Solar panels are one way to lock in long-term energy savings for many people in most places. While energy costs rise with inflation, locking in cheaper electricity seems a better deal, especially now that solar incentives have increased from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Solar panels are commonly associated with bright, sunny summer days. But believe us, they work just as well in the winter too. While cold temperatures will help solar panels work more efficiently, other features of winter (cloudier and shorter days, snow and ice and the sun sitting lower in the sky) mean solar panels will almost certainly produce less power during the colder months.

Let us understand it with an example. 

Minnesota winters are long, cold and dark, which does not sound optimal when it comes to saving money on a power bill through solar panels. But industry experts have opined that even with shorter days, solar power could still be a cost-effective measure to reduce expenses for residential, commercial, and industrial consumers.

On the summer solstice in June, the state sees roughly 15-16 hours of sunshine whereas, on the winter solstice in December, Minnesotans will only see about eight to nine hours of light.

“Just because it’s cloudy or darker doesn’t mean that your solar energy system won’t deliver decent results at any given time of the year.” Says Logan O’Grady, Executive Director of the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association,

“Beyond the amount of sunshine in the state, O’Grady said, “colder temperatures actually make solar panels more efficient”.

One thing that people don’t know is that winter is good for solar,” he noted. “Keeping the panels colder, keeping the infrastructure under the panels colder is actually more efficient. It transfers energy more efficiently with less loss.”

All we have to do is to keep the solar panels free from anything that may obstruct sunlight from falling on the array, whether it’s snow, ice, or tree shadow. 

If you don’t have panels on your rooftop yet, make it one of your New Year’s resolutions to join millions of other residents as well as business owners and get solar installed early in 2023. The longer you put it off, the longer you’re locking yourself into electricity bills much higher than they would otherwise be.

Apart from that the new net energy metering rate i.e. NEM 3.0, goes into effect on April 15, 2023 and will slash current solar credits from public utility companies. It has a significant adverse impact on solar economics. If you wish to install solar and want to save more with NEM 2.0 you have to act now.

There’s still time to be grandfathered into the NEM 2.0 and save more with your solar installation. Given the long lead times at the utility company portals, we are keeping our internal deadline as March 15, 2023.

This means that we should file the Interconnection Applications for ALL our projects under consideration in the next 75 days which we should be able to do.

So, Hurry up. Dial +1 (408)-780-2889 today and talk to one of our solar experts.