Does this sound like you?
Why homeowners go solar
Solar is not just a feel-good purchase. It’s a power system upgrade: a hedge against rate increases, a resilience layer, and a practical way to reduce demand on power generators that drive pollution.
Treat solar like you’d treat insulation, HVAC, or windows: a measurable upgrade with a return, not a donation.
The technical argument (in plain language)
Electricity is produced on demand. When demand is high, grids often dispatch the most expensive and most polluting marginal generators. Distributed solar reduces that peak demand—especially on sunny afternoons.
Combustion is where the pollution comes from. Fossil generation emits carbon dioxide and also local pollutants (NOₓ, SO₂, PM) that contribute to smog and health impacts.
Solar is a silent generator. No moving parts on the roof, no fuel deliveries, and predictable output curves you can model.
Even if a grid has clean baseline generation, the marginal plant serving extra load can be fossil. Cutting marginal load tends to cut marginal emissions.
What makes solar “worth it”
Three variables dominate return on investment: your retail rate, your solar resource (sun-hours), and policy (credits/net metering). Everything else is second-order but still important.
| Variable | Why it matters | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Retail rate ($/kilowatt-hour) | Higher rates mean each solar kilowatt-hour offsets more cost. | Track time-of-use periods, shift flexible loads to solar hours. |
| Solar resource | More peak-sun-hours yields more annual kilowatt-hour for the same system size. | Optimize layout (azimuth/tilt), reduce shading. |
| Policy | Credits and export rules drive cashflow and payback. | Verify your utility’s net metering / export limits. |
| Installed price ($/watts) | Cost per watt sets your capital outlay. | Compare quotes on equipment, warranty, installer quality. |
If you want to go deeper…
We break down the photovoltaic stack, the inverter choices, shading physics, and grid interaction—so you can ask better questions and compare proposals intelligently.
Use the return on investment calculator, then refine with your roof details and utility rules.