Kicking your utility to the curb sounds like a great deal, but it's more difficult than it sounds. Here's what it takes to go off the grid with solar panels. CNET contributor Eric Mack knows all too ...

Battery backup will keep your off-grid or grid-tied home powered up when the grid goes down. Grid-tied vs. off-grid solar: decide whether a grid-tied solar system with battery backup or an off-grid ...

Like all solar energy systems, off-grid systems use solar panels to harness the sun’s energy for residential or commercial buildings. However, unlike more common grid-tied systems, they store some of ...

The biggest financial hurdle of your solar power array is the battery you'll need to save your excess energy, but Lidl is now ...

One clear takeaway was to size solar around yearly electricity consumption while paying special attention to the worst ...

Switch to solar with a system built for you. Interest in renewable energy continues to rise as more solar panel arrays are mounted on roofs and the ground nationwide. Not all of these solar panel ...

If you own solar panels or are thinking about installing them, the following question might have crossed your mind: Will they work during a power outage? Unfortunately, there is no simple yes or no ...

Look closely at a solar panel, and you'll see a series of thin metallic lines running across the surface. They're not there to look nice — they have a specific purpose. Those lines are called the grid ...

Real energy independence can be tricky to accomplish, but during the past few years, I've accumulated some insights that aren't so obvious. The main misconceptions about life off-grid are that it's a ...