It’s time we finally talk about solar panel radiation, and whether or not that should be a concern for you. Over the last 5-10 years, the cost of installing a solar panel system in your home has gone down significantly. This means that the money you save from free energy generated by the solar panels finally outweighs the cost of installing the system.
The result of this shift means that we see more solar panel, or photovoltaic systems, installed on homes, offices, even vans and RV’s.
First, let’s just briefly answer the question.
Do solar panels emit EMF radiation? Although solar panels do emit EMF radiation, it is quite small, and likely not dangerous. The real issue is that the solar panel system, or photovoltaic system, creates dirty electricity that ultimately radiates EMF radiation into the home. The other concern comes from “smart meters” installed to monitor how much solar energy is being produced by the home.
Now, let’s dive a little deeper so we can understand how solar panels work, and whether the radiation they produce is a concern.
How Solar Panels Work
In order to understand the type of radiation solar panels emit, we need to understand how these systems work.
These systems are typically broken down into three components:
- The solar panels themselves
- The wiring systems
- The inverter
First of all, the solar panels themselves are not likely to be an EMF radiation risk. They produce only a small amount of low voltage direct current electricity, which produces hardly any EMF radiation. Also, since the panels are not anywhere near your body, even if they did emit more EMF radiation, the distance is likely to protect you entirely.
These panels work by converting light into electricity when sunlight strikes against the panels. Minerals in the panels are able to make this conversion.
That newly produced electricity travels through a wiring system to what is called an Inverter. The inverter converts this somewhat un-usable energy, into 120 volt AC that can be used to power typical electronics such as your television, computer, or anything else. It makes its way into your electrical system just the same way electricity from your power company would.
These inverters are usually installed in one of two ways. Either they are a large box somewhere in the home, usually near the electrical panel. Or, they are micro-inverters underneath or near the panels themselves. These micro-inverters usually still feed into a larger inverter somewhere on the property before the electricity actually makes it into the power grid.
To my understanding, either way, the electricity that travels through conduits between the panels and the inverter are metal, and will not emit any radiation. These also will not produce dirty electricity because they are designed for this type of electricity.
That does not mean that solar panel systems don’t produce dirty electricity, because they do, it just comes after the inverter. We’ll talk more about that in a minute.
Now, the other source of EMF radiation from solar panels, other than dirty electricity, depends on how you use your solar-generated electricity.
Some homes choose to simply use the electricity for their own needs. However, many people opt to sell all, or some, of their solar-generated electricity back to the utility company.
When this is the case, and sometimes even when it is not, a “smart meter” is installed to monitor how much energy is being produced, how much is being used, how efficient the panels are being, etc. Just like any other smart meter, these meters transmit data wirelessly in packets. When that data is transferred, large amounts of RF radiation are emitted.
So, to sum up, it up, although solar panels themselves do not emit EMF’s, the systems absolutely do. Most EMF radiation that results from solar panel systems come from the smart meters installed, and the dirty electricity that is generated.
Now that we better understand that, let’s talk about why this could be dangerous.
Solar Panel Radiation – What You Need To Know
So, we’re going to break this down into the two sources of radiation that a solar panel system could expose you to:
- RF radiation from the meter
- Dirty Electricity
Now, I’m not going to go too in-depth on either of these, because I’ve written many articles on each one and why it can be dangerous. Instead, I’ll briefly talk about why this should be a concern, link you to some more thorough articles and research in case you’re curious, and then talk about how you can protect yourself.
RF Radiation From Smart Meters
RF, or radio-frequency, radiation is actually one of the three types of EMF radiation. The other two are magnetic field and electric field.
Radiofrequency is emitted from just about any device that communicates or receives communication wirelessly. Radio waves are used to send packets of data between two wireless devices, but as a result, they also emit a type of non-ionizing radiation.
RF radiation has been shown in hundreds of studies to have negative biological effects when you’re exposed to it for long periods of time. Common sources are cell-phones, WiFi routers, cell towers, including 5G towers, and smart meters.
Smart meters, in case you don’t know, are simply utility meters that track usage and transmit data about that usage wirelessly. This saves the utility company money because they no longer have to send employees to read the meters.
However, when these smart meters transmit that data, they emit a large amount of RF radiation, exposing people that are near it. Many smart meters are on the outside wall opposite a bedroom and therefore pose a real risk.
When it comes to radiation from a solar panel system, we need to look at how much radiation is being emitted specifically from the solar smart meter.
Now, not every system will have one of these meters, you are likely only to have a specific solar energy smart meter if you sell some of the energy back to a company, or if the area you live in requires them.
