Skip to content
Pond.com

Solar & Clean Energy

Making and using cleaner energy at home: whether solar panels pay off, buying vs leasing, home batteries and backup power, geothermal and heat pump upgrades, and induction cooking.

Solar power

Solar panels on the roof of a suburban house under a blue sky
Main guide

Are Solar Panels Worth It? Costs, Savings and Payback in 2026

Home solar can cut your electric bill for decades, but whether it pays off depends on your electricity rates, your roof, how your utility credits extra power and how you pay. This guide covers what solar costs now that the federal tax credit has ended for homeowners, how to estimate payback, buying vs leasing, and how to tell if your home is a good fit.

Home batteries and backup

A wall-mounted home battery in a tidy garage
Main guide

Home Battery Storage Explained: Backup Power and Savings

A home battery stores electricity to keep your lights on during outages and, with the right utility rates, to save money. This guide explains what home batteries do, what they cost, how much backup you'd really get, when they pay off, and how they compare with a standby generator.

Geothermal and electric upgrades

A drilling rig making a geothermal loop in a backyard
Main guide

Geothermal Heat Pumps Explained: Costs, Savings and Who They Suit

A geothermal heat pump heats and cools your home using the steady temperature of the ground. It's one of the most efficient systems you can buy, but also one of the most expensive to install. This guide explains how it works, the types of ground loops, costs, savings, how it compares with an air-source heat pump, and when it makes sense.
Running the numbers on a home? The home calculators do the math for you.
Open the calculators

Clean energy for your home

More homeowners are making their own power and moving away from fossil fuels, to lower bills, ride out outages or cut emissions. The choices are big investments, and incentives changed a lot in 2026, so it pays to understand the real costs before you sign anything.

Start with are solar panels worth it?, which covers today's costs, the end of the homeowner tax credit, payback and whether your home is a good fit. Then compare solar leases, PPAs and buying, learn how your utility pays for extra power in net metering explained, and protect yourself with how to get solar quotes and avoid scams. No suitable roof? See community solar. Thinking about wind instead? Read is a home wind turbine worth it? first.

For backup power, home battery storage explained covers costs, how long backup lasts and batteries vs generators, and portable power station vs generator helps with smaller, cheaper options.

To heat, cool and cook with cleaner electricity, see geothermal heat pumps explained, heat pump water heaters and are induction cooktops worth it?. For air-source systems, see heat pumps explained.

The cheapest energy is the energy you don't use, so start with how to make your home more energy efficient.

Common questions

Start by using less energy. Sealing air leaks, adding insulation and switching to LED lights are cheap and make every later upgrade, like solar or a heat pump, smaller and less expensive. A home energy audit shows where to start.

The federal tax credits for homeowners who buy solar panels, batteries, geothermal systems and heat pumps ended for work done after December 31, 2025. State and utility rebates, and state HEAR rebates for eligible households, are still available in many places.

Yes. Community solar lets many renters subscribe to a local solar farm for bill savings, and portable induction burners and power stations need no installation. Some utilities also offer clean energy plans you can choose on your bill.