One of the biggest drivers of the rooftop solar trend has been net energy metering (NEM). NEM is an agreement between a homeowner and the local electric utility. Under NEM, homeowners generating excess electricity from their rooftop solar systems can send it back to the electric utility, which credits the customer’s bill. NEM benefits homeowners…
There are usually a lot of questions that pop up when you consider going solar. One important question is how going solar affects your financial relationship with your local electric utility. If you go solar and connect your system to the electrical grid, how does that change your relationship to the utility? What if you…
There are usually a lot of questions that pop up when you consider going solar. One important question is how going solar affects your financial relationship with your local electric utility. If you go solar and connect your system to the electrical grid, how does that change your relationship to the utility? What if you…
There are many ways to store energy. Water may be pumped uphill or dammed to run turbines later; molten salt can store heat for slow release over many hours. Batteries are probably the most familiar energy storage method, and battery technology has improved tremendously over the past couple of decades—especially rechargeable batteries, which are now…