In short: the SolutionEnergy editorial team writes our guides from official sources first, dates every number and labels our own estimates. We use AI tools to help research and draft, and a person checks and edits every page before it goes live. Money we earn never decides what a guide recommends, and no one can pay for a place in one.
Who writes our guides
Our pages are written and edited by the SolutionEnergy editorial team, a small team focused on home and business energy in the United States. We are researchers and writers, not installers. When a question turns on your wiring, your gas line, a permit or a utility connection, our pages say so and send you to a licensed electrician or installer.
We are looking for a licensed electrician or certified installer to review our service and safety pages. Until that review happens, those pages do not name a technical reviewer. When a page has been reviewed, we will name the reviewer and give the date.
How we research
- Official sources first. Electricity prices and outage data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA); solar production from the National Laboratory of the Rockies (formerly NREL) and its PVWatts tool; programs and EV charging data from the U.S. Department of Energy; tax credits from the IRS; rates and rules from state utility commissions and licensing boards; generator and carbon monoxide safety from CPSC, CDC and FEMA.
- Then makers and industry reports. Spec sheets, manuals and warranty terms from the maker’s own site; market data from published industry reports. When we rely on a secondary source, we say so.
- Every number is dated. Each page ends with its sources and when we checked them, because prices, rebates and rules change.
- Estimates are labelled. When we work something out ourselves, such as a running cost or a payback period, we call it our estimate and show the assumptions. Our calculators give estimates, not designs; an installer must confirm.
- Costs as sourced ranges. We give price ranges with the source and year. We do not invent an “average price” we cannot trace.
Rules change, and we update pages when they do. For example, the federal home credits for solar, batteries and efficiency (25D and 25C) ended for work completed after December 31, 2025, so our guides no longer count them in any 2026 cost. We never promise you a tax credit; for your own taxes, ask a tax professional.
How we use AI
We use AI tools to help us gather sources, organize research and write first drafts. A person on our team then checks the facts and numbers against the original sources, edits the text and decides what is published. We do not publish AI-written text without that check, and AI tools do not choose which products we recommend.
How we earn money, and how we keep it out of our advice
Reading our guides is free. Some product links earn us a commission from the store at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We may also be paid by an installer you choose to work with after you send us a request; how it works explains that process, and nothing is shared with an installer unless you choose one.
This never changes what our guides say. We tell you when a cheaper option or no purchase at all is the honest answer, we recommend against buying when that is the honest answer, and we do not sell placements, rankings or “best” badges in our guides. If we ever publish a paid listing elsewhere on the site, it will be clearly labelled as paid. Our affiliate disclosure has the details.
How we choose products
We compare products on what matters for the job: capacity and output, safety listings and features, warranty, compatibility with the rest of your system, and whether it needs a licensed electrician to install. We use the maker’s published specs and manuals, plus independent test data when it exists. We have not lab-tested products ourselves unless a page says so. Prices come from the maker or the store, with the month we checked; we never type in star ratings by hand.
We do not publish testimonials, reviews or case studies unless they are real and we have permission to use them.
Updates and corrections
We review pages when prices, incentives or rules change, and we aim to recheck cost pages every year and incentive pages more often. If you spot something wrong or out of date, tell us on our contact page and choose “Something is out of date.” We check every report against the source and fix confirmed errors.
Corrections log
Corrections that change a fact, number or recommendation are listed here with the date and the page. No corrections logged yet (October 2026).
Questions about our editorial policy
Are your guides written by AI?
AI tools help us research and draft, and we say so openly. Every page is then checked by a person on our team, who compares the facts and numbers with the original sources, edits the text and decides whether it is published. AI tools do not pick products or decide what we recommend.
Do companies pay to be in your guides?
No. We do not sell placements, rankings or badges in our guides. Some product links earn us a store commission, and we may be paid by an installer a reader chooses after sending us a request, but neither decides what a guide says. Anything paid elsewhere on the site will be labelled as paid.
Do you test the products you recommend?
Not in a lab, unless a page says otherwise. We compare products using the maker’s published specs, manuals and warranty terms, safety listings and independent test data where it exists, and we explain how we compared them. When a spec matters for safety or sizing, we link to or name the source so you can check it.
How do I report a mistake?
Use our contact page and choose “Something is out of date,” with the page and what you think is wrong. A link to a source helps. We check every report against the original source, fix confirmed errors and, when a fact, number or recommendation changes, add the correction to the log on this page.
Sources
Federal tax credit dates: Internal Revenue Service, Residential Clean Energy Credit (25D) and Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C) pages, checked October 2026. Laboratory name: U.S. Department of Energy announcement renaming NREL the National Laboratory of the Rockies. Amazon disclosure wording: Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement. See also our about page.