How much does it cost to have solar energy?

A photovoltaic solar energy system costs less than you might think. In some cases, it may cost nothing, as the purchase can be financed and the installments of the financing are paid for with energy savings. Let's understand this. If you are thinking about purchasing a photovoltaic system to generate electricity, continue reading this article until the end and you will be surprised.

Investment x expense

Are you thinking about purchasing a photovoltaic solar energy, but do you think the investment will be too big?

One word is very important in the question above: investment. The person who purchases a photovoltaic system must keep in mind that they are making an investment. Investment is different from expense. When you buy a car or a television set, for example, you are making an expense.

The money spent on the purchase will not be recovered and you will not have any additional benefits other than the pleasure of driving a new car or watching your favorite programs. When you purchase a photovoltaic system, on the other hand, you are making an investment. The photovoltaic system will return to you every dollar spent on the purchase. And this return will occur in a short time.

Typically the payback time (return on investment) of a solar system is 3 to 4 years, depending on the location where it was installed. This means that after this period, with the electricity savings provided by the solar system, you recover the entire amount invested.

How to purchase a solar system?

Even though it is an investment, you will need to pay some amount for the acquisition of the photovoltaic system. The amount disbursed can be your own capital (money that you have saved) or it can be obtained through bank financing. Several financial institutions in Brazil offer their own financing lines for solar energy, both for residential customers and for companies and rural properties.

Depending on the cost of electricity in your city, installing a financed solar system can be a great deal, since you won’t have to make any outlay of your own capital and you can pay off the loan installments with the savings on your electricity bill provided by the photovoltaic system. That’s why we say that, in some cases, the solar system may cost nothing. This sounds like a great deal – and it really is!

It is for these and other reasons that photovoltaic systems are becoming so attractive in Brazil and have been requested by all types of consumers.

How much does a photovoltaic system cost?

Now that you understand that purchasing a solar energy system is a great investment, and can even be done through financing, let's answer the question about how much it costs.

The cost of photovoltaic systems has fallen significantly in recent years. Even with fluctuations in the dollar exchange rate, which directly influence the national market, the prices of photovoltaic s and equipment have fallen to less than a third of what they were in 2012, for example.

An installed photovoltaic system, ready to be used and approved by the dealership, costs around R$4/W to R$5/W, depending on the size. What does this value expressed in R$/W mean? Let's explain.

The photovoltaic system needs to be sized according to its energy needs and is always specified by its power (W = watts). A more powerful system has more solar s and produces more energy. A system with fewer s is less powerful and produces less energy.

The number of photovoltaic s and the power of the ideal system for your needs must be sized by a professional or specialized company. The sizing is done based on your history (by analyzing the latest electricity bills) or your expected electricity consumption.

Typically, a home with a monthly consumption of 300 kWh will need a photovoltaic system with approximately 2,5 kW of power (which is equal to 2.500 W). The exact power of the photovoltaic system will depend on the location where it is installed, the installation conditions (angle and orientation of the roof), the presence or absence of shadows and other factors that must be analyzed and considered by the company that will perform the installation.

Therefore, considering our estimate, to produce 300 kWh/month the cost of the photovoltaic system will be 2500 W x R$ 5/W = R$ 12.500. If you need more energy, just buy more s. Therefore, a system to produce 600 kWh/month would need twice as much power (5000 W), at a cost of R$ 25.000.

Is solar energy expensive?

The answer is “no”. As we explained in the examples above, to generate around 600 kWh per month it is necessary to acquire a 5 kW photovoltaic system, which costs around R$ 25.000. That is a lot of money, you might think. But you should always the difference between “expense” and “investment”, which we explained at the beginning of this article.

A solar energy system is an investment. It pays for itself in a few years and returns every penny you spent on it through savings on your electricity bill. In addition, the system can be financed without you having to use your own capital. And you can pay for the financing with the electricity savings provided by the photovoltaic system.

Solar energy is definitely not expensive. Having a solar energy system is a great decision for those who want to save and invest. It is no coincidence that more than 360 thousand consumers have already installed photovoltaic systems in Brazil, spread across more than 5.150 municipalities from North to South, totaling more than 4,32 GW (billion watts) of power – data from December/2020 obtained from the website ANEEL (National Electric Energy Agency).