Articles tagged "safety"

There’s a lot of myths when it comes to lightning, such as lightning never striking the same place twice, or that using an umbrella in a storm puts you at greater risk of being hit by lightning. It’s understandable: lightning is a mysterious force of nature to many, and it’s also destructive, causing over $1 billion in property damage in the United States every year. When it comes to solar panels, there’s one persistent myth, which is that putting solar panels on your home can actually attract lightning to your home.

As you probably know, solar panels turn sunlight into clean electricity: they’re totally silent, and don’t release any pollution. Even though solar electricity is clean, you might wonder about the solar panels themselves. What exactly is under that sheet of glass? If you’re a homeowner who is thinking about putting solar panels on your roof, are you putting the health of your family at risk by installing dangerous or toxic materials on your home?

On a sunny day, the solar panels on the roof of your home might be generating thousands of watts of power. Have you ever wondered if this could be a fire risk? By itself, a few thousand watts of electricity running across your roof isn’t a risk. After all, there’s already a fat utility cable that runs from a utility pole or underground conduit into your home that carries up to a couple hundred amps of electricity.

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.