Can You Sell Solar Energy Back To The Power Company

Understanding Net Energy Metering

When it comes to net energy metering, most states have adopted it, although there is some variance in how the rules are applied from state to state. Additionally, every power company is different. So, someone who lives in the same city as you may have a totally different experience and reimbursement policy with, say, Portland General Electric, if you happen to have a different power company, like Pacific Power.

Regardless of state or power company, when you have a grid-tied solar system , there are going to be times when your solar panels are producing more energy than your home is using. This will be most prevalent during the long, sunny days of the summer. When your home is producing this excess energy, it gets sent back to the power grid and dispersed by the utility company. When this happens, its good for everyone. The clean, green power you send back to the grid replaces some of the dirty, coal-burning electricity that is usually used to power the grid!

Net energy metering is tracked by a two-way meter that will be installed during with your solar system. The meter records the energy you consume from the power company, as well as the energy you send back to the grid. Those credits are then rolled over to reduce your power bill, every month, forever.

How Much Does A Solar Panel Cost

Prices have been coming down steadily over the years. The total cost will depend on how many kilowatts of power your array will generate. According to consumer reports, after solar tax credits are accounted for, the cost for a solar panel system on an average-sized house in the U.S. in 2021 ranges from $11,000 to $15,000.

How Does Net Metering Work

As mentioned above, net metering allows you to sell electricity back to your utility company if you produce more than you need at any given time for your home or business. Your local utility company will sign an agreement with you, the solar array owner, and based on the kilowatts of your solar system and its annual production capacity, will determine what exactly your monthly bill will be for this service.

For instance, if you produce more than your home consumes in one month, you can sell any surplus back to the utility and they will credit your account. The exact terms can vary from company to company however, many companies today offer attractive deals to solar array owners such as low rates and even cash back incentives. If you decide to go solar through a local installer or contractor, they’ll make these arrangements for you so all you have to do is enjoy the savings on your energy bills down the line. But if you’d rather install the panels yourself than hire an installer or contractor, then arranging net metering agreements directly with utility companies will be a must.

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Take Us Through The Process Of Designing Prototyping And Manufacturing Your First Product

At the time I still had some money saved up from my mortgage days but decided to do everything on a shoestring budget. I rented a desk in my friends office and rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

The first thing I had to do was to learn the basics of how the solar industry works. There werent any books at the time because the industry was just too new, so I just cold-called random people I found on the internet and started putting the pieces together.

Heres what I learned:

• Proposal – A solar company designs a solar system based on the electricity usage that a homeowner or business has used in the past 12 months. Its then presented to the client.

• Permit design plans – Once the client has signed an agreement to purchase a solar system , then design and permit plans are created by an engineer.

• Permits – These plans are then submitted to the local city or county to get building permits issued.

• installation – The next step is for the system to be installed by a team of installers and electricians.

• Utility approval – the last step is to submit for approval to the local utility company to get attached to the electrical grid. This allows the client to sell their excess electricity back to the utility company.

One of my cold calls put me in touch with a local solar equipment distributor, Affordable Solar.

Know your financial and marketing numbers inside out. Its the difference between having a business and having a hobby.

How To Sell Solar Power Back To The Utility

Have You Ever Wondered What To Do Or What Happens With The Excess Solar Produced By Your Solar Energy System?

Net-Metering Allows You To Further Lower Your Electricity Bill, Learn More About Net-Metering and How To Maximize Your Savings!

For People Wondering How Do You Sell Solar Power Back To The Grid Read Below!

So youve gone ahead and taken the leap: Youve installed solar panels in your home or office. Youre feeling pretty good about this decision youre pulling in eco-friendly, renewable energy the panels were cost-effective and the installation was seamless youre confident that youll be saving money in energy costs year after year. But heres an added bonus on top of the solar tax credit you might not have known about: you can sell your solar power back to a utility company. Thats right for savvy consumers, solar energy can both save and earn all at the same time. Hows that for multitasking?

If you are generating more power from your solar panels than youre using in your home or business, many electric companies will apply a credit to your monthly bill. Depending on the month, will influence how much does the electric company pay for solar power. For example, currently in November 2018 the true up rate is $ .03988 a kilowatt. For every kilowatt you sell back to SDGE, they will credit your account .40 cents a kilowatt. If you were to sell 100 kilowatts of solar power back to the electric company they would credit your upcoming bill 40 dollars!

