TOP 10 Solar Myths
Debunking 10 Solar Myths
In recent years solar power has gained significant momentum due to government incentives, technological advancements , ever increasing energy demand and growing environmental concerns .
Since Solar power has come a long way dispelling common myths about solar is crucial for promoting a better understanding of this sustainable energy source.
In this article I will be discussing 10 common myths about solar so that people can make informed decisions about adopting solar energy. Solar offers an environmentally friendly, cost-effective solution to lower energy costs, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and contribute to a cleaner more sustainable future.
This article will also help you to learn if solar can power your electric vehicle or how there is just one way to make money selling solar electricity and only one way to use Batteries to lower your electric bills.
In this article I will be discussing 10 common myths about solar so that people can make informed decisions about adopting solar energy. Solar offers an environmentally friendly, cost-effective solution to lower energy costs, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and contribute to a cleaner more sustainable future.
This article will also help you to learn if solar can power your electric vehicle or how there is just one way to make money selling solar electricity and only one way to use Batteries to lower your electric bills.
Myth number 1 – Government gives free solar panels . If you see anything like that online or anywhere It’s clickbait. They’re just trying to get you information to get a dozen solar companies to start calling you.
The government does not give you free solar panels. There are some solar programs in which you don’t have any out-of-pocket immediately. But all these solar programs have a monthly payment associated with them. Nothing is free.
Free solar panels typically refer to solar leases or PPAs. The federal government does not provide free solar panels, but does provide incentives that reduce the cost of going solar. You can go solar with no upfront cost by taking out a $0-down loan, signing a lease or PPA, or subscribing to a community solar farm. Of the no upfront cost solutions, $0-down loans provide the best long-term savings. If you can purchase your system outright, you’ll see the highest return on investment overall.
Myth number 2 – Solar is expensive. This is flat out wrong. If you are paying an electric bill today then you can afford solar. Solar works best for people who stay in a single-family home and who are homeowners and not renters.
Once you go solar your electric company utility bill goes away. It reduces to less than ten bucks a month in most states. You have a new solar electric bill that is usually 30 to 50% lower than what you were paying earlier.
Although there is an initial investment, going solar actually results in cost savings. A reduced electrical bill means saving money every month. Over time, this investment will pay for itself and begin to turn a profit. There are incentives that encourage you to go solar and make it more financially attractive.
Since each solar project is unique, the cost varies depending on the needs of your installation. Use a solar cost to get a better understanding of how much your solar system might run you. Being able to clearly see what your initial cost will enable you to see how quickly you will recoup that dollar amount and start earning money back with your energy production.
Beware of solar sales folks trying to mislead or newbies, who promise you incredible savings. Savings over 50% a month are a red flag. They are based on optimistic or plain false assumptions.
Myth number 3 – Going solar means you will have to go off grid. That’s not true. In fact, almost 99% of the solar system that you see around you are still connected to the grid. Getting solar is like getting a second cable connection or a second telephone connection. You can work with Verizon and you can work with T-Mobile.
Same thing with solar. You can stay with your electric company and you can get solar panels. Now you will have two sources of power in your home. One from the solar panels from the electric company. The solar panels give you much cheaper electricity.
Installing solar panels on your home may seem like you are finally going off the grid, but in many cases, you’re not. A grid-tied system, which is common in residential areas, means you’re still connected to the grid but you benefit from a lower electricity bill. It also means you can send energy surplus back to the grid, and when blackouts occur, have a backup energy source.
Myth number 4 – Solar panels can still power your home during a power outage. That’s incorrect. When you have a power outage, the solar system automatically shuts off. Thats called rapid shutdown and is required by the law.
The problem is, if your solar panels continue to work during an outage, they’re going to shoot out electric power into the grid during an outage. An unlucky utility repairman working on a pole next to your home might get electrocuted. That’s why, by law, your systems are shut off during an outage. So solar panels do not work during an outage.
Now if you want your solar panels to work during an outage and you want to have power when your neighbors are all out, you will have to get a battery along with your solar panels. Solar panels plus a battery will give you power during an outage, but just solar panels will not work during a power outage.
