Do solar panels make global warming worse by storing heat?

There is a misconception that because solar panels appear dark, the waste heat from a low albedo contributes to global warming. Generally, this is false. The albedo of a solar panel is about 30%, that is, of the sunlight hitting it, 30% is reflected as light to space. read more

No. Storing the heat from the sunlight does not make more heat. Rocks do it all the time. Solar panels reduce global warming by offsetting more polluting forms of electricity generation. read more

Third, the solar panels usually do not conduct the heat into a house the way the roof would, so the house uses less energy for air conditioning, further reducing CO2 emissions and thus reducing global warming. read more

In this scenario, the warming from the heat island effect essentially compensated for the cooling caused by the solar panels. When considered on a global scale, these effects become much smaller. read more