COMMON SOLAR MYTHS
1: It costs to much.
It’s true that installing a system costs money. However, in the long run, solar is cheaper than buying power from the grid. You can reduce or eliminate your bill, and your investment will pay itself back in a few years. From then on, your free electricity savings can add up to thousands.
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2: It’s too foggy here.
The sun’s light activates panels in all kinds of weather. In fact, solar panels work best when they aren’t too hot. That’s because the electronics inside are more efficient in cooler temperatures.
Sure, a solar panel’s dream is a cloudless sky. But we don’t always have sun, especially on the Monterey Peninsula. SunPower solar cells are designed to capture a broader range of the solar spectrum. By capturing more red and blue wavelengths, they can generate more electricity even when it’s overcast.
3: We can’t generate electricity at night.
Solar panels do produce a very small amount of energy at night due to the ambient light from stars and the moon. In spite of that, and the immense power of the sun, you will want to still be connected to the grid, so that you can draw energy during the night, above and beyond what you generated during the day.
Your connection to the grid is called “net metering”. Your panels will generate more than enough power during the day, so the excess energy is sent back into the grid for your neighbors to use. Because of net metering, you can draw on that excess at night, without being charged for it. Your long summer power generating days will help cover your winter costs, and your electric bill will calculated once a year.
4: Making panels is not environmentally friendly.
Of course any manufacturing process creates carbon emissions. However, the environmental impact of installing a system will offset itself in a year and the power you generate for the next several decades will reduce a significant amount of pollution created by other energy sources.
Here’s a link to SunPower’s sustainability page.