Solar panels can be used during a power outage by storing the unused power they generate in batteries. This setup is called solar plus storage, and it can keep your home powered during a blackout. Here are some ways you can use solar panels during a power outage: Light up your home, Charge devices, Cook, Keep the fridge running, and Power medical devices .
A fully charged 10 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery can power a home for about 24 hours. You can also invest in an automated backup system that automatically switches between grid power and stored energy from the batteries.
Other ways to use solar power during a power outage include : Using a backup gas generator, using a solar-powered generator ,replacing your inverter with a Sunny Boy or Enphase Ensemble system .
The government does not give you free solar panels. There are some solar programs in which you don’t have any out-of-pocket immediately. But all these solar programs have a monthly payment associated with them. Nothing is free.
Free solar panels typically refer to solar leases or PPAs. The federal government does not provide free solar panels, but does provide incentives that reduce the cost of going solar. You can go solar with no upfront cost by taking out a $0-down loan, signing a lease or PPA, or subscribing to a community solar farm. Of the no upfront cost solutions, $0-down loans provide the best long-term savings. If you can purchase your system outright, you’ll see the highest return on investment overall.
Myth number 2 – Solar is expensive. This is flat out wrong. If you are paying an electric bill today then you can afford solar. Solar works best for people who stay in a single-family home and who are homeowners and not renters.
Once you go solar your electric company utility bill goes away. It reduces to less than ten bucks a month in most states. You have a new solar electric bill that is usually 30 to 50% lower than what you were paying earlier.
Although there is an initial investment, going solar actually results in cost savings. A reduced electrical bill means saving money every month. Over time, this investment will pay for itself and begin to turn a profit. There are incentives that encourage you to go solar and make it more financially attractive.
Since each solar project is unique, the cost varies depending on the needs of your installation. Use a solar cost to get a better understanding of how much your solar system might run you. Being able to clearly see what your initial cost will enable you to see how quickly you will recoup that dollar amount and start earning money back with your energy production.
Beware of solar sales folks trying to mislead or newbies, who promise you incredible savings. Savings over 50% a month are a red flag. They are based on optimistic or plain false assumptions.
Myth number 3 – Going solar means you will have to go off grid. That’s not true. In fact, almost 99% of the solar system that you see around you are still connected to the grid. Getting solar is like getting a second cable connection or a second telephone connection. You can work with Verizon and you can work with T-Mobile.
Same thing with solar. You can stay with your electric company and you can get solar panels. Now you will have two sources of power in your home. One from the solar panels from the electric company. The solar panels give you much cheaper electricity.
Installing solar panels on your home may seem like you are finally going off the grid, but in many cases, you’re not. A grid-tied system, which is common in residential areas, means you’re still connected to the grid but you benefit from a lower electricity bill. It also means you can send energy surplus back to the grid, and when blackouts occur, have a backup energy source.
Myth number 4 – Solar panels can still power your home during a power outage. That’s incorrect. When you have a power outage, the solar system automatically shuts off. Thats called rapid shutdown and is required by the law.
The problem is, if your solar panels continue to work during an outage, they’re going to shoot out electric power into the grid during an outage. An unlucky utility repairman working on a pole next to your home might get electrocuted. That’s why, by law, your systems are shut off during an outage. So solar panels do not work during an outage.
Now if you want your solar panels to work during an outage and you want to have power when your neighbors are all out, you will have to get a battery along with your solar panels. Solar panels plus a battery will give you power during an outage, but just solar panels will not work during a power outage.
Solar panels can be used during a power outage by storing the unused power they generate in batteries. This setup is called solar plus storage, and it can keep your home powered during a blackout. Here are some ways you can use solar panels during a power outage: Light up your home, Charge devices, Cook, Keep the fridge running, and Power medical devices .
A fully charged 10 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery can power a home for about 24 hours. You can also invest in an automated backup system that automatically switches between grid power and stored energy from the batteries.
Other ways to use solar power during a power outage include : Using a backup gas generator, using a solar-powered generator ,replacing your inverter with a Sunny Boy or Enphase Ensemble system .