If you do have a solar smart meter (or a smart meter at all) we’ll talk about ways you can protect yourself in a minute.
Dirty Electricity From Solar Panel Inverters
Now it’s time to talk about the more pervasive radiation risk that results from solar panel systems: dirty electricity. If you want to read a full guide on dirty electricity, you can do that here, but I’ll cover the basics.
Essentially, dirty electricity is un-usable electricity that gets trapped in your electrical wiring. The wiring in your home is likely 60 hertz AC if you live in the United States, and 50 hertz if you live in Europe. This system worked well when most electrical devices used this type of electricity.
However, as modern technology was developed, devices required more, less, or varying amounts of electricity that this system couldn’t support. So, when these devices try to use the electricity in a way it wasn’t intended, the result is something called high-frequency voltage transients. These result from the erratic surges of power, and they become unusable.
This unusable electricity then gets stuck in your electrical system, radiating EMFs into your home or office.
Dirty electricity is usually generated when devices try to use 60/50 hertz electrical systems in one of a few ways:
- Converting the 60 Hertz AC (alternating current) into a low-voltage DC (direct current) or
- Higher voltage AC
- Drawing power intermittently in short bursts by turning the electrical current on and off, sometimes thousands of times per second.
So, when the electricity from your solar panels is converted into electricity for your home, it often results in dirty electricity. Some inverters are better at mitigating this than others, but nearly all will still result in some dirty electricity.
The process of converting the low voltage DC from the panels to usable electricity for the home constantly puts dirty electricity into your lines. Over time, this builds up to significant levels and can expose you to large amounts of EMF radiation.
The radiation emitted from these wires can be measured up to 6 feet away from the wiring and outlets. If you are electrically sensitive, this is even more of a concern.
Alright, now that we understand how solar panel systems can emit radiation, let’s talk about ways we can protect ourselves.
Protecting Yourself From Solar Panel Radiation
There are some strategies you can use protect yourself from radiation that ultimately is caused by solar panel systems.
Just like before, we’ll break this into two different pieces, but before we do, there is one tool that you are going to need, and that is an EMF meter.
I recommend purchasing an EMF meter to literally anyone that is concerned about EMF radiation, whether that is WiFi in their home, their microwave oven, cell-phone, or yes, even solar panels.
What a good EMF meter will allow you to do, is not only find sources of radiation but know if the things you’re doing to mitigate that radiation are actually working.
So, I won’t go in-depth about how these work, instead I’ll link you to my article on the topic.
I’ll also just say, that the best meter for this purpose, by far, is the Trifield TF2 that I use all the time. Now, their are more expensive meters on the market, but this one is perfect if you’re just starting. It’s priced affordably, and still accurately measures all three types of EMF radiation.
Alright, now let’s talk about how we can protect ourselves from solar panel radiation.
Protecting Against Smart Meters
First, let me just say that if you want more thorough information about what smart meters are, why they’re dangerous, and how to protect against them, check out these articles:
- Smart Meter Radiation – The Definitive Guide
- Smart Meter EMF Protection – A Complete Guide
- Smart Meter Shields – What To Buy, and DIY
If you read all of those, you’ll be a relative expert on smart meter radiation. However, for the purpose of this article, I’m going to understand that you already understand that your solar panel smart meter emits RF radiation, and we’re going to talk about a few simple ways to protect yourself.
Opt-Out
Just like with utility smart meters, there may be a way for you to opt-out of having a solar panel smart meter. Many of these meters are installed by power companies without the homeowner’s knowledge or consent. If you realize that your solar panel system has a smart meter, contact the company that installed it and ask about opting out.
Smart meter opt-outs are still a gray area, and states are deciding on what they will allow. Some states you can opt-out but the company can charge you a fee, some states you can opt-out and they can’t charge you a fee, and some states you can’t opt-out at all.
However, this should absolutely be your first step, because if you can get rid of the smart meter, then you’ve solved this problem instantly.
What To Do If You Can’t Opt-Out
If you can’t opt-out of your solar panel smart meter, then you need to reduce the amount of radiation it’s exposing you to. You can do that with a few simple products.
- Smart Meter Shield – (You can pick one up here) I have a whole article on this, but basically this is a small Faraday cage that you place over the glass cover on your smart meter. This will block any RF radiation being emitted outward and to the sides. They are extremely easy to install and fairly inexpensive.
- EMF Protection Paint – (See my review here) I talked earlier about how EMF protection paint should probably be used situationally, and in my opinion, this would be that situation. This kind of paint block EMF radiation that is coming in a direct line, so it makes a perfect product to block radiation coming from a smart meter into your home. Make sure you check out my review or look it up yourself so that you are sure to apply and ground the paint properly.
