Your secret weapon against summer heat: home solar power + battery

A record-breaking heat dome over the central United States is sending temperatures – and cooling bills! – soaring into triple digit territory. Luckily, there’s a readily available technology that can help keep your home cool without playing that infuriating and unwinnable “keep your thermostat at 79 degrees” game: a home solar and battery system.

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This summer of 2025 is just getting started, but a massive “heat dome” enveloping much of the central and eastern US this week will lead to, “levels of heat and humidity not seen in June in many years,” according to AccuWeather. “There will be little relief at night, with some urban areas failing to fall below 80 for multiple nights in a row, increasing the risk of heat-related ailments such as heat exhaustion or stroke.”

All of that sounds horrible, of course – but if you’ve been looking for an excuse to add a home solar and battery solution to your home, a terrifying heat dome is as good an excuse as any!

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If you need more to consider:

• Solar panels can reduce (or eliminate) your energy bills: this one’s obvious, right? If you’re using less grid energy then your bills will go down – and at a time that not much else is!
• Solar panels act as physical shields for your roof: this 2011 study by the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California San Diego found that solar panel arrays can reduce roof temperatures by up to 38%, resulting in cooler attics and less heat transfer into your air conditioned living spaces.
• Keeps your home cool when the grid fails: massive heat means massive loads on your local grid, which can mean rolling blackouts or brownouts. If you lose power in your neighborhood, a solar panel array alone won’t keep your lights on because grid-tied solar systems are designed to automatically shut off for safety reasons, preventing electricity from flowing back “up” power lines and endangering utility workers trying to restore power. Home solar not only reduces the load on your grid, but a battery backup will enable you to keep your home and food cooler while services are restored.
• Fight back against climate change by choosing a renewable resource: because the energy you’re using to keep your home cooler is for sure coming from a renewable source when you’ve got solar, it’s a fair bet that it’ll greener than whatever you’re doing now, even at a lower temperature setting.
• The right time is absolutely RIGHT NOW: in the latest Senate version of the GOP’s budget and tax bill, better known as Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” the established 30% tax credit for home solar and battery systems is going to be over (bye-bye) 180 days from the time the President signs it (other tax credits for utility-scale solar and wind projects are going to be completely phased out by 2028). That, combined with record low battery prices, mean the timing is tough to beat.

That’s my take, anyway – and as the temperatures keep climbing, it makes sense to make sure your roof is doing more than just impersonating Sheryl Crow all summer.

In a home solar and battery backup system, you’ve got a real, physical, and electrical edge in the fight against this years’ relentless summer heat wave … and, like, not to sound alarmist or anything, but it probably won’t be any cooler next year.

Original content from Electrek.

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