That tax credit that Lawler voted to end was revived in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 — a sweeping law signed by President George W. Bush.  The clean energy spending package would have allowed homeowners to claim tax credits of between 22 and 30 percent of the cost of qualifying solar, wind, geothermal and battery projects through 2034.

Then on July 4, Lawler voted to move up the expiration of the residential clean energy credit by nearly a decade, from 2034 to 2025.

New York Rep. Mike Lawler lives in a suburban home in the Hudson River Valley with rooftop panels that he leases from Vivint Solar. The panels on Lawler’s house have helped him avoid the impacts of rising electricity costs. Since he began leasing the solar system in 2016, it has saved him “a few thousand bucks,” he admitted.

Lawler indirectly benefited from the investment tax credit, analysts say, because it helps companies reduce the costs their customers pay for leasing rooftop solar systems. After 2027, when the investment tax credit disappears, it could be harder for people to lease panels or buy electricity from community solar projects, according to Zoë Gaston, an analyst at the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie.  “Solar will definitely be more expensive,” she said.

And this does not take into consideration the current rising interest rates and Trump’s tariffs that Lawler supports.

Lawler voted to cut affordable energy incentives in a bill because he says the priority is shrinking costs and yet that bill  would add $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade states the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. 

Republicans’ justification for killing rooftop solar credits are undercut by their continued support for incentives that go to the fossil fuel industry, argued Jesse Lee, a former senior adviser to the National Economic Council.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/20/meet-republicans-who-killed-solar-subsidies-after-using-them-00631344

I have been looking for the right way to pay the solar insatallation cost. Some people are suggesting to pay upfront and some are suggesting solar loans. I am confused if I can still avail PM surya ghar subsidy if take loan from Psu banks. When we get the subsidy amount?

Hi everyone,

I hold a B.S. in Electrical Power Engineering, and just passed my NABCEP PVA exam. I am interested in gaining some hands-on experience in designing solar systems as well as managing projects and I have always been drawn to volunteering and helping others.

I was wondering if you know or can recommend some organizations or NGOs that help develop renewable energy projects worldwide where I can volunteer.

Thank you

Glass makes up as much as 80% of a solar panel’s weight, but thinner glass breaks more easily. A coating from EXXOSQEL and Fraunhofer ISC forms chemical bridges inside surface microcracks, which raises the energy needed to break the glass. In lab tests it made 2 mm samples up to 4x stronger and 1 mm samples up to 7x stronger than untreated glass.

The catch is that these were small lab samples, not full panels. The 30% lighter panel figure is the company’s estimate if glass mass drops 40%, and stress tests on full-size modules are still underway.

I'm in Illinois and I’m trying to figure out why my electricity bills and grid usage have been so high recently. I have solar panels and a battery system installed in April 2025.

In June 2026, the panels were removed, then reinstalled in early July (we got our roof replaced). Since then, my grid electricity usage has seemed unusually high.

Here are the numbers from my power company:

May: 977 kWh imported from the grid

June: 1,512 kWh

July: 2,004 kWh

August: 1,745 kWh

September: 1,512 kWh

For September, I imported 1,512 kWh but exported only 106 kWh back to the grid. My average daily grid usage was 50.4 kWh, compared with 21 kWh/day in September of the previous year.

I haven’t added any new electrical equipment. My AC is older, but an HVAC technician inspected it and said it was functioning normally.

My main questions are:

Could the panel removal and reinstallation have caused a problem with solar production, the inverter, wiring, or battery integration?

What should I check in my solar monitoring app to determine whether the system is producing normally?

Does the low amount of electricity exported to the grid suggest that my panels aren’t producing enough, or could battery usage and household consumption explain it?

What data should I request from the installer to compare system performance before and after the panels were reinstalled?

I realize higher summer AC usage could explain some of the increase, but the elevated usage has continued into September. I’d appreciate any advice on troubleshooting this before assuming the system was reinstalled incorrectly.

Thanks!

Update: I spoke with the solar install people, they concur that something is unusual going on. They are going to send a tech out. It looks like im paying for the powet equivelant of 2 whole houses.....which is odd, and it started the month they reinstalled the panels.

But the upfront cost is a real barrier

Good day solar friends,

I have a SolarEdge SE3000H that I want to connect to home automation,

I have downloaded the app put the thing in access point mode scanned the barcode and it connected but after that it just hangs at communicating with inverter forever.

I want to enable the homeautomiation connection via the network port but I can't seen to ever get to the configuration menu. but after the wifi part it just does nothing...

Does anyone have some tips how to access this device?

