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...

What a difference a year makes! Last January, hopes ran high that Congress would pass landmark climate legislation in 2021.   But with Democrats controlling Congress by a razor-thin margin, President Biden had to walk a tightrope between competing interests within his own party.  In the end, Biden’s Build Back Better plan got pulled under objections...

With gasoline prices climbing back well above $3 per gallon, the economics of driving an electric vehicle have never looked better. It’s already true that EVs pay back their higher sticker prices with significantly lower fuel and maintenance costs.  Now, with gas prices approaching $3.50 per gallon here in northern New England, it costs twice...

Hard to believe there are only 45 shopping days before the holidays!  In a year when we’ve emerged from the darkness of Covid – and back into the light – it’s a great time to keep following the sun into 2022! Now is the perfect time to reserve a spot for solar panels on Santa’s...

Coming on the heels of the warmest October on record, New England has already seen its first big Nor’Easter of the upcoming 2021-22 winter season.  This powerful storm left its mark across the nation, bringing wildfire-ending rains to California, and late-season tornadoes to the Midwest, before “bombing out” with gale-force winds and drenching rains as...

What’s going on with the world’s energy supply?  Higher oil prices are pushing gasoline prices up to their highest levels in seven years.  Demand for coal is surging to record levels across the globe.   And, in Europe, natural gas prices are up 500 percent, as growing wind and solar production can’t keep pace with early...

For many in Jamaica, Vermont, flood damage in August 2021 brought back memories of Tropical Storm Irene from 10 years earlier.  As we close out another summer under the growing influence of climate change, our ‘New Normal’ weather feels more like it’s bordering on the extreme.  Inside New England: It was Massachusetts’ hottest and wettest...

The future belongs to solar – and its massive growth begins now.  That’s the upbeat forecast from the U.S. Department of Energy, issued in a new report on decarbonizing the nation’s power supply by 2050.  Here’s the roadmap: 2020, the U.S. added a record 15 gigawatts (GW) of solar, raising the nation’s total installed solar...

August 31st. That’s the last day you can lock in the best financial incentives to go solar in Vermont.  With net metering rates set to drop by 1₵/kWh on Sept. 1, the lost savings will add up to anywhere from $750 to $2,250 over 10 years. But your household doesn’t have to lose out.  All...

With More Heat Waves, Home Air Conditioning Is Becoming a Must-Have Appliance The dog days of summer have arrived – and so have the heat waves!  Here in northern New England, we’ve already endured two long stretches of hot, muggy weather in June, with “feel-like” temperatures topping 100° F in some places. Yet our weather...

It’s official.  In Vermont, out-of-staters piled into the state to snap up homes at near-record rates in 2020, and no doubt New Hampshire and western Massachusetts saw a similar influx.  But data collected by the Vermont Department of Taxes – and analyzed by the Vermont Center for Geographic Information — makes Vermont’s property sales trends...

The oil and gas industry was dealt three heavy blows in recent days – from the courts, government agencies and investors.  In each instance, the message is clear:  To survive in the age of global warming, further fossil-fuel exploration should end now, with money used instead for renewable energy development.  Together, these recent actions may...

Each decade, the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) updates its analysis of U.S. weather patterns by comparing temperature, precipitation and other meteorological trends over the past 30 years against longer-term records dating back more than a century.  In a newly released update — comparing temperature increases in 1990 – 2020 against 30-year time...

The vulnerability of the nation’s fossil energy supply system was on full display again last week.  Hackers penetrated the computer systems of Colonial Pipeline, causing a shutdown of the 5,500-mile network that delivers nearly half of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel consumed on the East Coast.  While New England drivers were spared the worst...

Springtime feels extra special this year.  Not only are we shaking off a long winter, but we’re slowly, steadily escaping the clutches of a year+ of isolation and social distancing.  Now that we’re finally starting to reconnect and take on long overdue projects, here are five reasons to give solar energy serious thought: Tis the...

One of the biggest questions owners of electric vehicles face is how to keep their EV batteries charged.  As a (conservative) rule of thumb, each mile of EV driving consumes about 1/3rd of a kilowatt-hour of battery power.  That means you need about 3,333 kWh of EV battery charging for each 10,000 miles you drive. ...

Last week, President Biden laid out a $2 trillion infrastructure plan that puts transportation upgrades at the top of a long national project list.  The $174 billion earmarked for electric vehicles and electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment actually exceeds the $115 billion budgeted for repairs to roads, bridges and highways. For those who own an...

At Solaflect Energy, today’s Equinox has us thinking warm thoughts about the long, sunny days ahead. For those who like living with a “sense of place,” northern New England has something really special to offer: a spot on the North American continent where the days start getting longer than the nights right as the vernal...

One year into the coronavirus, what have we learned? It’s been a year since COVID-19 turned our lives upside down. With the end of the pandemic in sight, we’re looking back at how the coronavirus has changed us and updating three lessons we learned early on in the crisis: security starts at home; safe investments...

This week’s Barron’s, the Dow Jones investment weekly, features a bullish cover story on “The Coming Green Boom for Utilities.” In sharp contrast to how renewables were made out as scapegoats for the massive power outage in Texas last week, this piece sees green energy as riding to the rescue of an industry that’s in...

The following commentary by Solaflect President Bill Bender was published by VT Digger, the Brattleboro Reformer and the Mountain Times in February, 2021 following the Superbowl. It is time for the Scott administration and Vermont electric utility regulators (the Public Service Department, the Public Utility Commission and the Agency of Natural Resources) to watch the...

The record-smashing, cold-weather outbreak that plunged Texas into darkness last week presents an ongoing human tragedy.  While dozens of Texans lost their lives in the powerful storm and its immediate aftermath, tens of thousands more remain without access to reliable heat or safe drinking water.  It may take months or even years to repair all...

That’s what comedian Will Ferrell, an unlikely GM spokesman, told 100 million Super Bowl viewers last Sunday.  And he’s right on the facts: only a quarter of 2020 light vehicle sales in Norway were old fashioned ICE (internal combustion engine) cars. Fully 54.3% were 100% EVs (electric vehicles), and the rest were hybrid EVs. What...