Let’s be honest, Solar power is an American success story. The past year saw the one-millionth solar installation, as cities across the country made huge gains in solar capacity. According to the State Energy Conversation Offices (SECO), a list of the best solar companies in Texas is rising from day to day and currently, Texas is ranked first in solar energy potential and tenth in solar energy production.

Every four minutes in U.S. a home or a business goes solar. Solar panel installations in Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston are used for a variety of purposes including powering homes, school crosswalk warning signs and water pumping systems. As the U.S. states are passing the 10-gigawatt mark for solar capacity, a new survey conducted by Google as a part of Project Sunroof put three Texas’ cities on top of the solar potential, those being Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. It’s about time that we, the homeowners and businessmen, start bearing the fruit of what now seems like a gold rush for the Sun.

Houston, TX

Houston, Texas is the country’s fourth most populous city. It is a home of great food, cultural diversity and, of course, NASA. And that’s not all. Houston is making America great in one more way, by adopting solar as its energy of the future. The list of solar panel companies in Houston, as well as the solar panel companies in Dallas and San Antonio, has increased by 19% in 2017 and that number is going to grow in the coming years.

According to Google’s Project Sunroof, which shows how much money homeowners and property owners can save by installing solar panels on their roofs, Houston could generate enough solar energy to power 1.7 million homes annually. That’s quite a number, right? In the same time, the city also has on-site solar arrays that generate more than 125,000 kWh annually at municipal buildings. The huge solar potential was recognized by the investors and there are currently more than 100 Houston-based companies involved in some aspect of solar power.

The average U.S. home consumes 10,812 kilowatt-hours a year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That means one gigawatt-hour of energy is enough to supply power to 90 homes for an entire year, according to Google. “If the top 10 cities (nationally) reached their full rooftop solar potential, they’d produce enough energy to power 8 million homes across the U.S.,” Joel Conkling, a Google project manager, wrote in the Project Sunroof report.

San Antonio, TX

Famous for its 15-mile River Walk and Alamo, San Antonio has long influenced other cities eager to replicate its development-spurring success. According to Google Sunroof, San Antonio has over 92% roofs that are solar-viable, ranking 4th on the list. The city would offset over 5.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions (the equivalent of 1.1 million passenger cars being taken off the road for a year). Let’s be honest, this completely justifies the fact why San Antonio made it on the list of solar elites.

Solar panel installers in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio have municipal utility companies behind their back, which are encouraging solar PV systems. And we all know that the best thing for the community is the partnership with local utilities, which represents one of the most effective strategies for economic growth. To illustrate the point, CPS Energy, San Antonio’s municipal utility has set a goal of generating 20 percent of its electricity demand from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Further on, non-wind renewable sources will account for at least 100 megawatts of electricity, which means they are going big for solar. The energy prices will continue to plummet, and whatever your position is on the solar industry, it’s important as serious investors to recognize where the trend appears to be headed. And the tailwinds are undeniably at Texas’ best solar companies’ backs at the moment.

Dallas, TX

With the cost of solar coming down, there’s a growing awareness of solar power as a mainstream energy solution with widespread benefits for our health, our economy and the environment. Solar panel companies in Dallas have designed a management platform to give their end-user the highest quality product, lowest price, fastest turn-around and most tailored experience in the solar industry. Google’s Project Sunroof, by using the machine intelligence and 3D modeling, was sending data throughout the year, factoring in things such as typical weather, sun position changes and many more. While you are probably thinking about how to raise your income and lower your electricity bill, here are the facts you should bear in mind:

• The average cost for electricity in Dallas is 11.6 cents/kWh, which is approximately 83 percent of the average cost of electricity in the U.S. as a whole. (According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

• In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency named the City of Dallas the largest local government user of green power in the country, ranking 9th on the Project Sunroof list.
• Dallas experienced the second greatest percentage growth of solar energy in the state, with the potential for further growth.
• Rapid growth in the number of solar panel installers in Dallas has made it simple to obtain the proper permits and connecting to the solar grid. Generally speaking, requests are returned promptly (within the hour according to solarpermit.org)

With solar energy increasing popularity in Dallas and Texas as a whole, there is an incredible array of options for those looking to make their homes greener while also adding property value. So let’s make our roofs work as hard as we do!

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