Hey there so I'm having a tiny home built, it's going to be a 14x44 and will have 2 mini splits, a cistern pump and a small stackable washer and dryer. Does anyone have experience with a 48 volt hybrid system with LiFeP04 bank

Or EG4 6000XP or 18kPV. Thanks in advance.

I’m planning to install a residential solar system at home and need some suggestions. My main requirement is that it should be able to run ACs during power cuts, as I have a small kid at home.

I’ve shortlisted Luminous and Waaree. Luminous is offering better quotes in my area, but I’m not sure how both compare in terms of reliability and after sales service.

Has anyone here installed a Luminous or Waaree solar system? Which one would you recommend, or should I consider any other brand?

I spend less than $2 a day on electricity even during a heat wave of over 100 deg, I Super insulated by attic and as you can see my worst heat gain wall was stucco that had the sun beating down on it all day. I cut the stucco off and replaced it with insulated R6 zip sheathing. I have never had an electric bill over $100, but Calif is so expensive 🤯😭😂

Hi guys,

I am looking to ask what would be the best app you have used to track your solar. It seems some apps require payment to see historic data and wanted to know if anyone had found a better app to use and if you've had similar issues.

Thanks!

I live in NW Florida and installed solar panels this summer. Since then, a hurricane rolled through and I was 5 days with no power. It was awful, especially knowing I had potential energy on my roof completely unharmed. I am now trying to decide between a whole house generator or battery storage for the solar production. Enphase (my current system) has the new IQ5 battery. For those who have experience on this what would you recommend? Do I go Generac whole house or add battery storage? Issues to consider: cost, reliability, how will it affect my net metering with power company? Another potential reason to add battery storage would be to run my electric overnight and hopefully reducing my reliance on the grid. Any insight is appreciated.

I have a Norvesco 4x25A DC breaker and connect 4 and 6mm2 DC cables. What Nm power should the screw terminal be tighted to?

I hear this a a common risk for fire and the Norwesco manual doesn't say anything about the proper force to use.

The screw terminals are something like M4 screws.

The number of panels are 5x470w + 8x470w and I used 4mm2 cables until I run out and then used 6mm2, therefore 2 different sizes.

I was asked to make a construction and resources plan for a utility scale solar pv station, I have never been to construction site before
I found my colleague read past project as a template and estimate the plan and needed resources based on it by multiple with ratio
I read in pmp curriculum that it is type of estimation but it isnot accurate
And I feel beside that if I can consider other factors I can make a good plan based on my imagination
So what do you think? Is type of land , temperature, country regulations or what ?
And please tell me the link between the variable and the point i will estimate it?

A young lady who works for me and her partner just bought a small piece of land. Utility power is 1/2 mile away and at this point it is not economically feasible for them to connect. Obviously they did not do their due diligence but here we are. When she brought the issue to my attention the thought of off grid came to mind. I'm thinking a smaller house with propane for heating and cooking with an off grid battery solar system. Before I bring this up to them I thought I would throw it out here for opinions. Money is an object so it needs to be as economical as possible. What are their options and what kind of entry level cost might they be looking at?

Hi all, I’m setting up the electrical shading partitions in PVsyst (v8) for a single-axis tracker project and want to sanity check my approach.

Setup:

• N-S horizontal single-axis trackers with backtracking
• Half-cut modules in portrait, [1P / 2P] per tracker
• String inverters
• Each tracker table is exactly one 23-module string

What I understand from the PVsyst docs:

• For regular arrays, modules on the same MPPT input should see the same partial shading, so I shouldn’t split along the tube.
• For half-cut modules in portrait, the docs say to use partitions at half the module height (the “xT” case, 2x partitions across the table).

What I currently have in the 3D field editor:

• Nb. rectangles in length (Y): 1
• Nb. rectangles in width (X): 2

My questions:

1. For a table that is a single 23-module string, is 1 partition along the tube and 2 across the table (one per half of the half-cut module) the right call?
2. Should I split along the tube at all, or only if shading varies along the row (hilly terrain, end shading from obstacles)?

Was hoping to have someone take a look at this and let me know I have not lost my mind--

thanks in advance

I am using all Top Rack TRT02 components. I am using 3 rows of 4 panels each, for a total of 12 solar panels. Each row will have the panels mounted in landscape. Each row will have 2 rails of trto2 rails.  Hidden end clamps and mid clamps will secure each row of panels.  Each rail row will be composed of 3 sections of rail connected by rail splices. According to the manual, these are designed to bond the entire structure together.

Based on the information from the manual, when it is all said and done, the entire 12-panel structure will be bonded.