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How To Sell Solar Power Into Your Grid And Make Money

Related

• What Are the Benefits of Solar Power to Business?

From sloped roof installations to flat roof tilt-up arrays and building integrated models, possibilities for commercial solar power generation are varied and numerous. Companies joining in on the solar trend have the added bonus of selling excess power to the utility for money in the form of credits and savings.

The basic principle behind solar energy systems is relatively simple: solar panels installed on a roof or set of buildings generate DC power via photovoltaic cells a solar inverter transforms DC power to AC, which travels to a breaker box, which supplies the company’s electricity.

San Antonio: Cps Energy Net Metering

CPS Energy has a net metering program for energy consumers, with the following rules:

• All electricity generation below the monthly consumption is credited at full price. For example, if a home consumes 500 kWh from the grid, and exports 450 kWh of surplus solar production, the bill is calculated for 50 kWh.

• If electricity generation is higher than consumption, the surplus is credited at the avoided cost rate. This is the price that CPS Energy would have paid to get that electricity from power plants.

CPS Energy also manages a rebate program to help purchase solar power systems. The residential rebate is $2,500 per installation, with an additional $500 for using local solar panels. On the other hand, the commercial rebate is $0.60/watt up to 25 kW, and $0.40/watt for any capacity above 25 kW. In this case, the rebate for local solar panels is $0.10/watt.

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Can You Sell Power Back To The Grid In California

California leads the nation in the use of renewable energy, especially solar. Starting with the deregulation of the energy system in 1996, state legislation has encouraged the growth of solar energy use by providing tax incentives to consumers and utilities. One incentive rewards consumers whose alternate energy installation generates more power than their home or business uses, increasing energy available for the states electric grid.

If You Have A Low Solar Buy

This is where you want to maximise your daytime electricity use. In the case of a low buy back, it makes the most sense to use the electricity you generate instead of paying for it when the suns not up. This means if you pay 30c for your electricity and sell for 6c, youll save on 24c or 80% of your electricity rate for using that amount of solar.

You should adjust your usage so that its more spread out during the day like the graph below. This means you are drawing more power from your panels than from the grid.

Energy usage chart

How to use power during the day

Many of us arent home during the day. With technologies like carbonTRACK and smart plugs, you can start using your power when youre not at home.

To spread out your energy use, simply turn on high demand appliances such as the dryer, dishwasher or water water system during the day time when your is generating power.

carbonTRACK can connect with the households electricity system. Heavy demand appliances like the hot water or pool pump systems can be automated. Schedules can be set, so they turn on when the sun is out and be ready to use when youre home.

You can also use our smart plugs to automate smaller appliances such as the dryer to turn on during the day.

If you already have a carbonTRACK unit but not sure how to automate your home, check out this video tutorial or contact us below.

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If You Have A High Solar Buy

If you are fortunate enough to have buy-back rate higher than what you pay for electricity, make sure to use as little electricity as possible during the day. This lets the generated electricity feed back into the grid so you can take advantage of the high buy-back rate.

How to save power during the day

Apart from the obvious, such as turning off appliances, make sure to check for ones with standby mode as standby power can make up for 10% of your electricity use. You can use carbonTRACK to set large loads like hot water to turn on overnight, during the early mornings or evenings only, so you use outside the solar window.

Smart plugs can also be automated to automatically switch off appliances during the day and turn the back on at night so that you avoid the solar window.

What Have Been The Most Influential Books Podcasts Or Other Resources

Im an avid reader, and Im constantly reading books to be inspired and learn. Some of my favorite books are:

• Great CEOs are Lazy: breaks down how to focus on a companys top constraints. Powerful.

• The Power of Habit: your daily behavior creates your results This book helps you create successful habits.

• Any book by Ben Mezrich. Bitcoin Billionaires is his latest. Always entertaining and inspiring.

I love any podcasts that tell stories of entrepreneurs, their successes, failures, etc. Here is my favorite:

• Short story long with Chris Drama Pfaff: Each week entrepreneurs and other successful people tell their story of how they built their business or career. Very inspiring and Drama is a business owner himself.

• Group Chat: Three friends that are entrepreneurs give their takes on business, news, entertainment, etc. An entertaining but very informative show. Highly recommended.

• Trevor Moawad – any podcast interview with Trevor Moawad, who is one of the top mental coaches in the world of sports. His neutral thinking approach is simple, yet so incredibly productive.

