Grid-tied solar electric systems now account for a majority of new system installations, allowing homeowners to reap the rewards of renewable energy while retaining access to utility power for those times when solar panels don’t produce enough electricity.
In addition, these systems are cheaper and less complicated because than off-the-grid systems because they don’t include expensive racks of deep-cycle batteries. Net metering, allowing houses to become net-zero-energy consumers, is yet another benefit.
But in a Q&A post at GreenBuildingAdvisor, Tristan Roberts wonders whether the advantage is really as cut and dried. Does the power produced by a residential photovoltaic system really mean an equal reduction in a utility plant running on fossil fuels? Or should homeowners be steered toward off-grid systems, even installations that power some of the load with grid-tied panels and some of it with off-grid panels.
That discussion is the topic of this week’s Q&A Spotlight.
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