With Spring just around the corner, Solaflect Energy is getting ready for another busy season of solar Tracker installations.  Our Trackers deliver 40% more power than conventional roof or ground-mounted fixed solar arrays, operate virtually maintenance-free, and produce clean energy at far less than the ever-rising price of electricity through the gas-fired grid.   The combination...

How Will Wider Temperature Swings Affect Home Heating and Cooling Demand? They call it “climate change” for a reason.  While our planet is warming fast, two severe cold-weather outbreaks in the last six weeks remind us that global temperature extremes are heading in opposite directions – both up and down!  Last weekend, Mt. Washington set...

2022 was another year of wild, warm and unpredictable weather.  As we did a year ago, here’s an annual checkup on the globe’s health, as told in six charts. Global Temperature Trends Source:  National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration 2022 was the sixth warmest year on record, with all 10 warmest years occurring since 2010.  Earth’s...

Last summer, New Hampshire ratepayers saw their electric bills soar by 40% – 60%.  Now it’s Vermont’s turn.   Four municipal utilities in Vermont are raising their rates between 8% and 14% this winter – and all for the same reason.  They say they need to recover the rising cost of purchasing wholesale power from natural...

The holidays are upon us – and time for some good cheer!  Still, the world keeps on spinning on matters we hold dear.  December has been a busy month, with developments good and bad.  Here’s one on the sunny side, and two that may make you sad.  Is this progress we are making to build...

The move toward an all-electric future just got a step closer in Vermont.  The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) has completed two public hearings and received 340 written comments on a proposed rule to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.  The final rule is scheduled go into effect on Dec. 16...

As we head into Thanksgiving weekend, it’s time to take stock of our world and give thanks for things we hold dear.  There’s a lot to reflect on this year, as the coronavirus recedes, the war in Ukraine drags on, and gas and electric bills reach record highs. From a climate perspective, “the things Americans...

In a recent post, we showed how Solaflect Trackers – when used to charge electric vehicles – can usually pay back their installed cost in seven years or less.  Fuel savings add up fast when you’re replacing gasoline with sunshine at the equivalent of 75 cents per gallon!   However, it’s not just the price of...

Now that Congress has passed generous new tax credits for the purchase of solar energy and electric vehicles, you may be wondering if now is the time to kick the gasoline habit.  The short answer is YES!!  There’s never been a better time to fill up your car on sunshine. But you likely still have...

While utilities have lots of charges for energy, transmission and other customer fees, a typical bill boils down to two main components – supply and delivery.  Both are going up fast! Yes, it’s true that electric bills have already been on a tear this year.  New England utilities paid the highest wholesale electricity prices in...

The record heat wave that struck California last week posed the biggest threat to our nation’s electrical grid since a deep freeze that shut down the Texas grid for nearly a week back in February 2020.  This time, Californians were spared the worst: the grid held, thanks to voluntary conservation efforts that averted rolling blackouts. ...

Are gasoline-powered vehicles headed for the scrap heap here in New England?  Not quite.  But a new transportation rule just issued in California could pave the way for a phase-out of new cars with internal combustion engines throughout most of New England by 2035. Along with sweeping federal climate legislation just signed into law, this...

As this summer’s sizzling temperatures finally start to wind down, it’s time to come to grips with just how serious this dangerous weather phenomenon is becoming.  Across the United States, excessive heat is already the leading cause of death from weather-related events, including floods, tornadoes, lightning and hurricanes.  And around the globe, the jet stream...

Game changer! That’s what most energy experts are calling the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 signed by the President on August 17th.  Chock full of tax incentives and rebates, most American households now qualify for thousands of dollars in new funding support to install solar power, home batteries, EV chargers and electric heat pumps.  New...

Sometimes it’s hard to make sense of it all.  Despite daily reminders of how our climate-energy balance is growing increasingly out of whack, we continue to make short-term energy decisions that avoid fixing the problem and only make matters worse.  Take, for example, the back-to-back decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court to strip the EPA...

What’s wrong with this picture?  As New England electric utilities hike their rates by record numbers this summer, they’re also cutting payments for solar power fed into the grid by their customers.  Aren’t we supposed to be incentivizing, rather than penalizing, the adoption of clean, renewable energy?! Here’s a mid-year update on rate and net-metering...

First came pain at the pump, with gasoline prices topping $5 per gallon.  Now get ready for sticker shock in your electric bill, with some rates in New England rising 50% or more by this summer.  So, is now the time to hop on the solar bandwagon?  We’ve got five fresh reasons to consider making...

It’s official: According to the just-released annual review from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), 2021 was another great year for solar power.  The best ever, in fact.  And 2022 looks strong as well, with 22 gigawatts (GW) of new solar installations on tap across America. But just as solar is breaking into the lead...

Call it energy economics 101:  When President Biden announced plans to address record gasoline prices, now topping $4 a gallon, it was meant to fix a severe supply-demand imbalance that has gripped global energy markets since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There’s just one problem, however.  The release of 1 million barrels per day (mbd) from...

Spring has returned to New England, but somehow it feels different this year.  On the plus side, our two-year ordeal with the coronavirus finally appears to be winding down.  The economy is recovering with unemployment falling below 4%, our kids are back in school receiving in-person instruction, and everyday public attractions like music and sporting...

We all stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, a peaceful democratic nation that’s under brutal and unprovoked military attack.  Russia’s Vladimir Putin started this needless war under the grand illusion of restoring some bygone Soviet era.  Where this goes from here is anyone’s guess. Fossil Fuels Fund Putin’s War Machine What we do...

Suddenly, inflation seems to be everywhere – including in our household energy bills.  Consider: Gasoline prices have reached $3.50 per gallon, about 60% higher than a year ago. Home heating oil is expected to cost 41% more this winter. Natural gas used for home heating is expected to cost 30% more, and propane, 54% more,...

Amidst all the hoopla about the Lightning, a nifty new feature is going relatively unnoticed.  But it could forever change how power is made and stored in America – and broaden the horizons for residential solar power.  It’s called bidirectional charging.

Now that 2021 is in the rear-view mirror, here’s a look back at six important climate trends, as told in the charts: Global temperature trends Not the hottest year, but still warming up:  While it may have been “only” the fifth hottest year since 1880, it still extends a warming streak where each of the last...