WILL NOT BLOW YOUR MIND. IT’S A NO-BRAINER. HONESTLY.
11th June, 2016
SUMMER IS COMING. OH, WAIT – SUMMER IS HERE
Your air-conditioners are running for 10 hours a day, your fans are running 15 hours a day and you are working 20 hours a day to pay your electricity bills.
You debate odd-even car days 2 hours a day on Facebook, you water the plants in your balcony 4 times a day, you complain about smog in Delhi 8 times a day.
If only there was a solution staring at us from above for all this. Oh, wait – Sun is here.
Let me explain how – there is a grid you take energy from for all your electricity requirements. And you pay to the grid for the number of units of energy you use.
Suppose you have 2 Air Conditioners in your house, 1 Microwave, 1 Washing Machine, 1 Fridge, 2 geysers, 3-4 fans and a few tube-lights & bulbs. So, your electricity usage would be around 1200 units in summer months and around 600 units in winter. You end up paying INR 75,000 in a year as bill
(Fun Fact: 4 day round-trip to Paris costs less than INR 75,000)
Now, Solar PV panels capture solar energy, 365 days a year. With a grid-tied inverter, this electrical energy is fed back to the same grid.
So, if you invest INR 130,000 (25% down payment) and a roof of 80 square yards (~720 square feet) in this solar system, you will save
| Year | 1-10 | 11-15 | 16-25 |
| Net Saving/Year | 56,000 | 84,000 | 180,000 |
| Cumulative Saving | 5,60,000 | 9,80,000 | 27,80,000 |
(Savings are net of EMI paid for a 15-year loan at 9.5%)
Things to note:
Your investment will keep making money post Year 25 too but we have done our calculations only for the manufacturer’s warranty period
- We have assumed power tariffs increasing by 5% annually and the system’s output decreasing by 1 % annually
- You can pay the entire amount in one go and the total saving will be greater than INR 35,00,000 in 25 years
Summary: Going solar should be the 1st investment decision you make for financial year 2016-17