Transparency

Affiliate Disclosure

How we earn money, how it affects our recommendations, and why we think full transparency matters.

💡

The Short Version

When you click certain links on this site and make a purchase, we earn a small commission from the retailer — at no extra cost to you. These commissions fund our research and keep our content free to read.

Our editorial rankings are decided by our research team, not by commission rates. We have recommended lower-commission products over higher-commission alternatives when the evidence supported it. That's our commitment to you, and we take it seriously.

🔗 What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a standard way for content websites to earn revenue. Here's how it works on our site:

You pay nothing extra

Affiliate commissions are paid by the retailer from their own margin — not added to your purchase price. The price is the same whether you click our link or type the URL directly.

🏪 Affiliate Programs We Participate In

The following affiliate programs are currently active on this website:

Program Retailer Commission Rate Categories Covered
Amazon Associates Amazon.com 1–10% depending on category Solar generators, panels, lights, wind turbines, RV kits

We will update this table promptly if we join additional affiliate programs. If you ever see a link on our site that isn't listed here and suspect it may be an affiliate link, please contact us and we will clarify immediately.

⚠️

Amazon commission categories

Amazon pays different rates by product category. Home improvement products (which includes most solar and wind equipment) typically earn 3%. We do not adjust our rankings based on which category pays more.

⚖️ How Affiliate Relationships Affect Our Recommendations

This is the question that matters most, and we want to answer it with total honesty.

✓ What We Do

  • Choose products based on research quality, real-world reviews, and value for readers
  • Recommend lower-commission products when they genuinely outperform higher-commission alternatives
  • Include honest cons and limitations for every product we recommend
  • Tell readers when they might be better served by a different product than the one we're linking to
  • Update recommendations when better products launch, regardless of commission impact
  • Decline to recommend products with serious quality concerns even when they offer strong commissions

✗ What We Don't Do

  • Accept payment from brands to appear in our rankings
  • Rank products higher because they pay higher commission rates
  • Write fake or exaggerated positive reviews for any product
  • Hide or minimize significant product weaknesses to protect a recommendation
  • Accept free products in exchange for guaranteed positive coverage
  • Allow advertisers to review or approve our content before publication
🔍

A real example of this in practice

Our wind turbine guide explicitly tells readers when they should not buy a home wind turbine — including a full "Not a Good Fit" checklist. That advice steers people away from purchases we'd earn commission on. We included it because it's true and useful. That's the standard we hold ourselves to.

📋 FTC Compliance

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that websites disclose material connections to companies whose products they recommend. This page, combined with the disclosure notice on every article, constitutes our compliance with these requirements.

Disclosure statement used across our site:
"Renewable Energy Advisors is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission from Amazon and other retailers — at no extra cost to you. Our rankings are never influenced by brand partnerships."

This notice appears prominently at the top of every buying guide on this site. We believe disclosure should be upfront and unmissable — not buried in a footer or hidden in fine print. If you ever navigate to a page where this disclosure is missing or hard to find, please let us know.

For more information on FTC disclosure requirements, visit ftc.gov.

🚫 What We Will Never Do

These are our absolute commitments — lines we will not cross regardless of the financial incentive:

If you ever see something that doesn't look right

If you read a recommendation on this site that seems inconsistent with this disclosure — or if you have evidence of a relationship we haven't disclosed — please email us at editorial@renewable-energy-advisors.com. We take these concerns seriously and respond personally.

Our Editorial Commitment
"The moment we start recommending products because of what they pay us rather than what they do for you, we've lost the only thing that makes this site worth reading. We'd rather earn less and keep your trust than earn more and lose it."
MK
Marcus Kim Founder & Lead Editor, Renewable Energy Advisors

Questions About Our Affiliate Relationships

This page is meant to be a living document. If our affiliate relationships change — new programs added, old ones removed — we will update this page promptly. The "Last updated" date at the bottom reflects when this page was most recently reviewed.

If you have a question about any specific link or recommendation on our site, we're happy to explain the exact relationship involved. There's nothing here we're trying to hide.

Questions or concerns?

We read every message and respond personally to affiliate disclosure questions.

editorial@renewable-energy-advisors.com

Last updated: April 22, 2025  ·  Privacy Policy  ·  About Us