EMF Blocking Frame Liner – (Get the product here)This can be used in place of the EMF protection paint and is a really cool product. It is essentially a simple liner that blocks EMF radiation, that can be put in any frame. This allows you to frame a picture, or poster or just about anything, and then hang that up on the wall you share with your smart meter to block the radiation. This is likely not to be quite as thorough since you can’t easily cover as large of an area, but it is much simpler and cheaper than the EMF protection paint.
Alright, now that we’ve covered how to protect yourself from the smart meter monitoring your solar panel output, let’s talk about what we can do with the dirty electricity.
Protecting Yourself From Solar Panel Dirty Electricity
Just like with the smart meters above, I won’t go in-depth about what dirty electricity is, or how you can protect yourself from it. However, here are some resources where you can learn more.
- Is Dirty Electricity Dangerous?
- 11 Ways To Reduce Dirty Electricity Exposure.
- Dirty Electricity Filters – A Complete Guide
Alright, now let’s talk about what we can do.
Remember, dirty electricity builds up in your electrical system and radiates EMF radiation. You can use an EMF meter like the one I talked about above to measure the radiation emitted from the wiring in your walls, however, these meters won’t tell you how much dirty electricity is in your system.
For that, you’ll need a specific dirty electricity meter. There are two companies that make these meters (and the filters we’ll talk about in a second: Greenwave, and Graham Stetzer. I have both meters, and filters for both companies.
However, I like this meter from Greenwave just a little bit more. Still, you should get the meter from whatever company you get filters from so it is more accurate.
Alright, now let’s talk a little bit about dirty electricity filters because these are a great product that will surely reduce the overall electrosmog in your home because remember, dirty electricity isn’t just from solar panels but from all kinds of electronics.
Like with the meters, there are basically two companies who make quality dirty electricity filters that actually work: Greenwave and Graham Stetzer.
Stetzer filters have been around longer, but I really like Greenwaves products and technology.
They both are extremely simple, you essentially just plug them into outlets in each main room, and they will filter the dirty electricity out of your home. You should be able to get a reading with your meter, plug them in for about 24 hours, and then get another reading to see how much lower it is. If the dirty electricity is lower, your exposure to EMF radiation will be lower.
You can get Graham Stetzer filters here.
I’m personally using Greenwave filters right now. They have different kits for different size homes, so here are some links to those:
- Individual Filter
- 1 Room House Home Kit (8 filters total)
- 3 Room House Home Kit (16 filters total)
- 5 Room House Home Kit (24 filters total)
- GreenWave Travel Dirty Electricity Filter Set
That is pretty much it, so let’s summarize a few things.
If you are highly sensitive to EMF radiation and have something called Electrohypersensitivty, or EHS, then I would suggest not installing a solar panel system.
However, if you already have a system or plan to install one, here are a few summarized tips:
- Place the inverter away from areas you spend lots of time.
- Get a smart meter shield if you have solar power smart meter.
- Measure and filter out dirty electricity caused by the solar power system.
That’s it, you should be relatively good to go.
Also, if you want to check out my full updated list of EMF protection products, you can see that here.
Now let’s cover a few related questions.
Related Questions
The bottom line is, yes, solar power systems do ultimately cause an increase an EMF radiation, however, I wouldn’t say they are the biggest culprit. This is a complicated issue though, and I’ve had some questions about it, so I wanted to do my best to answer a few other common and related questions.
If I didn’t answer your questions in this article, feel free to reach out.
Do Solar Panels Emit EMF Radiation?
Like we talked about above, solar panels do emit a very small amount of EMF radiation. However, the largest radiation risk isn’t from the panels themselves, but from the dirty electricity caused by the system itself.
Can Solar Panels Give You Cancer?
The short answer is no, it’s unlikely that solar panels will give you cancer. When solar panels first hit the market, there were concerns that they would attract the sun to an area, increase the UV rays which could ultimately lead to some skin cancers, however that theory has been debunked.
Now, there is some association between increased exposure to EMF radiation and certain cancers. Like we’ve discussed, solar panel systems can increase your overall exposure to radiation, which in theory could increase your chances, however, there are simple steps you can take that we outline above. In addition, to my knowledge, there have been no studies specifically linking solar panel radiation to cancer.
Do Solar Panels Interfere With Wifi?
No, your solar energy system will not interfere with WiFi in your home or office. For the most part, the entire system is enclosed within the panels, wiring, and inverter.
The only part of a solar system that is at all related to WiFi would be a smart meter that is reading the amount of electricity created. These meters use radio waves to transmit information the same way a WiFi router does.
However, these signals will not interfere with one another.
