trick or truth? autotrick or truth?

Halloween is the one night a year when it's fun to be fooled, but when it comes to solar energy, we'd rather you leave the tricks at the door. Some of the most persistent claims about solar sound spooky and turn out to be nothing more than costumes. So we put three of them to the test in our Trick or Truth series. Grab your treat bag and read on to find out which ones are the real deal and which are just a mask.

Trick or Truth:
"Solar farms make land permanently unusable"


The verdict: Trick. Solar farms aren't a one-way street for the land they sit on. Solar projects can be removed at the end of their useful lives, which allows the land to be restored or put to another purpose.

And that's only part of the story. Some solar sites also support grazing or pollinator habitats while they're up and running, which means the land can keep working for its community long before a project is ever decommissioned.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, "Life Cycle of Photovoltaic Systems: Prepare for the End of a Performance Period," May 20, 2026.

Trick or Truth:
"Solar panels can be recycled"

The verdict: Truth. Solar panels can be recycled, and up to 99% of the raw material by weight can be recovered and reused. Panels are broken down into their separate components, like silicon, glass, and metals, and those materials can head back into the supply chain for new manufacturing.

This is something we take seriously at Nexamp. Our module and packaging recycling program launched as a pilot in March 2021, and we work with a fully permitted solar recycler to make sure damaged modules don't end up in a landfill. Want the full behind-the-scenes look?

Source: Nexamp, "All You Need To Know About Nexamp's Recycling Program" November 1, 2023.

Trick or Truth:
"Solar panels do not work during the winter"

The verdict: Trick. Solar panels keep producing energy through the winter. In fact, cold temperatures can actually support panel efficiency, so a chilly day doesn't mean your solar farm has gone dark.

Solar panels run on sunlight, not heat, so the shorter days and colder weather of the season don't shut them down. Whether it's the middle of July or the dead of January, community solar keeps working to put clean energy on the grid.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy, "Solar Photovoltaic Hardening for Resilience – Winter Weather," May 11, 2026.

The treat at the end

Three myths, three verdicts: solar farms don't permanently lock up land, panels can be recycled, and winter doesn't put solar to sleep. The only thing scary about solar this Halloween is how many myths are still floating around out there. Next time you hear one, ask yourself: trick or truth?

Curious how community solar works and how much you could save? Explore Nexamp community solar and keep an eye out for more Nexamp content.