Author Archives: spencer

Feed-in tariffs: a primer on feed-in tariffs for solar

There are a number of financial incentives offered to property owners going solar. From rebates to tax incentives and net metering policies, there are many policies that bring down the cost of installing solar panels on your house. One such policy is the feed-in tariff, which, when designed properly, can provide substantial financial benefits to solar customers.

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The SolarEdge Energy Hub: what you need to know

In 2020, SolarEdge launched their newest and most versatile home inverter: the SolarEdge Energy Hub Inverter. The aptly named Energy Hub combines the functionality of all of SolarEdge’s existing inverters under one hood to provide a future-proof solution that allows you to easily integrate additional SolarEdge home energy products into the same inverter product, from home battery backup to a Level 2 Smart EV Charger to their growing line of additional smart home/smart energy options. And the best part? Energy Hub has been well received throughout the industry, with the inverter winning PV Magazine’s 2020’s Inverter of the Year Award.

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What’s happening to net metering in California? A Q&A with CALSSA

California has historically been the best market for solar in the US, and the success of the solar industry as a whole can largely be traced back to the success of solar in California. In fact, out of the more than 2.5 million residential solar installations in the US, more than 1.2 million are in California alone! 

However, the future of solar in California –and of residential solar in particular–hangs in the balance. In a current review of the future of net metering in the state, a series of proposals before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recommend significantly reducing the value of residential net metering credits. For a sense of the types of proposals submitted, check out this joint proposal from the major utilities in the state, which would reduce residential net metering credits to 23 percent of their value today and impose a monthly fee on solar owners of nearly $80 per month, making new residential solar all but impossible in the state. 

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500-watt panels: a technology update not to miss

Technology in the solar industry is advancing at a rapid pace. Solar equipment continues to become more powerful and more resilient while becoming less expensive. With so many news stories to track, it can be easy to miss the occasional new technology. But here’s a technology announcement that shouldn’t be missed: Trina Solar just released 500-watt panels. 

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Don’t snow on Texas: diving into the 2021 blackouts

Much has already been written about this week’s power outages in Texas, and the devastating impact they’ve had on the millions of people who are left in the dark and the cold. Unfortunately, a large portion of the original reporting about the cause of the blackouts contained misinformation. So we want to join the growing chorus of articles setting the record straight on what actually happened in Texas, as well as to take a look at how to prepare to keep the lights on during severe weather events in the future. 

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All about solar battery maintenance

Whatever device you’re reading this article on likely has a battery in it, meaning that you are at least a bit familiar with battery performance and, whether you realize it or not, battery maintenance. Think about all of the rules around how and when to charge your cell phone to extend the battery’s life: you’re supposed to run the battery as far down as possible before plugging your phone back in, and you shouldn’t leave your phone plugged in all the time or else the performance of the battery will degrade. While your cell phone battery–hopefully–doesn’t require any maintenance over its lifetime, the decisions you make around how and when to charge it can be considered a form of maintenance to extend its life. 

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What is MACRS? All you need to know for your commercial solar installation

If you’re a homeowner looking to go solar, the incentives you have available to you are pretty straightforward: from net metering to the federal investment tax credit, and to any local utility or government rebates and incentives. Between the incentives and the declining cost of solar, the average homeowner on EnergySage sees a payback period for solar of eight years. Easy! 

If, on the other hand, you’re a business owner considering solar, there are additional tax incentives that help decrease the time it takes for your solar investment to payoff. The most widely-known of them is the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System, also known as MACRS.

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What the Tesla inverter means for solar

In January 2021, Tesla launched a new product: the Tesla Solar Inverter. In the realm of Tesla announcements, this one went a little under the radar for the general public — it’s nowhere near as flashy or exciting of a launch as any of their electric vehicles, the initial Powerwall, or Solar Roof. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that this announcement is insignificant: by building their own Solar Inverter, Tesla has the potential to drive the cost of solar even lower. Here’s what Tesla’s announcement means for the solar industry.

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The ITC was extended (again)! What you need to know in 2021

On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the omnibus spending and COVID relief bill, and on Sunday, December 27, 2020, President Trump finally signed it into law. In addition to keeping the lights on in our government and providing much needed financial relief for businesses and people alike who have been impacted by COVID, the 5,000+ page, end-of-year spending bill also provided a ray of bright light for the solar industry: an extension of the solar ITC. Here’s what you need to know about how the ITC extension impacts your solar project. 

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