How solar panels put money back in your pocket. An in-depth presentation that answers a lot of frequent questions that people have about getting solar panels for their homes or businesses, including things such as "how does it work", "what tax incentives there are", and "how to pay for solar."

1. Driving Your Electric
Bill Down to Zero
How Solar Panels Put Money Back in Your Pocket

2. Table of Contents
 How It Works
 Installation Time + Costs
 Net Energy Metering (NEM)
 The Annual True-Up
 Why It’s Important to Act NOW
 Tax Incentives & Rebates
 How to Pay For Solar
 Leasing Options
 25-Year Transferable Warranty
 Stabilizing Your Costs in the Future
 Energy that Pays You Back

3. How It Works
For more info visit How Solar Panels Work

4. How It Works
Choosing to install solar panels on your home enables you and your family to create your own energy and save money by driving
down, or even eliminating your monthly electric bill altogether.
- Panels generate electricity whenever they are exposed to sunlight. So even when you’re not home or using energy, you’re still
accruing energy. This extra accrued energy can then be “sold” back into the mainstream grid to offset your normal utility costs by
having an extra pool of energy to draw from.
- If you overproduce energy and consume less than you produce, you can drive your electric costs down to zero dollars per year.
- If the amount of energy you overproduce is significant enough, you may actually receive money back from the utility company at
year’s end.
The process that enables this is what’s known as net energy metering, or NEM.

5. Installation Time + Costs
Most solar installations are completed in just one day, often with zero out-of-pocket costs incurred by the homeowner.
- Installing a solar system leads to an immediate increase in property value.
- Solar systems average 30+ years of usability.
- System typically pays for itself two-to-three times over during the duration of its useful life.
For more info visit The Cost of Solar

6. Net Energy Metering (NEM)

7. Net Energy Metering (NEM)
Net energy metering (NEM) enables residential and commercial customers who generate their own electricity from solar power to
sell energy they don’t use back into the mainstream grid.
- “Selling energy” does NOT refer to being paid money for the energy you produce — although that is a possibility — but rather
“selling” in this scenario refers to the ability to earn credits that can be “spent” against your own energy bill.
- NEM involves using a single, bidirectional meter that spins forward to track the electricity you take from the grid and spins backwards
to meter excess energy that your solar panels produce.
- At the end of the month, if you’ve used more electricity than you’ve produced, you’ll owe your utility provider for that power. However,
if at the end of the month, you’ve produced more energy than you’ve drawn from the grid, you’ll owe nothing. In fact, your power
provider could end up owing you money.

8. The Annual True-Up
One of the biggest advantages for making the switch to solar is that you only have to consider your electric bill once per year.
- Homeowners with solar panels receive one electric bill per year known as a “true-up” that tallies all the energy you’ve used over the
past year and measures it against all the energy your solar panels produced that year.
- At the end of your 12-month billing cycle you’ll “true-up” and the energy credits you’ve accrued, according to your NEM statement,
that will be measured against what you owe for your annual energy bill.
Average annual cost of powering a 2,500 - 3,000 sq ft home is typically in the $2,000 range. With solar, your true-up can result in a bill
totaling as low as $200 or less.
In fact, if you accrue enough credits, your annual bill can actually drop to zero.

9. Why It’s Important to Act NOW
Net energy metering as we know it is being phased out in California.
- The state plans to end the current program for awarding NEM credits to homeowners who install solar and sell power back to the grid
by July of 2017.
- According to some current projections, the cap for ending the current program for awarding NEM credits to homeowners could be
reached much sooner than that — possibly by as early as August or September of 2016.
- Homeowners who install solar panels and opt into the program before the cutoff date will be grandfathered into the current NEM
program for the next 20 years.

10. Tax Incentives & Rebates
- Federal solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) offers 30% dollar-for-dollar reduction in income taxes based on amount invested in solar
property.
- Under current law, the ITC is set to remain in effect through December 31, 2016. But after this date, the residential credit under the
ITC will drop to zero.
- State of California no longer offers any rebates associated with solar, however rebates still available from some utility companies
serving localized districts. Typically, these rebates range from anywhere between $500 to $2000.
If you receive at least 50% of gross income from agriculture, then learn about USDA Grants for Solar

11. How to Pay For Solar
- Cash up front.
- Secure lending from your credit union
- Take advantage of SUNworks financing options that allow for $0 down with 12-15 year financing terms with the kind of low monthly
payment that would traditionally be associated with a third party lease or Solar Power Purchase Agreement (SPPA).
Installation available for no money down and a monthly payment typically no greater, and often less, than what you’re currently
paying for monthly utility bill.

12. Leasing Options
- SUNworks leases are always without payment escalators.
- Leases associated with the number one solar panel on the market — SunPower — that offers industry leading power output.
- Leases designed with ease of transferability in mind.
Learn more about Financial Lending for Solar Panels

13. 25-Year Transferable Warranty
Solar systems typically come with 4 different warranties covering each of the different product classes that comprise the system.
*Warranty lengths for each of the systems vary depending on the solar company.
Standard warranty terms found across the industry:
Solar modules covered for 10 - 25 years
Solar inverters covered for 10 years
Racking and wiring systems for 10 years
Contractor workmanship roof penetrations for 10 years
SUNworks warranties are different. We extend ALL existing warranties into one 25-year warranty that is transferable for free for up
to 10 years and costs only $500 to transfer to a new homeowner after that period has elapsed. Learn more about SUNworks solar
panel warranties.

14. Stabilizing Your Costs in the Future
Investing in a solar energy system for your home = installing a power plant on top of your roof. With SUNworks, you create your
own energy and levelize your costs.:
- Stabilize future costs by securing a fixed lower payment for the next 20 years.
- Free yourself from contending with energy rate fluctuations from year to year.
- Pay yourself back every month for out-of-pocket expenses incurred with money you save by minimizing, or altogether eliminating,
monthly energy bill.
- Take control of future finances from unpredictable energy rates by producing your own energy.
- Financing or owning a solar system is very like the decision to own your home versus just renting it.
- Installing solar escapes you from the tiered mainstream energy system that keeps you beholden to the whims of power companies
(changing tier levels, costs, etc.)

15. Energy That Pays You Back
For more information: check out SUNworks Solar Panel Installers or call 866-600-6800
Thank you.