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📝 In This Week’s Nut Hole
This Week’s Focus: The Pros and Cons of Solar
Ginger makes her nitrogen deposit (Ginger is one of my cats) curated help
Where The Roots Meet The Soil: Why I Don’t Hate Solar And What Parts I Think Aren’t Good For The Environment
Inspirational Stories, there is still good happening in the world!
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🐱 Ginger’s Nitrogen Deposit (Curated Links To Fertilize Your Growth)
Plug N’ Play Solar by Craftstrom - no electrician, just plug it into an electrical outlet and it feeds power into your household without climbing on the roof.
GrowVeg App, that helps you plan what to grow, plant spacing and when to harvest. The have templates, account for your climate and more!
Auk Mini, Makes growing indoors super simple and fits on your counter! Includes grow lights, packets of seed, coco fiber, and nutrients. Easy-win, weather-safe gardening!
🐝 This Might Suit Your Fancy
Ergo Next Insurance, trusted by business owners of all types! Easy to access, low cost and covers all the insurance to keep your business healthy!
Create your living trust using AI! Download instructions from Constance Carter!
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🎙️Where The Roots Meet The Soil
Why Do You Hate Solar?! Pros and Cons of Solar Energy
“Why do you hate solar?!” Is what the salesman yelled at me through the phone when I told him “I’m not interested right now.” I’m still not sure who sold my number to the solar company but I was willing to entertain the conversation because ultimately I do want solar panels.
Quite a few people have held off on installing solar panels and there are a variety of reasons such as “they aren’t efficient enough,” “we’re not that good yet at recycling them when they wear out,” or “I don’t own my house/apartment/condo, so I can’t but I wish I could.”
Pro #1: Offsetting The Rising Cost of Electricity
Over 112 million homes face increasing electricity prices from 2025 through 2027, according to CNBC. Personally, I saw increased electricity bills despite reduced usage over 2025. And that was after recently replacing my air conditioner, one of the largest energy users in a home.
According to EcoFlow, a solar manufacturer, typical payback periods range from 5 to 15 years with a panel lifespan of 25 years. That’s for solar systems installed on rooftops. And while some states have slowed or stopped incentives for “going solar,” the benefit of batteries and federal incentives seems to make it worthwhile.
Before you buy: Look into state and federal incentives and consult a tax professional to ensure what you are planning to buy will qualify. Ensure that the cost will offset enough of your electricity expense to pay for itself within a reasonable timeframe.
Pro #2: Roof or Balcony Solar, Take Your Pick
The truth is, you don’t have to fully replace your electricity dependence. And electricity companies don’t really release you from paying anything because of all the infrastructure improvements they are making. Check with your utility before making any decisions to find out if you will still have to pay all the infrastructure fees & how much.
You are probably wondering, “What is the difference between roof and balcony solar?” Well, it seems our German friends have been trying to make sure everyone can use solar, even if they don’t own the place they live in.
This means two things: smaller, portable systems that can be built out AND have the ability to “Plug N’ Play.” Meaning you can plug into a regular outlet to feed the electricity your panels are generating directly into your house for immediate usage. It takes an appropriately sized micro inverter but it doesn’t have to mean hiring an electrician.
Companies like Craftstrom and EcoFlow already offer these systems in the US. Here is my instagram post where I show my EcoFlow portable panels that I have connected to a micro inverter and plugged into my townhouse.
Pro #3 or Con: More Stable Electricity Supply?
The problem varies but it’s either not having enough sun to make solar worth the cost or keeping them clean enough to keep up their efficiency. There are some places solar just doesn’t make sense and I think any reasonable person understands that.
However, the lack of efficiency thing is kind of crazy. When I bought the micro inverter to plug my solar panels directly into my townhouse, I had to buy one that handled less than the rating for my panels.
The recommended ratio is 1.25 but the micro inverter company recommended 1.5. I currently have two 400 watt panels, 800 watts total. Which means the micro inverter would need to be rated between 530 and 640 watts.
And it's not just because of the panels themselves but because of the angle of the sunlight changing while my panels only change if I change them. There are mounting systems that will follow the sun that I haven’t looked into yet.
Pro #4 & Con #1 Owning & Controlling Your Electricity Supply
You might own or lease your electric supply when you install roof solar but there is a downside. If your solar company goes out of business, like many are currently, you may end up inadvertently owning your solar panels.
On the other hand, if you took out a loan to own your panels, you may be locked into staying in your house. Home sellers are finding that it's not always easy to find buyers that can qualify for the remaining loan value on top of purchasing a home. Consult with a real estate broker in your area for more information.
If you are just trying to buy your solar, incentives may not be there but the interest rates certainly will be. Increased interest rates are causing homeowners to think twice because the cost increases the time it takes for the solar to pay for itself.
Con #2 Electricity Companies Having To Leave Solar
Developers cancelled 1,758 solar power projects, according to CleanView, 86 KW of that was utility-scale solar projects. Battery storage economics are getting worse, in a weird twist it’s due to better efficiency increasing capacity. More capacity is driving down the price but not the cost to produce them.
Some of the projects just weren't needed, some were heavy on transmission line construction and complex power purchase agreements are mucking up the process.
If there was something I missed or you have some suggestions please let me know so I can share it and help make a difference for all of us.
🦋 Stay Inspired
Ways That People Around The World Are Staging Eco-Interventions
How Trees Bring Water: Andrew Millison (YouTube)
Regreening The Desert: Mariah M (YouTube)
Peatlands, Can We Bring Nature Back?: Planet Wild (YouTube)
Till next time,
Elisa Navarette
P.S. Was this useful? Have ideas on what I should publish next? Tap the poll or reply to this email. I read every response.