If you were holding out hope of grandfathering a new solar system into California's old, more generous net metering rules, that window is now closed. Here's what that actually means for what your system will cost you, and save you, going forward.

Two separate pressures are pushing homeowners across Tucson, Prescott, Flagstaff, and Pinetop toward solar and battery storage right now: a significant proposed rate increase from Tucson Electric Power, and the reality of winter weather in Arizona's higher-elevation communities, which most Phoenix-focused solar content ignores entirely.

Two big changes have hit California solar in the last year: the federal tax credit that used to knock 30% off a system's cost is gone for new purchases, and the rules for what your excess power is worth changed under NEM 3.0. If you're in Valencia or Santa Clarita weighing solar for the first time, or wondering if you waited too long, here's a straight answer based on where the numbers actually stand in 2026.

If your roof is getting close to the end of its life and you've also been thinking about solar, doing them separately is usually the more expensive path, not the more cautious one. Inland Empire homeowners increasingly bundle a roof replacement with solar installation into a single project, and there's a specific reason it's become the default approach in Riverside.

Casitas, converted garages, and home additions are everywhere in the Phoenix area right now, and almost all of them run into the same problem: they weren't built with ductwork that reaches them. Extending your home's central AC to a detached or newly built space is often expensive and sometimes impossible. That's exactly the gap ductless mini-split systems are built to fill.

Every Phoenix homeowner knows what a haboob looks like: a wall of dust rolling across the valley, usually during monsoon season from June through September. What's less talked about is what that dust does to your HVAC system once it settles, and it settles everywhere, including inside equipment you'd assume is sealed against it.

Heat pumps have a reputation as a cold-climate technology, which makes them an easy thing for Phoenix homeowners to overlook. But that reputation is a little outdated, and in a market where heat pump rebates are currently more generous than traditional AC rebates, it's worth understanding what a heat pump actually does and whether it fits a desert home.

If you've started shopping for a new AC in Phoenix and keep seeing "SEER2" instead of the old "SEER" rating you remember, you're not imagining things. The rating system changed, the minimum efficiency requirements changed with it, and both directly affect what you'll pay, what's available, and whether your new system qualifies for a rebate. Here's what actually changed and what to look for before you sign a contract.

If you're an SRP customer in the Phoenix area shopping for a new air conditioner, heat pump, or mini-split, SRP's Cool Cash rebate is still one of the best-kept savings tools available in the Valley in 2026. Here's exactly how it works, how much it's worth, and what you need to do to actually collect it.

If you're an APS customer in the Phoenix area and you've been putting off a new AC or heat pump because you were counting on a utility rebate, here's the update: that rebate is gone...

Your kids are home for summer. The AC runs all day. And now the games are on. Every goal-scoring moment comes with a very real cost on the back end. The Phoenix homeowners who went solar are watching this rate environment unfold from a comfortable position. Their panels are still producing the same amount of electricity at the same cost: zero per kilowatt-hour. The rate increases don't touch them.

If you're a Houston homeowner, you already know what summer feels like. The kind of heat where you check the weather app not because you're curious, but because you need to mentally prepare. The kind of summer where the kids are home all day, the AC never really gets a break, and your CenterPoint electricity bill shows up in your inbox like a bad dream. Solar — and increasingly, solar paired with battery storage — is how Houston homeowners are addressing these problems..