Solar decision guides
Guides
The decisions that decide a solar project, in the order homeowners usually meet them: structure, storage, size, quote, and the export rule underneath everything.
- NREL and DOE sources, checked on each guide
- Benchmark first, sales pitch last
- No installer rankings or lead forms
How to read these guides
- Start with quote red flags if an installer has already visited. It gives you the dollars-per-watt test every other guide assumes.
- Read net metering explained before you judge any payback figure. The export rule prices your surplus, and it has changed in many places.
- Use panel sizing and battery or not to set the system before you negotiate it, then price the result in the estimator.
Lease, buy, or PPA: who owns the value on your roof
Own the panels, lease them, or buy the power from someone else's panels on your roof. How the three structures split cost, risk, and the value of your roof.
Read the guide
Do you need a battery? The three jobs storage actually does
A battery roughly doubles the project conversation and often the price. When storage earns its place, and when it is an expensive accessory.
Read the guide
How big should your solar system be?
Too small wastes the roof, too big wastes money on exported energy your utility buys cheap. How annual usage, exports, and roof reality set the right size.
Read the guide
Reading a solar quote: the red flags and the benchmark
The solar quote is the sales document, so read it like one. Seven things that separate a fair price from a padded one, and the benchmark that anchors them all.
Read the guide
Net metering and net billing: what your exported power is worth
Net metering decides what your exported power is worth, and lately the answer is less than it used to be. How retail credit, net billing, and buyback plans change the math.
Read the guide
Prefer to start from your roof and your tariff?
Find your metro planning example for sun and price context, your state page for the incentive and export rules to verify, and your roof type page for mounting and re-roof sequencing. Then bring those three facts back here and read the guide that matches the decision in front of you.