Are rooftop solar panels helping?

Over the past decade,millionsof solar panels have been installed on homes from California to Massachusetts. These solar panels allow their owners tocut down on their bills, pull electricity directly from their rooftops, and sometimes even store it inhome batteriesto use later in the day.

But are those solar panels the best way to reduce fossil fuel emissions?
The answer is more complicated than it seems. Researchers argue that home solar panels are raising the price of electricity and reducing the need for cheaperlarge solar farms— making the entire transition to clean energy more expensive. And as more and more homeowners turn to solar, thanks in part to more generous government incentives, that could actually make it harder for the United States to meet its overallclimate goals.

Caption from article by Shannon Osaka.