Latest articles by The Solar Nerd

Home solar panels are a new concept to many homeowners, so it’s understandable if there are some misconceptions out there. One of the myths you can find on the internet is that solar panels are associated with cancer. The supposed reason is that a solar array emits non-ionizing electromagnetic (EM) radiation, which some people falsly believe is carcinogenic. It’s not. Solar panels do not cause cancer. A properly functioning solar system doesn’t emit any more EM radiation that the electrical wires that are already in your home do.

If you’re a homeowner planning to install solar panels, you’ll either be placing the array on your roof, which is facing in a fixed direction, or you’ll be using a ground mount that gives you some flexibility about where to point them. Especially if you live in a city, you might not have much choice about the direction to face your panels. For example, you might have trees shading one side of your home.

You may have heard something about renewable energy technologies like wind power and solar power being bad for birds. Even Donald Trump weighed in at a rally, saying “The wind kills all your birds. All your birds, killed. You know, the environmentalists never talk about that.” So, is it true? Does solar power kill a lot of birds? The answer is no. First of all, there are different types of solar power.

Is net metering available in New Hampshire? Yes! Net metering is currently available from all electric utilities in New Hampshire. Credits for excess generation are banked and rolled over to the next month. Such credits may be carried forward indefinitely, but customers may elect to be paid for their credits at the avoided cost rate, which will be lower than the residential retail rate for electricity. The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission website has the complete text of the current net metering rules.

Is net metering available in Utah? Net metering is available with some utilities in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power, the largest utility in the state, is currently transitioning away from net metering and offers net billing to new customers. Municipal utilities in Utah offer a combination of net metering, net billing, and feed-in tariffs. We list this policies in detail below. Net metering with Rocky Mountain Power In September 2017, Rocky Mountain Power came to an agreement with solar advocates and state agencies to end net metering for new customers and adopt a net billing scheme that is still relatively favorable to solar customers in the state.

One common misconception about home solar panels is that they’ll keep your house powered even if the electric grid goes down. They can, but only if you have the right equipment to go with it. First of all, let’s understand one thing that might seem obvious: solar panels don’t work in the dark. For the majority of homes that have solar panels, this means having a grid connection that supplies power when your panels don’t generate any electricity.

If you live in a northern or midwestern state in the US, space heating is probably the largest energy consumer in your home. In most climates in the US, central heating is accomplished with the use of fossil fuels. Natural gas is most common, but oil heating is still used in many regions. Even coal hasn’t completely disappeared for home heating use. But why heat your home with fossil fuels when the sun is available?

Home solar is massively growing in popularity, but not everybody has the option of putting solar panels on their roof. Maybe you’re a renter who wants to go solar. You can try to convince your landlord that solar panels are worth it, but you might not have any luck. Or maybe you’re a homeowner, but you’ve learned that your roof is too shaded for solar panels to work. Or you might have a roof that gets plenty of sun, but it only has about 5 years of life before it needs replacing.

Is net metering available in Florida? Yes. Net metering is available to customers who generate electricity using solar energy, geothermal energy, wind energy, biomass energy, ocean energy, hydrogen, waste heat or hydroelectric power. This basic policy includes investor owned utilities, municipal utilities, and electric cooperatives. You should check with your utility for additional details. Here’s a list of website links to net metering information for the major utilities in Florida:

New York state, despite being situated in the northeastern United States instead of the Sunbelt that people normally think of when it comes to solar, was the 6th largest state for solar photovoltaic installations in 2018. This is helped in a large part by some of very best solar incentives in the country. Summary of solar rebates available to New York residents: Federal tax credit26% off system price through 2020 (22% in 2021) New York income tax credit for solar 25% off system price, up to $5,000 NYSERDA NY-Sun rebateRebate of $0.