Anyone who has invested in solar panel technology for their home will likely tell you that they've saved money, but one Reddit user has provided the receipts, showing quite how much you can save every month by going green.
Solar power has been an option for homeowners since the latter stages of the 20th century, yet it's within the couple of decades that it has become a realistic option that would appeal to many across America.
While there is without a doubt a hefty initial investment cost, many report the savings that they receive every single month, and it can easily pay itself pack and more so over time - alongside the obvious environmental impact too.
One Reddit user from San Francisco has provided their own energy bill to back up their claims, and it's remarkable quite how stark the difference between the costs of pre and post solar panel installation are.
How much did they save on their energy bill?
As reported by The Cool Down, u/duggatron shared their energy bill on the r/bayarea subreddit which showed the staggering difference between the same time period before and after getting solar panels on their home.
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The screenshot of the bill reveals that their energy costs were around $326 lower across a single month compared to the same period the year before, which was a 29-day stretch between the end of May and the end of June.
For context, the homeowner detailed that they own two electric cars, alongside a 2,500 square foot, two-story house that is air conditioned to around 72 degrees Fahrenheit, and a primary motivation for getting solar power wasn't the cost but instead was to reduce their environmental impact.
Across the May to June period the year before they forked out $337 for energy, but since installing solar panels that bill dropped all the way down to $11 - less than the cost of lunch at most places!
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That $11 cost could just be the cost to be on the grid in the first place, as in the comments the homeowner revealed that they had "put about 2MWh more power into the grid than we've pulled out of it," making them net producers for most months of the year.
How long would it take to break even?
While the savings are undoubtedly impressive and will make anyone who doesn't have solar panels envious, one thing that you do have to consider is the often prohibitive price of installation.
They revealed that the total cost of both the panels and installation totalled around $47,000, but they will also receive $12,000 back from federal taxes to make the initial investment roughly $35,000.
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Not every month will produce the same savings as this particular period, but if you were to work it out that they saved $326 every single month, it would take 107 months or just under 9 years to start making a profit.
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Although that might seem like a long time to start making your money back, in the grand scheme of things it's really not that bad - especially if your primary motivation was to go for green power in the first place.
Fellow electric vehicle owners have shown quite how much you can save by switching from gas cars to EVs, so opting for solar power is the logical next step you might want to opt for to achieve both long term financial and environmental sustainability.