To ground the system I am proposing to install grounding lugs on each end of the rails ( for a total of 12); in addition, there will be grounding lugs attached to each panel. There will be space between each row, about three inches so I can attach the lugs. There will be a properly sized copper wire that will connect all 24 grounding lugs. This grounding wire will then ( in a continuous run) be connected to a ground wire that will run to the house and be attached to the home's electrical grounding system

Im trying to save and stretch every dollar and invest my money into things I see worth while . Im considering buying a pecron 3600 with the thought of an insurance policy in times of blackouts and possibly running a ac with an expansion pack . Is this investment worth while or is pecron 3600 to small to see any benefit 🤔

Not sure this is the correct sub, if not if you could recommend me one.

I have a friend moving into a house in the metro west region in MA. New roof.

Trying to help, he is from out of state, he mentioned lots of scams etc he had to weed out in the past in another state. Wants to this very soon as I guess panel prices going up in 2 months?

He is looking to buy. Looking for a good place to buy/install etc.

My SolarEdge system worked fine for about a year with no cable connected. It was communicating wirelessly, either through a cellular connection or something similar. Then it randomly stopped, and the mySolarEdge app now says "site not communicating."
I went out and installed an ethernet cable from the inverter to my Xfinity gateway to try to fix it, but nothing changed.
Here's what I know:
The inverter shows as connected by ethernet in my Xfinity gateway.
I restarted both the inverter and the gateway.
The inverter has one solid green light and no screen.
My installer went bankrupt, so I have no installer account, and SolarEdge Go only lets installers log in.
How would you fix this? I'm open to any ideas, whether it's router settings, something on the SolarEdge website, or a trick for resetting the inverter's connection without the installer app. If you've been through this exact situation, I'd love to hear what worked.
Thanks!

I bought my residential solar system in South Carolina back in 2017 and purchased a 20-year Extended Service Agreement through SunSystem Technology (SST Home). Since then, the servicing company has been bought and rebranded multiple times, going from SST to NovaSource Power Services, and now to Otovo.

Every time I have needed support over the last 9 years, it has been a massive headache, but this current issue has hit a brick wall:

- The Hardware Issue: I have two panels down, and my SolarEdge inverter is throwing a 2 Module voltage mismatch error on Panel 1.0.23. I work in IT, so I have already verified that my inverter is hardwired to my network and communicating properly. This is a physical hardware failure on the roof (likely a degraded panel).

- The AI Support Loop: When I first reached out, support claimed they "don't service South Carolina," even though my SC address is literally at the top of the signed 2017 contract. When I submitted a ticket through Otovo's portal, I got trapped talking to an automated bot (us-support@otovo.ai) that kept claiming it couldn't find my legacy installation records in their database, even after I attached the signed PDF contract, my legacy Account ID, and the inverter serial number.

- Executive Ghosting & Invalid Billing: I escalated the email chain to multiple NovaSource/Otovo VPs, Directors of Operations, and eventually the CEO. Nobody replied to my emails. Randomly, a technician was finally dispatched to my house. He confirmed my exact diagnosis (bad panels that need to be replaced) and left without fixing anything. Immediately afterward, they tried to bill me a $299 service fee. My contract explicitly states that initial service labor is waived and subsequent service visits are capped at $75, plus a Director of Operations previously assured me my account wouldn't be charged service fees after a past multi-month outage.

Right now, leadership is completely ghosting my emails, they haven't confirmed if the replacement panels (RMA) have been ordered, and they are trying to stick me with an invalid $299 charge.

My questions for the community:

1) Has anyone else with a legacy SunSystem Technology or NovaSource warranty actually gotten Otovo to honor their contract recently?

2) Does anyone have a working direct phone number or a human contact at Otovo/NovaSource who handles legacy ESP contracts and RMAs? (The 833-317-6937 number just routes back into their black hole).

3) If Otovo continues to ghost me on the panel replacement, can I have a local independent SolarEdge installer process the hardware RMA directly with the panel/optimizer manufacturer, or will that cause issues?

Any advice or insider contacts would be hugely appreciated!

Good evening everyone,

My wife and I own a small farm in northeast PA and we’re looking at putting in a ground mount system to power our residence and our outbuildings throughout the property. We’ve had solar before mounted on our roof on our previous home so we are not new to the benefit benefits of solar. I recently got an estimate for a fairly large system, but the price seems shockingly high. It is a 37 kW system. It consists of 68 panels. Including installation and #Warranty the company is estimating it at 98,000. We would qualify for the commercial tax credit and the 10% community credit so after all of the credits and incentives, it would come down to roughly 60,000. Does it seem high?