As the war in Iran shocks global gas and oil prices, more Americans are considering home solar systems and searching for electric vehicles.
In the 11 days after the conflict began, EnergySage, an online comparison-shopping marketplace for clean energy systems, saw a 17% increase in homeowners requesting quotes for solar installations, and a 23% increase in requests for solar plus a home battery. That’s compared with the 11 days before the escalation.
EnergySage notes that it can’t specifically credit those increases to one cause, such as the conflict; there may be multiple factors at play.
But it still believes the war is part of this directional change. And that growth is notable, a company spokesperson adds, because demand for these installations has been soft since the federal tax credits for such home upgrades expired in December.
EnergySage has also seen a 30% increase in requests for EV charger installations. It’s not yet clear if that increase is directly related to a surge in EV sales. (It could be, for example, that drivers who already own plug-in hybrids are actually going to start plugging them in instead of relying on gas.)
But there are signs of a growing interest in that market, too. Edmunds, an online retailer for new and used cars, says searches for hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and EVs are up 20% in one week.
Sunlight doesn’t need to go through the Strait of Hormuz
The conflict in Iran is highlighting how our energy sources move around the world—and how vulnerable they can be to geopolitical events.
With the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas has essentially been removed from the global market, causing prices to surge.
But as many climate experts have been noting, sunlight (and wind) don’t need to travel through that strait.
Though surging oil and gas prices have dominated headlines since the Iran war began, experts say natural gas prices could be hit even harder, which would directly affect Americans’ utility prices.
Renewable power can buffer countries, and individuals, from fossil fuel price volatility. And Americans are understanding that, too. “When energy prices spike, people start looking for ways to take control of their bills,” says EnergySage CEO Naman Trivedi.
“Geopolitical instability has a way of making energy independence feel urgent and personal,” he adds. “People don’t want their family’s utility bills tied to events happening halfway around the world.”
Solar leads to real energy bill savings
Natural gas prices have already been on an upward climb, in part because of the AI data center boom, which has spiked energy bills for Americans.
The war’s effect on overall energy prices could mean Americans will hit a “breaking point—where it’s like, ‘I have to do something about this,’” says Jesse Lee, senior advisor for Clean Energy Economy at Climate Power, a climate communications and advocacy organization.
“The things they’ve been postponing that they know can save them money in the long term . . . this is kind of the moment where people start to pull the trigger,” he adds.
Those monetary savings are real. A June 2024 study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that the median residential solar customer saves $1,987 annually off their home energy bills.
Adding solar requires an up-front cost, of course, but even factoring off-bill costs in, the median customer sees a total net savings of $691.
Though the Trump administration removed the Inflation Reduction Act’s federal incentives for home solar installations, Lee says that cities and states often still offer rebates that could reduce installation costs.
Americans can find information about those programs through Rewiring America.
The way off the fossil fuel merry-go-round
Switching to an EV also comes with a tangible financial impact. A 2024 report found that EV drivers save an average of $100 every month, or $1,200 a year, on fuel, compared with gasoline-powered cars.
Electric vehicles are also cheaper to maintain—and sticker prices are dropping, particularly for used EVs. “There’s always been a strong connection between spiking gas prices and people starting to look at EVs,” Lee says.
What’s unique about this particular energy price spike, he adds, is that it coincides with solar energy and EVs becoming affordable for everyday Americans.
It’s not clear how long this conflict will last, and what that means for energy prices in the future. But this likely isn’t the last geopolitical event to disrupt fossil fuel markets.
Americans seem to be realizing that, despite the Trump administration’s move away from renewables, they can make their households less vulnerable to such price shocks through home solar systems and EVs.
“There’s just absolutely no question that in the short term—but also the long term—this is how you escape the fact that we’re going to have international entanglements that spike gas prices for, probably, forever,” Lee says.
Home solar and EVs, he adds, are “the way off those merry-go-rounds.”