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A Vision For The Future

FPL points to its role in a particular bet on a solar future: Babcock Ranch, developed near Fort Myers by a company that extols it as the nations first sustainable town. The power company built a solar farm that largely supplies the towns energy needs.

FPL announced four similarly sized projects in April, and Duke says it is also building farms that size.

FPL has been working for many years to advance solar energy while keeping customer bills low, said Mark Bubriski, a company spokesman. The utility said it plans to add enough solar capacity to power about 1.5 million homes and provide 20 percent of its total generation by 2030.

During legislative hearings in Tallahassee, Syd Kitson, the developer of Babcock Ranch, which will include 20,000 homes when fully developed, proposed building a town that could showcase the benefits of solar power.

Im an environmentalist who is a developer, Mr. Kitson said. It is the Sunshine State, so it made a lot of sense to us.

But solar proponents feel the utilities need to be pushed further.

Scott McIntyre, chief executive of Solar Energy Management, a statewide leader in commercial solar power based in St. Petersburg, said the gains the state appeared to be making were little more than a facade.

Florida is not going to do any type of energy policy that benefits consumers, not for a long time, Mr. McIntyre said. They just keep making the hurdles higher and higher.

Electric Plans For Solar Owners

Definitions:

TDU: As your local Transmission and Distribution Utility, charges to maintain the lines that deliver electricity to and from your homes.

Retailer: The Retail Electricity Provider you choose resells you electricity and bills for delivery on behalf of your TDU.

Plan: The plan you choose sets the monthly- and/or usage-based costs you pay for electricity, as defined by the Electricity Facts Label .

Term: The length of your contract in months.

ETF: An Early Termination Fee for quitting your contract more than 14 days early .

Rate Type:Fixed rates guarantee the same pricing terms for each month of the contract. Time-of-Use plans charge predefined rates for usage during peak vs. non-peak hours. Indexed rates vary with indices such as the wholesale price of electricity or natural gas.

Base /mo: A monthly fee to cover administrative or other non-usage-based costs.

Import /kWh: The rate you pay for each kWh of electricity you consume from the grid.

Export /kWh: The credit you earn for each excess kWh of electricity you supply to the grid.

RTW: Real-Time Wholesale prices update every 5 minutes with supply/demand and are published by ERCOT here. They average ~3 ¢/kWh, but can spike up to 900 ¢/kWh during peak demand periods.

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Can I Sell Electricity Back To The Grid

In addition to the altruistic benefits of using renewable energy, solar panels can also be a wise long-term financial investment.

Everyone knows that solar panels can help put more money into your pocket in the form of reduced monthly energy costs, but they can also put more money into your pocket through a process called net metering.

Metering And Rate Arrangements For Grid

With a grid-connected system, when your renewable energy system generates more electricity than you can use at that moment, the electricity goes onto the electric grid for your utility to use elsewhere. The Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act of 1978 requires power providers to purchase excess power from grid-connected small renewable energy systems at a rate equal to what it costs the power provider to produce the power itself. Power providers generally implement this requirement through various metering arrangements. Here are the metering arrangements you are likely to encounter:

Some power providers will now let you carry over the balance of any net extra electricity your system generates from month to month, which can be an advantage if the resource you are using to generate your electricity is seasonal. If, at the end of the year, you have produced more than you’ve used, you forfeit the excess generation to the power provider.

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Can I Sell Electricity From Solar Energy To Bge And Pepco

by Lauren Dabrowski | May 8, 2013 | Blog

As part of our series on calculating the ROI of solar panels, today we answer a question from Jarrod in Baltimore, Md. about net metering selling electricity from solar power back to the utility company.

Q: I understand my solar electric system may generate more power than I need to run my home. Can I sell this excess electricity back to the power company, and if so, how do I get started?

A: Maryland residents can absolutely sell their excess solar energy back to their power company. Maryland has committed to producing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. The state is actively encouraging the practice of net metering selling excess energy generated from privately owned systems back to the utilities in order to meet this goal. To be eligible for net metering in the state of Maryland, your solar electric system must meet the following conditions:

• It must produce no more than 2 megawatts of power.
• It must be intended primarily to serve your own needs for power. Eligible systems may not generate more than 200% of your annual baseline energy usage.
• It must be located on your property or on a property immediately contiguous to yours. However, you do not need to own the system. Leased systems or solar systems owned by third parties are eligible for net metering in Maryland.

Get Started: Sell Electricity from Solar with Net Metering