Shedding Some Light on Five SPOOKY Solar Myths
By: Matthew Conradi
October, 2020
The sun is our greatest energy asset - at 4.6 billion years old, it’s energy has been put to good use by humans dating back to 7th century B.C., where magnifying materials would be used to capture the sun’s energy to light fires.
Using the sun to generate electricity, however, is a relatively new idea. As is the case with any newer technology being adopted into common practice, numerous little tidbits and factoids make their way around, perhaps losing or gaining details on their journey throughout the depths of the internet.
Frankly, it’s quite reminiscent of the classic children’s game: Telephone - where everyone gathers in a circle and the leader whispers a statement into the ear of the next, the process repeating itself, with hopes that the message will not have been distorted upon arriving at the final participant. More often than not, you start out with a logical statement such as “I like apples”, and the message received at the end is more along the lines of “I drink hashbrowns”.
Information naturally becomes distorted as it’s passed along! This is why today, during the season of the scare, underscored by ghouls, goblins, witches and trolls, we are addressing 5 SPOOKY (for us, at least) solar myths.
Solar doesn’t Work During the Winter
A common misconception revolving around solar technology is that it doesn’t work during the winter months, because the panels will become covered with snow, hindering their ability to produce electricity.
What’s great about solar panels during the winter months is that they naturally generate heat when producing electricity and this helps to melt snow and ice off the surface of the panels, without any manual cleanup required. You’re likely saying to yourself: “But if the panels are covered in snow and ice, how can they generate electricity, to generate heat, to melt the snow and ice?”.
Sunlight will still penetrate snow and ice, at a reduced intensity, of course. This means that even when covered, solar panels are able to generate the heat required to melt away any frosty obstructions.
Solar Means Going Off-Grid
The days of off-grid solar systems with a garden shed full of car batteries are long gone. Solar today is designed to interact with the utility grid, allowing you to supplement your power bill by generating your own electricity. Batteries used to be a must, because you needed somewhere to send any excess electricity your solar panels produced. Today, you can connect (through your electrical panel) your solar panels directly to the utility grid, so you can have the best of both worlds - clean solar power when the sun is shining and the reliability of grid-supplied power when the sun isn’t at it’s brightest.
There Isn’t Enough Sun in New Brunswick
It may be a reasonable assumption to make that you need to live in a hot and sunny climate in order for solar panels to make sense. We may not see the same levels of sunlight as somewhere like California, but this doesn’t make solar in Atlantic Canada any less feasible - sunlight is only one part of the equation.
Solar panels actually operate more efficiently at lower temperatures, especially below freezing; something we’re all too familiar with here in New Brunswick. What’s more, advances in technology such as bi-facial solar panels allow us to capture light energy that reflects off the snow during the winter months - which can result in significant increases in production.
Solar is Too Costly
Solar is an investment undertaken for similar reasons you would purchase a house rather than rent. You can immediately begin to supplement your power bills while reducing overhead costs, and once your system is paid for, you are left with a valuable asset providing free electricity for decades.
Solar technologies have advanced significantly in recent years and costs continue to fall, resulting in solar providing a very real set of financial benefits. Depending on your specific application, there may even be significant rebates and funding available to you for solar. Our advice is to talk to us, and explore your options! There’s nothing to lose by satisfying your curiosity.
Solar Panels Pollute More Than They Reduce
A particularly SPOOKY argument against the adoption of solar power is that they aren’t truly “green” due to emissions produced during the manufacturing process of the panels.
There are of course emissions associated with their production, as is the case with any modern electronics. The important point to take away is that emissions associated with manufacturing, and installing solar panels are far less than that produced by fossil fuel power sources.
To a skeptic, nothing in modern society is truly 100% green. There are, however, much more sustainable and responsible solutions available to us; a category which solar power falls directly under.
Myths are Made for Busting
There are many benefits to be had by going solar, whether it’s for your business, on the farm, or at home. We encourage everyone to explore all of these new and exciting technologies as they continue to advance over time, and stay tuned for more of our “hot” upcoming projects! If you have a SPOOKY solar myth in mind we didn’t touch on, give us a shout! We love to chat, and love to learn.
