SunSetup

Solar guides for homeowners

The money questions, answered without a sales pitch attached — including the answers that are less flattering to the solar industry.

Policy Can you sell power from your home battery? Yes — but only through specific approved structures. Solar-paired export is encouraged; standalone battery arbitrage has no general residential tariff. Here is the line. 9 min read Read → Policy Why you cannot sell power to your neighbor Californians can store solar and bid a battery into the wholesale market, but cannot sell a kilowatt-hour to the house next door. Why, and what we want changed. 11 min read Read → Buying Red flags in a solar sales pitch The tactics that show up again and again in residential solar sales, what each one is really doing, and the questions that defuse them. 7 min read Read → Buying How to compare solar quotes properly Three quotes for the same roof can differ by $15,000. Here is how to put them on the same basis and see which one is actually cheaper. 7 min read Read → Your home Selling a house with solar panels How owned, leased and PPA systems behave differently at closing, what buyers and their lenders will ask for, and how to avoid the transfer becoming the deal breaker. 7 min read Read → Costs Lease, loan, or buy outright? The four ways to pay for home solar compared on lifetime cost, ownership, tax credit eligibility and what happens when you sell the house. 8 min read Read → Buying How long does solar actually take? Why solar takes months rather than days, which stage causes most of the delay, and what you can and cannot speed up between signing and switch-on. 6 min read Read → Utilities Solar options if you rent You cannot put panels on a roof you do not own — but community solar, utility green tariffs and portable systems can still cut your bill or your emissions. 5 min read Read → Performance Do solar panels need maintenance? What a rooftop array actually needs year to year, when cleaning is worth paying for, and the one piece of maintenance most owners skip that genuinely matters. 6 min read Read → Your home Does solar add value to your home? What owned solar does to resale value, why leased systems complicate a sale, and what to sort out before you list the house. 6 min read Read → Equipment What solar warranties actually cover The four separate warranties on a solar system, which one fails first, and why the longest number on the brochure is rarely the one that protects you. 7 min read Read → Equipment Is a home battery worth it? When solar storage pays for itself, when it is really about backup power, and how to decide without a salesperson framing the question for you. 7 min read Read → Performance Do solar panels work in winter? How cold, cloud and snow actually affect solar output, why annual production is the number that matters, and what changes in a northern climate. 6 min read Read → Utilities Net metering, explained How exported solar power is credited, why net metering rules have been getting less generous, and how to find out what your own utility actually pays. 6 min read Read → Your home Should you replace your roof before solar? How to tell whether your roof can take a 25-year array, what removal and reinstallation costs if you get it wrong, and which materials complicate an install. 6 min read Read → Equipment How many solar panels does your home need? A step-by-step way to size a residential solar system from your own electricity bills, plus why bigger is not automatically better. 6 min read Read → Costs The federal solar tax credit, explained How the residential solar tax credit works, why a credit is not a rebate, and how to confirm what applies to your install before you sign. 8 min read Read → Costs How much do solar panels actually cost? What US homeowners pay for a residential solar system, what drives the price up or down, and how to tell a fair quote from a padded one. 7 min read Read →

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New to all of this? How home solar savings actually work covers the whole picture end to end, and the FAQ answers the quick questions. Everything above goes deeper on one piece of it.

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