About Ben Zientara
Ben Zientara is a writer, researcher, and solar policy analyst who has written about the residential solar industry, the electric grid, and state utility policy since 2013.
His early work included leading the team that produced the annual State Solar Power Rankings Report for the Solar Power Rocks website from 2015 to 2020. The rankings were utilized and referenced by a diverse mix of policymakers, advocacy groups, and media including The Center for American Progress, The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, the Solar Institute at George Washington University, PolitiFact, and The Guardian.
In 2020, Ben joined SolarReviews and now lends his expertise to the annual Solar Industry Survey, Top Solar Manufacturers list, Top 10 Solar States list, and throughout articles and pages across the site.
Ben holds a B.S. in Scientific & Technical Communication from the University of Minnesota, with special coursework in Environmental Science and a minor in Sustainability Studies. He spends his time away from the solar power world cooking and eating delicious food or spending quality time with his wife, kids, and big brown dog in the mountains, woods, parks, and playgrounds of the Portland, Oregon area.
Articles by Ben Zientara
Net metering is the utility billing practice of recording the excess energy generated by a solar installation and applying it to the customer’s bill as credit toward energy drawn from the grid.
Written by Ben Zientara
Florida Power & Light offers the SolarTogether program for residents who wish to support solar energy. But does it provide any real savings?
Written by Ben Zientara
Solar panel car roofs are a relatively new phenomenon that promise to use renewable energy to add some charge to the car's batteries, but short of some absolutely miraculous new physics breakthrough, a fully solar-powered car will not be practical for the vast majority of people.
Written by Ben Zientara
Sol-Ark inverters have been popular for off-grid and DIY solar for years, but are they ideal for grid-tied solar systems too? We cover inverter models, specs, costs and more.
Written by Ben Zientara
A nuclear weapon can cause an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), which can disrupt everything that uses electronic circuitry. Will solar panels survive, and what can you do to provide EMP protection?
Written by Ben Zientara
PERC is a technology that makes solar panels more efficient by adding extra layers to traditional silicon solar cells. Find out if they're right for you.
Written by Ben Zientara