Sarah Chen
Energy Analyst & Lead Reviewer at GreenCalcs. Sarah designs the calculator formulas and reviews every page on this site against current IRS, DSIRE, NREL and EIA data before it is published.
Background & experience
Sarah Chen has spent 12 years modeling US residential solar economics — the cost, payback, financing and incentive math that determines whether going solar makes sense for a given household. For four of those years she contributed to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Distributed Generation Market Demand (dGen) model, which forecasts the adoption of rooftop solar and other distributed energy resources across the United States.
That background shapes how GreenCalcs is built: every calculator is grounded in the same primary data sources used in serious energy analysis — not installer marketing. Sarah's focus is the homeowner's actual question: what will this really cost, save and pay back for my home?
Education & credentials
- BS, Mechanical Engineering — University of California, Berkeley
- Energy Analyst — 12 years in US residential solar & heat pump economics
- Former contributor — NREL Distributed Generation Market Demand (dGen) model (4 years)
What Sarah covers on GreenCalcs
Sarah writes and reviews GreenCalcs content across residential solar and heat pumps, with particular focus on:
- Federal tax credits — the 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit (25D) and the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C).
- State & utility incentives — net metering, SRECs, rebates and HEEHRA, sourced from DSIRE.
- Solar economics — payback, ROI, financing, lease-vs-buy and panel sizing.
- Heat pumps — cost, efficiency (SEER2/HSPF2), cold-climate performance and electrification.
Editorial standards
Sarah reviews every page against current IRS, DSIRE, NREL and EIA data before publication, distinguishes facts from estimates, and updates content when the underlying rules change. GreenCalcs is independent — not an installer, lead broker or financing company — and the reviewer is always named, with real credentials. Read more about our approach in our methodology and the sources behind every figure.
Get in touch
Spotted a number that looks off, or have a calculator you'd like built? Corrections are taken seriously and verified against the primary source — reach the team via our contact page.