Electrical Industry Articles and Stories

The most visible element of a rooftop solar system is, obviously, the panels. And, where I live in New England, I’m seeing more and more of those glossy- or matte-black units topping the homes around me, helping to power more of the local load with green energy while also pushing down their owners’ monthly utility bill.

Winter will some day be over (it snowed here today… in Arkansas!) And undoubtedly some of us will be slathering on the SPF-whatever to protect us from the sun’s rays. Did you know that Old Sol is about 5,000 degrees on the surface?

Up until three years ago, I lived with a couple small boxes of spare fuses that sat on top of the water heater in the basement, ready to be drawn from should the rare combination of, say, the toaster and microwave operating at the same time happen to shut down power to the kitchen.

Whole-home surge protection has become a much bigger issue for residential electrical contractors in the last year as local authorities have begun adopting the 2020 edition of the National Electrical Code (NEC).