Every year more people take the leap into solar powered energy. Each year more people also express the desire to have a solar installation performed on their own home. The one thing that holds them back is the initial investment, but what they aren't realizing is that initial investment is actually quite small when you consider all the great things solar powered energy brings to a home. Here are four reasons you should start considering ditching the utility company and switching to solar energy today.

1. You Immediately Reduce Your Utility Bill

From the first day you install solar panels for home you'll experience a decrease in your utility bill. It's possible there will be months you won't see an energy bill at all. Even if you finance your solar power system rather than pay cash upfront, your payments on the financing may simply replace your normal utility bill until the panel financing is complete. If that's the case, once the loan has been paid off, which should happen within three to five years, you're free and clear of a monthly payment, and you have an extremely low utility bill. Most estimates show solar power systems pay for themselves in as little as seven or eight years.

2. Increases Your Property Value

When homebuyers are searching for a new home, they're willing to pay a premium if the home is equipped with solar power. The reason is simple. Everyone knows that solar power equals savings, and if they can get solar power wrapped into their mortgage, they won't have to worry about financing it later. The average homeowner can expect an average increase of about 4.1% on the sale value of their home when it's equipped with solar energy, but this number is variable across regions and cities. It also depends on if the homeowner actually owns the solar panels or is leasing them. If the homebuyer is unwilling to enter into an existing contracting on a lease, then they can actually deter the sale of a property. For this reason, it may be better to purchase your solar equipment rather than lease.

3. Off-Grid Conveniences

There are two ways to utilize solar energy. You can use your solar panels to supply energy to your home and any extra gets pumped back into the grid. Because you're not storing energy, any energy usage during night time hours and cloudy days comes back to you through the grid, but at a reduced rate depending on how much extra you've supplied. The other option is to store your extra energy into batteries housed on your property. The drawback to this method is the space required to house the batteries, because it takes a lot of batteries to store enough solar energy to power your home for several days. But, for people who choose this method, they don't have to worry about power outages and they never have an electric bill.

4. Your Home Is Valuable to the Environment

You really can't put a monetary value on clean energy. Solar energy is clean, sustainable and renewable. It doesn't take any resources from the planet, it doesn't pollute the atmosphere or water systems, and the only thing you need more of is sunlight, which is plentiful and there will always be more. You can't use it up. The emissions your home is not contributing to the air people breath and the reduction of your carbon footprint to the atmosphere will have a long-lasting impact on future generations. For that, you should feel good, and for your home, you should feel proud.

The United States and the world have a way to go in switching to renewable energy and letting go of coal energy, uranium mining for nuclear energy, and fossil fuels. As more businesses and homeowners reach for clean air sources to power the homes, the health of the world will begin to improve. The benefits of going solar are well-documented and proven. The time to switch is now.