall, as they use all year long, including the winter time !! Even systems that produce a majority of the annual consumption will save on the most expensive energy during the month (because of the rate structure of most utilities).
Often, Solar Power installations can help by upgrading old, inefficient fuse boxes and breaker box enclosures. Often a whole house surge suppressor is installed to protect electronics even more than the Solar Power itself. More and more popular are the Battery Backup systems to allow workers and power to continue during a blackout or brownout.
Other real life financial benefits of Residential Solar Power Systems may also include:
- $$ savings on power bills for many years
- Tax Savings with the Federal Income Tax Credit
- Significant tax savings through depreciation when using Solar for business purposes
- 100% Local Financing with ZERO out of pocket costs
- 100% State Sales Tax exemption
- Higher Home Resale Values
- More stable power supply during storms or disasters.
Of course, more and more people just enjoy the sense of independence producing their own power instead of a large corporation burning coal or neutrons. Setting an example for our kids doing schoolwork remotely powered by the sun is something special for generations to come.