Expert debunks 6 common myths about home solar power: 'We're not even in the same ballpark'

Oct 21, 2024

Millions of homeowners across the country are reaping the benefits of solar power. There are over 5 million solar installations in the U.S., and there has been a record number of new installations every year for the past five years.

However, many people are hesitant to add solar energy to their homes because of misconceptions floating around about solar power.

To clear up some of these misconceptions, TCD spoke with Spencer Fields, director of insights at EnergySage. This company helps homeowners in their clean energy journey by providing free quotes from vetted installers and guidance from unbiased advisors.

Spencer debunked six common misconceptions about solar power — from rooftop panels to community solar — and explained the truth behind each one.

01.

Spencer: Producing solar panels is an energy-intensive and water-intensive process, that's true. But when you look at the lifetime emissions associated with that kilowatt-hour of electricity produced from solar, compared to a kilowatt-hour produced from natural gas or coal, the difference in emissions is like a 94% reduction or a 96% reduction, so we're not even in the same ballpark.

02.

Spencer: There are a couple of ways that you can benefit from clean energy as a renter. The first one is through community solar. Community solar doesn't exist in every state — your state needs to have what are called virtual net-metering policies.

(Check your state's community solar status here.)

If it is available in your state, you can subscribe to the output from that community solar farm, and you'll typically receive around 10% savings on every monthly bill. And now you are actually getting the benefit of solar energy, supporting local jobs to build those community solar farms, and saving money — a win-win-win.

03.

Spencer: If it's cloudy, you will see a reduced output from your solar panels.

But ultimately, you're not being billed based on how well your solar performs minute to minute or second to second, you're being billed on how well your solar performs over the course of a month or a year. So if it's cloudy today, no big deal.

Yes, you may need to pull more from the grid on that day, but on another day, you're providing benefits back to the grid.

04.

Spencer: When you put solar panels on your roof, the racking and mounting system, which is the hardware that actually secures the solar panels to your roof, are rated to a really high level called IP67 — which basically means that you could submerge the whole thing and water wouldn't be able to get in.

And, since solar panels are absorbing all the sunlight and weathering that would typically impact a roof, the parts of the roof under the panels will have an extended lifespan because they're protected from the elements.

That said, if your roof needs to be replaced, you should do that before installing solar as it costs a lot of money to remove and replace solar panels.

05.

Spencer: When you put solar panels on your home, it's true that you're only producing solar during daylight hours — when the sun is out. At night, you're probably pulling from the grid, but it's worth remembering that during the daytime, you're sending low-cost electricity back into the grid.

Plus, the great thing about the electric grid is that it doesn't rely on just one resource. And solar pairs very well with other clean energy technologies to provide consistent, clean, pollution-free energy throughout the day, week-to-week, or season-to-season.

06.

Spencer: Residential rooftop solar has no moving parts, so if there's anything that's going to fail, it's going to be the inverter.

Some inverters have a 10-year lifespan, some have a 25-year lifespan. When installing solar, take a close look at what's covered in the warranty from the inverter you're getting. Does it cover a replacement? If not, you might want to purchase an additional monitoring plan that'll give you a bit of peace of mind and also potentially replace that inverter for free if anything fails or when it reaches end of life.

The only thing solar panels could need is cleaning, although, in most parts of the country, rain is going to be more than enough to clean off your solar panels.

If you live somewhere like California, where you have a lot of wildfires, it might be worth trying to find an annual or bi-annual professional cleaning crew to come through, which will increase the performance of your solar panels and the yield that you get from them because they're not covered in ash.

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