Whether you're looking to reduce your carbon footprint, save money on utilities or increase the value of your home, installing solar panels is a great option for homeowners. With a little time and a solid investment, you'll be able to improve your life, your children's lives and the environment all at once. Here are three ways that solar is more than just "going green."

1. Increase your home value

Everyone is interested in improving their home value, and what better way than to make your home green?

A study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that people are willing to pay approximately $15,000 more for a home with solar panels on the roof. This is on top of the energy savings you can expect to get annually from generating your own solar energy.

As long as you live in a sunny area and your roof isn't covered by too much shade, you're guaranteed to save money on your electricity bill over the life of your solar panels. How much you save depends on whether you lease the panels, use a loan to purchase them or buy them outright, and on how much you spend on electricity each year. The best candidates for solar panels are also those who own their home and intend on living there for the foreseeable future.

2. Save money on your electricity bill

A new initiative launched this year by Google called Project Sunroof aims to help people find out just how valuable solar panels could be. Though currently available only in limited areas, Google has plans to extend its reach throughout the United States.

You'll simply be able to type in your address and Google will use its satellite maps to calculate the amount of sun you get a year. Then you can put in your average monthly electricity bill and it will tell you how many panels you'd need to cover 99 percent of your electricity usage. It will also calculate how much money you'd save over the 20-year life span of the panels, depending on how you choose to pay for them. In Redwood City, California, for instance, people who pay for their solar panels with a loan will see $600 a year in savings.

When you consider that a family of four hypothetically spends $100 per month on electricity through the local power company, which adds up to $1200 per year, this means that over the span of 15 years, the family would spend $18,000 on electricity. Thus, when you consider the initial costs of solar, to "own" your own power may not be as expensive as you think.

3. Receive state and federal solar tax credits

To encourage businesses and homeowners to install solar panels, you can receive both state and federal tax incentives. The amount of state incentive you receive depends on the state you live in. For instance, according to Auric Solar, Utah's largest solar provider that services both Utah and Idaho, Utahns get $2,000 in state tax credits and Idahoans get $1,500.

The federal tax credit is 30 percent of your cost. With solar panel systems costing between $15,000 and $35,000 on average, that adds up to some impressive savings. You'll want to take advantage of this incentive soon, however. It is currently unknown how long these tax benefits will last as the government is set to revise them in 2016.

Bonus: The environmental aspect

Keeping money in your pocketbook isn't the only feel good aspect of solar. In fact, solar can make a huge difference. A study out of the University of California, Berkeley found that, "A residential solar panel system . . . has the capability of providing for the electricity needs of an entire home with about 80 percent lower carbon emissions than fossil fuels."

This was part of what spurred Peter Murtha, a writer for The Washington Post and co-founder of 350 Montgomery County — a grassroots environmental group focused on climate change action — to install solar panels just over two years ago, paying for them out of pocket.

"By installing solar, we have already avoided over 16 tons of CO2 emissions," said Murtha, adding that his panels will pay for themselves in 10 years and should still have another 15 years of use left after that.

For more information on the benefits of solar and how rooftop panels could improve your lifestyle, visit auricsolar.com.

Related topics