Emily Kwong

Hmm.

And when it comes to home solar, a lot of people make the switch because most public utilities rely on fossil fuels.

Like coal, like natural gas.

Yeah, but Darcy is in this really unique situation because Snohomish County, most of its energy comes from hydropowered dams.

So 90% of her energy is already carbon free.

Got it.

Wait, so then what's the point of installing solar?

She wants to be self-reliant, and it wouldn't hurt to lower her electric bills by making her own energy.

But at what cost?

And is it worth the life of a tree?

Fair, but Hannah, I'm going to change your mind because solar panels are actually glorious.

They are the end result of humankind's enduring ambition to harness the power of the sun.

These scientists at Bell Labs back in the 1950s used the photovoltaic effect.

This is Jenny Heinzen, master electrician and the curriculum director at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association.

And she went full teacher mode in explaining to me how this photovoltaic effect turns the energy of the sun into an electric current.

So first, you need a material.

And it was Bell Laboratories in New Jersey that figured out you could use strips of silicon, the same stuff found in sand.

Silicon ended up being such an efficient and scalable material that it is what modern solar panels are made out of.

So basically the solar panel has a positive side and a negative side.

It's designed that way.