If you’ve been putting off saving money by switching to clean and renewable solar energy, now may be a good time to act.
Why the urgency?
Well, as everyone knows, after decades of relative prosperity, both the U.S. and global economies are suddenly struggling under the weight of some pretty serious problems.
Of course, when the entire global economy tanks, no industry is going to be immune. But you can expect the solar industry to be hit particularly hard given the nature of our current economic woes.
SVB & tightening credit
Just like other major purchases, most homeowners making the switch to solar power prefer not to pay outright in cash.
Instead, the vast majority finance their solar systems with a loan paid off in monthly installments.
Now, once your solar panels are up and running, the solar energy they generate won't cost you a dime.
That means that as long as the monthly payments on your solar loan work out to be less than your average electric bill, transitioning to solar will be a money-saver.
Unfortunately, the banking crisis set in motion last week with the failure of Silicon Valley Bank is all but certain to lead to tightened lending policies —making it more difficult to find solar financing and more expensive for those who still can.
Rising interest rates
To make matters worse, even prior to last week's SVB debacle, interest rates were already soaring with no end in sight—with the Federal Reserve expected to hike the basic rate another quarter point today.
As
a measure of what all this means in practical terms, the average
30-year fixed mortgage rate just spiked to 6.66%, the highest rate since 2007.
Window of opportunity closing
The upshot is that many homeowners and small businesses now able to substantially decrease their energy costs by going solar will soon find the opportunity has vanished as financing becomes more expensive.
For others, transitioning to solar power may already be such a good deal that they’ll still be able to save some money even at higher interest rates.
But, of course, even they’re going to wind up saving a whole lot less than they would have had they acted sooner.
So, if spending less on energy by transitioning to clean and renewable solar energy sounds like a good deal to you, the best time to act might be now.