Myth number 5 – You are going to make a tonne of money selling electricity to the electric company. Flat out wrong. There are two problems that prevent you from making those millions. The electric company rarely lets you make a solar system that makes more energy than you use. So you have very little if any extra electricity to sell. Problem 2 : Even if you do make some extra energy and sell it to the utility company, they pay you peanuts for it. When you buy electricity from the utility company, you pay retail rates, translation big fat bills. When they buy from you they pay wholesale rates, translation peanuts.
Electric Utility companies hate homeowners who go solar. Its simple someone who has an average bill of around $130 a month will pay the electric company around $40,000 in the next 20 years. Yes those monthly electric bills really add up. If you go solar that’s $40,000 of lost revenue. That’s why they hate solar.
To add insult to injury, now you plan to sell electricity back to them.
The only way to make money selling solar electricity is if you put up a solar farm. That’s acres of land with solar panels on them. Then you can supply energy directly to the grid and they pay better rates.
Myth number 6 – planning to add batteries to your solar panels or buying batteries to lower your electric bills. Batteries dont generate electricity and will not reduce your electric bills. They store electric energy for use at a later time. Only a source of generation like solar panels can reduce electric bills.
There is an exception to this rule. States like California that have Time of Use or TOU electric billing. The cost of electricity goes up in the evenings to peak rates. Here a battery can help reduce electric bills by topping up your battery during low cost hours and then using battery electricity during peak hours instead of the costly grid electricty.
Myth number 7 – Solar panels don’t work at night or in the rain or snow.
Now, this one’s partially correct. Solar panels don’t work at night, but they do work at far lower capacity during bad weather.
It’s still a myth. Now during the daytime, your solar panels make a lot of excess energy. All that excess energy goes to your electric company, and they give you credit for that excess energy.
When you use electricity at night, you will get electricity from your electric company, but they won’t charge you for it because they offset it against those credits you built up in the day.
The only time this doesn’t work too well is if you’re in a state like California that does not give you full credit for the excess solar electricity.
This practice of the electric company giving you full credit for all the electricity exported by your solar system is called Net Metering.
Durinng bad weather panels might work at 20% or 30% capacity. The good news is that solar designers take into account bad weather days and design a system that has enough capacity to take care of those bad days.
Myth number 8 – You cannot power stuff with solar. You cannot charge your EV with solar. You won’t be able to heat your pool. Blah blah blah. This is completely incorrect.
You can use solar electricity to power everything in your home your EV, your Pool even Bit Coin Mining : I mean everything.
Most homes in the US have enough roof area for solar panels to power everything in their homes with solar electricity.
Homes with a lot of shade or with dormers and obstructions that reduce the area available for panels may not get to a 100% solar-powered home because they may not have room for enough solar panels.
Myth number 9 – Solar will damage your roof or void your roof warranty or cause roof leaks. Again that’s is not correct.
Most solar companies will give you a 25 year roof penetration warranty when they put solar on your roof. They are a 100% confident that your roof is not going to be damaged or leak.
Most roof manufacturers like GAF and CertainTeed continued to honor their roof warranties after you go solar. You just have to push back the roofer who says they don’t honor the warranty.
Today’s solar system installations are engineered with vacuum-sealed flashing that will not leak when installed professionally.
Horror stories of leaks are a remnant of the days when Plumbers, Landscapers and Handymen were installing solar because of the huge margins. They would use caulk and L feet to install and those would certainly leak after a few years.
Myth number 10 – Solar installations are complicated and require a lot of maintenance. Not at all. Solar installations, when done by properly trained solar installation companies, are a breeze. They do day in and day out and they become cookie cutter. They will do an excellent job. It doesn’t take a lot of time.
Of course, the approvals associated with solar from townships, the electric company, the state, and other authorities having jurisdiction do take a long time. Once the panels are up and ready, they require no cleaning or any other regular maintenance services.
You will have some failures like an inverter requiring replacement. Solar Panels with their 25 year warranties typically never ever fail. Your solar company will take care of all service and warranty issues for the next 25 years.
Solar is pretty much maintenance-free, and you can forget about it and continue to enjoy low or nothing electric bills for the next 25 to 30 years.