There are over 2 million solar panels in the US alone, with companies installing more every day.
More people are installing solar panels because they’re more affordable than they’ve ever been. If you’re considering getting solar panels on your house but aren’t convinced yet, then you may want to read some books on solar energy.
These books will educate you on the how, the how-to, and why solar is so important. We’re walking you through our top three choices below.
- Be Free With Solar Energy by Jose Romero
If you’re looking for a beginner’s book that isn’t from the “For Dummies” series but also isn’t written as intensely as a textbook, then this is the book for you.
It goes over the basics of solar, determining your best location (calculating shade), what solar panels to choose, and how the electrical aspects work. It doesn’t give you a step-by-step guide to building the panels, but if you managed to get some secondhand, this book could help you fix and install them yourself.
It was written in 2018, so it’s pretty up to date. You may want to double-check any mentions of legal or city code within the text, as those change often. You can always talk to your local solar company about any green energy benefits your city is offering.
- Solar Energy: The Physics & Engineering of Photovoltaic Conversion, Technologies, and Systems
If you couldn’t tell from the title, this book is more in-depth than the previous. It’s highly technical and reads more like a textbook than a how-to guide.
That’s not to say it doesn’t have how-to components, though. This book contains enough information to take someone from absolutely no understanding of solar to a moderate expert.
There are 23 chapters chock full of information, and the book is 488 pages long, in print. It comes in a Kindle version and is updated every few years with a new version. If you want a deep dive into solar energy, this is the book for you.
- To Catch the Sun: Inspiring Stories of Communities Coming Together to Harness Their Own Solar Energy and How You Can Do It Too
If you’re trying to convince your family/partner/HOA to let you install solar panels, then this is a great book to arm yourself with. It’s less of a how-to guide and more of a why-you-should collection of stories that will convert any solar critic to a solar power enthusiast.
Reviews say that this is a great book for high school students if you’re trying to get your children invested in green energy.
If this book is a little too academic for you, there’s also “Taming the Sun” by Varun Sivaram. It’s a long read, so we recommend getting it on audiobook if possible.
The Best Books on Solar Energy
We all learn differently. Someone who is trying to install solar panels themselves (or at least wants to be able to maintain them) is going to need a different resource than someone who wants to understand the big picture of solar power in America.
We’ve tried to cover all our bases in this guide on books on solar energy. If we missed any books that helped you, we’d love to know.
Thank you for doing your part to reduce our reliance on non-renewable energy. For more helpful guides like this, bookmark this blog.
