Category Archives: Residential Solar

Customers regularly ask me, How soon will my solar panels become obsolete? or Should I plan on replacing my panels when the technology gets better? Panel technology is improving, but very slowly. So don’t worry. Today’s solar panels are not going the way of the rotary phone or console TV anytime soon. You do not […]

If your solar energy system was turned on between March and September, and most are, because that’s more than half the year, then you may be horrified when your October production drops. Don’t be. It’s typical to see strong production for seven solid months preceding October and then boom – your solar monitoring site tells […]

Selling a home is intimidating enough, but selling a home with solar? You might think having solar on your home would make the home sale process even more complicated. In fact, solar typically makes it easier, and faster, to sell your home. Home buyers show increasing interest in homes with green features. A study by the U.S. […]

The New England Patriots, Nate Solder, solar energy, and giving to cancer research. What’s not to love? Of course, if you’re outside New England, you might not love the first, but I’m talking to people in our region with this post. 🙂 If you don’t know much about Nate Solder, let me introduce you to […]

If you’ve been reading this week’s blog series on Ductless Mini-Splits, I hope you’re convinced Mini-Splits are the way to go. But maybe they’re just not right for you due to timing, needs or money. There are other ways you can decrease your home’s cooling requirements to save money, help the Earth and be more […]

One of our Hudson, MA customers sat down for a Q&A session on his solar, two years after turning on his system. Mike (pictured here with his wife, Nancy), has a 10,695-watt system that went live in July 2014. New England Clean Energy: Why did you decide to install solar on your property? Mike: I was initially […]

“Do you sell solar panels made in America? I really want to buy American.” I hear this a lot from people considering going solar. I don’t mind the question at all. I support buying American, too. (Even more, I support buying local, but that’s another blog article.) It’s not that easy to buy a solar […]

On December 13, 2012, I published my original “Tree Math” article here on The Energy Miser. Nearly three years later, it continues to be our most visited blog post. But much of the source data for my original analysis has since disappeared from the “Inter-Tubes”. So, allow me to present “Tree Math 2” with updated […]

Guest post by New England Clean Energy Customer Carl Howe Since my solar energy system was installed in Dec. 2013, and turned on in Jan. 2014, I’ve had a lot of questions from friends and neighbors about the process. Here is a summary of how I went solar through the Stow Solar Challenge in Stow, […]