About Solar Honest
Why This Site Exists
We found that many solar installer claims didn't match reality:
- "Batteries are essential" — often not true for every household
- "Payback is 5 years" — rarely achievable without optimistic assumptions
- "You'll never pay a bill again" — grid connection and standing charges remain
- "Prices will double every year" — historical data shows 2–4% annual growth
So we built the site we wished existed.
Our Principles
1. No Commercial Ties
| We Don't | Because |
|---|---|
| Take installer kickbacks | Conflicts of interest |
| Run affiliate links | Biases recommendations |
| Sell equipment | We have no inventory to push |
| Charge for quotes | We're not a lead generator |
| Accept manufacturer sponsorship | No "partner content" |
We don't make money from: Your solar purchase. We don't make money from anything right now — this is a volunteer effort.
2. Show Our Work
Every calculation on this site:
- Uses public data (PVGIS, Eurostat)
- Explains every assumption
- Shows worst-case AND best-case
- Links to sources
- Can be reproduced in a spreadsheet
You can read the full methodology page for detailed explanations of every calculation.
3. Correct Mistakes Publicly
If we're wrong, we fix it and say so.
We'll list corrections here when they occur. If you find an error, contact us.
Who We Are
We're researchers, engineers, and homeowners who got burned by installer optimism.
What we're NOT:
- Solar installers
- Equipment manufacturers
- Government agencies
- Lobbyists
What we ARE:
- People who read the fine print
- People who run the numbers
- People who got tired of misleading claims
How We Fund This
Right now, we don't. This site is run on personal time and personal servers.
In the future we might:
- Accept donations (like Wikipedia)
- Publish a book or guide
- Offer paid consulting
But right now: zero revenue. We do this because it needs to exist.
Data Sources
| Type | Primary | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Solar yields | PVGIS (EU JRC) | DWD, MeteoSwiss |
| Electricity prices | Eurostat | National regulators |
| Equipment specs | Manufacturer datasheets | Independent tests |
| Reliability | NREL, Fraunhofer ISE | PVEL, TÜV |
| Subsidies | National agencies | EU Commission |
| Real-world data | Academic papers | Open datasets |
License
All content is published under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
You can:
- ✅ Use it commercially
- ✅ Modify it
- ✅ Share it
- ✅ Build on it
You must:
- 📎 Attribute the source
- 📎 Share alike (same license)
Contact
- Corrections: corrections@solarhonest.eu
- Questions: questions@solarhonest.eu
- Press: press@solarhonest.eu
We read every email. We reply to most.
Contribute
This is a community project. You can help by:
- Adding your country — Add data to
countryGuides.jsand the calculator data files, then email corrections@solarhonest.eu - Sharing real data — Your solar production, your bills
- Translating — Into your local language
- Correcting errors — We fix mistakes publicly
- Donating — May eventually help with server costs
Thanks To
- Finn Peacock (SolarQuotes) — For proving honesty works
- EU Joint Research Centre — For PVGIS
- Eurostat — For price data
- Every homeowner who shared their real data
Our Promise
We will never tell you to buy solar if the math doesn't work. We will never tell you to buy a battery that won't pay back. We will never hide an assumption to make the numbers look better.
This is what honest solar advice looks like.