- Editorial independence
- No homeowner lead sales, installer referral payments, or ad influence over conclusions.
- Source basis
- Solar payback claims prioritize public data, tariff documents, incentive records, and regulator material.
- Update standard
- Material source, incentive, tariff, or policy changes trigger article-date and section reviews.
- Reader action
- Corrections should include the article URL, exact claim, changed public source, and affected assumption.
Independence
Solar Payback Map does not sell homeowner leads, operate an installer marketplace, or accept referral payments tied to a reader choosing solar. Advertising is separated from editorial decisions, and Auto Ads are not allowed to change our conclusions.
Source standards
Articles prioritize public primary sources such as NREL, EIA, LBNL, DSIRE, utility tariff documents, state policy pages, and regulator material. When a topic depends on a local rate plan or incentive rule, the article should name that uncertainty instead of presenting a single payback number as final.
The editorial review notes whether a claim is based on production modeling, residential electricity prices, installed-cost research, incentive policy, or a utility tariff. Those categories are kept visible because a homeowner may need to challenge a quote assumption in a different place: production with site and shade details, bill savings with the electric rate plan, net cost with incentive eligibility, and export value with the local interconnection or tariff rule.
- NREL PVWatts for production-model context
- U.S. EIA electricity data for rate context
- LBNL Tracking the Sun for installed-cost context
- DSIRE for incentive and policy references
Review process
- Every publish-ready article must include a direct answer, internal links, external sources, and a homeowner next step.
- Solar payback claims are written as ranges or decision checks unless the source supports a fixed value.
- Policy, rate, incentive, battery, and finance articles receive FAQ checks for question-led search intent.
- Scheduled articles are visible only after their publication time and are added to sitemap and RSS feeds dynamically.
What an article should not imply
A source-backed article should distinguish a public average from a household fact, a policy description from an eligibility decision, and a model output from a financial recommendation. It should not imply that a named source has reviewed Solar Payback Map, that an advertiser can influence a conclusion, or that a payback band guarantees a return for a particular property. Where the evidence is incomplete, the article should say what is unknown and give the reader a practical verification step.
The same rule applies to tools and rankings. A calculator can expose an equation, but it cannot perform a roof inspection or determine a tax position. A state ranking can organize public inputs, but it cannot choose a system size, installer, financing product, or utility tariff. Editorial pages therefore keep the assumptions, limits, source date, and next action close to the claim instead of hiding them in a generic footer.
Claim review questions
- Can the reader identify the exact public source and the role it plays?
- Is the number dated, labeled as an average or scenario, and separated from a property-specific promise?
- Does the page explain which local or household facts could change the conclusion?
- Is there an internal next step and a clear correction path?
- Would the wording remain accurate if an advertiser or referral relationship changed?
These questions are also used when refreshing older pages. A rewrite should preserve useful source context, remove unsupported certainty, and make the smallest correction needed to restore a traceable claim. Adding words without improving the evidence trail is not considered an editorial improvement.
A finished review also checks the reader's next action. The page should make clear whether the reader needs a current tariff, a production document, a quote comparison, a tax-eligibility question, or a correction request. That distinction keeps a general educational page useful without turning it into a lead form or a personalized recommendation.
Corrections and updates
If a public source changes, an incentive expires, or a utility tariff materially changes the decision frame, Solar Payback Map updates the article date and revises the affected section. Readers can use the source list in each article to verify the public records behind the claim.
Correction request checklist
- Include the article URL and the exact claim that may need review.
- Link the public source, tariff, incentive page, or regulator document that changed.
- Explain whether the issue affects a number, date, eligibility rule, policy summary, or quote-risk recommendation.
Send correction and source-review requests through the Solar Payback Map contact path. Material corrections update the article date and keep the source trail visible.