Solar Nerd articles about: Safety

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Photo of a lightning strike.
Do solar panels increase the risk of a lightning strike?
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.
Do solar panels cause cancer?
One of the stranger myths about solar panels is that they cause cancer. The reasons given is that solar panels leak toxins or emit dangerous radiation. Neither of these are true. Solar panels do not cause cancer. A solar array doesn’t emit any more RF radiation than the electrical wires already in your home do. In any case, there is no established connection between non-ionizing RF radiation and cancer. Also, the electricity generated by solar panels is direct current (DC), which doesn’t generate electromagnetic fields like AC-carrying wires do.