At first glance, the concept of promoting rooftop solar energy seems like a good idea: homeowners are incentivized to buy or lease solar panels; they benefit from reduced reliance on their local utility for electricity; they benefit directly from clean solar energy; and they sell any excess power to the electric utility for credit or payment. The subsidies, in theory, make solar energy an affordable alternative for consumers. But that is not the whole story. As this ConsumerGram shows, net metering can produce many unintended consequences that in the end lead to higher costs for all consumers.
