Posted by hubops on April 10, 2011, 1:15 pm
>> You are paid 80 cents / kwh for *any* electricity leaving your array (a
>> billing meter is installed right after your invertors). It doesn't
>> matter if your own home (AC unit, etc) will suck 100% of that solar
>> energy with none of it going back into the grid.
>Are you sure about that first statement? Pardon me if I misunderstand
>what you wrote, but don't you only get paid for the *net current*
>leaving your meter? If you're generating 5KW but "sucking" 6KW into your
>AC, etc., then you have a 1KW net draw, so you're not gonna get paid
>anything, correct?
.. if the topic is still related to Ontario's micro-FIT program (?)
the solar panels would have their own meter - for metering the solar
output - paid at the high subsidized rate. Any other meters on the
property would be for customer load - billed at those normal market
time-of-use rates. ... otherwise we would not be seeing 5-10 kw solar
arrays sprouying up like dandilions.
John T.
Posted by trader4@optonline.net on April 10, 2011, 4:40 pm
> On 4/4/2011 6:16 AM Home Guy spake thus:
> > You are paid 80 cents / kwh for *any* electricity leaving your array (a
> > billing meter is installed right after your invertors). It doesn't
> > matter if your own home (AC unit, etc) will suck 100% of that solar
> > energy with none of it going back into the grid.
> and
> > But still - you can't push more electricity onto a network than the load
> > is asking for (given that your invertors are functioning correctly I
> > guess).
> Are you sure about that first statement? Pardon me if I misunderstand
> what you wrote, but don't you only get paid for the *net current*
> leaving your meter? If you're generating 5KW but "sucking" 6KW into your
> AC, etc., then you have a 1KW net draw, so you're not gonna get paid
> anything, correct?
The 80c per kwh seems very high. But strange as it may seem, here
in the Peoples Republic of NJ, you get paid for the total amount of
electricity the solar array generates, not just the excess amount.
It's not
a direct payment per kwh though. That would be too easy.
The actual story goes something like this. Utilities are being forced
by
law to supply increasing amounts of renewable energy. They can meet
that number through a variety of ways. They could buy it from wind
sources on the grid, for example. But they can also buy certifcates
from folks who generate solar at their homes or businesses. That
certificate counts just like if they had bought energy from company
X's windmill on the wholesale grid somewhere.
Every time the homeowner solar array generates a certain amount
of KWH of energy, the homeowner gets one certificate. Then it
gets more complicated. They have some kind of auction system
that determines how much those certifcates are worth and how
much your power company will pay for it. The amount has
flucutated widely, for factors I don't understand. But in recent
years the typical 8KW array could generate a couplel thousand
dollars a year back to the homeowner.
Oh, and I think they will also actually pay you an additional small
amount for any net amount you put into the grid once a year too.
Posted by Bruce Richmond on April 11, 2011, 5:02 am
> On 4/4/2011 6:16 AM Home Guy spake thus:
> > You are paid 80 cents / kwh for *any* electricity leaving your array (a
> > billing meter is installed right after your invertors). It doesn't
> > matter if your own home (AC unit, etc) will suck 100% of that solar
> > energy with none of it going back into the grid.
> and
> > But still - you can't push more electricity onto a network than the load
> > is asking for (given that your invertors are functioning correctly I
> > guess).
> Are you sure about that first statement? Pardon me if I misunderstand
> what you wrote, but don't you only get paid for the *net current*
> leaving your meter? If you're generating 5KW but "sucking" 6KW into your
> AC, etc., then you have a 1KW net draw, so you're not gonna get paid
> anything, correct?
> That second statement is correct: you can't "push" electrons into the
> grid. But it doesn't matter *how* your inverters are working; it's a
> basic law of physics.
If you apply more volts to a line than what it is carrying what do you
think happens? I run machines that use regenerative braking. They
draw energy from the line to set things in motion. To slow or stop
them the electric motor acts as a generator producing a higher voltage
than the grid, forcing power back into the grid. An inverter can do
the same thing using solid state circuits. The inverter in my Prius
takes DC current from the battery and converts it to whatever voltage
and frequency is needed at the time to run the variable frequency AC
motor. When slowing down the motor becomes an AC generator and the
inverter converts the output to a DC voltage just a bit higher than
the battery, pumping charge back into it.
Posted by David Nebenzahl on April 11, 2011, 6:19 am
On 4/10/2011 10:02 PM Bruce Richmond spake thus:
>
>> That second statement is correct: you can't "push" electrons into
>> the grid. But it doesn't matter *how* your inverters are working;
>> it's a basic law of physics.
>
> If you apply more volts to a line than what it is carrying what do you
> think happens? I run machines that use regenerative braking. They
> draw energy from the line to set things in motion. To slow or stop
> them the electric motor acts as a generator producing a higher voltage
> than the grid, forcing power back into the grid. An inverter can do
> the same thing using solid state circuits. The inverter in my Prius
> takes DC current from the battery and converts it to whatever voltage
> and frequency is needed at the time to run the variable frequency AC
> motor. When slowing down the motor becomes an AC generator and the
> inverter converts the output to a DC voltage just a bit higher than
> the battery, pumping charge back into it.
Sorry, I don't think you know what you're talking about.
You seem to think that you can "force" or push "voltage" into a line, by
using a higher voltage than what's on the line.
That's not at all what's at work here when one has a photovoltaic system
and an intertie feeding power back into "the grid".
The intertie and the house's power connection are going to be at pretty
much exactly the same voltage. What happens is that the PV system is
connected *in parallel* with the grid; it's dumping more *current* into
the system, not more voltage.
You do understand the difference between current and voltage, don't you?
--
The current state of literacy in our advanced civilization:
yo
wassup
nuttin
wan2 hang
k
where
here
k
l8tr
by
- from Usenet (what's *that*?)
Posted by Han on April 11, 2011, 10:57 am
$22641b3@news.adtechcomputers.com:
> The intertie and the house's power connection are going to be at pretty
> much exactly the same voltage. What happens is that the PV system is
> connected *in parallel* with the grid; it's dumping more *current* into
> the system, not more voltage.
<http://www.northjersey.com/news/116938343
_Municipal_officials_throw_wrench_in_PSE_G_s_solar_paneling_program.html>
or
http://tinyurl.com/3tcv4le
--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid
>> billing meter is installed right after your invertors). It doesn't
>> matter if your own home (AC unit, etc) will suck 100% of that solar
>> energy with none of it going back into the grid.
>Are you sure about that first statement? Pardon me if I misunderstand
>what you wrote, but don't you only get paid for the *net current*
>leaving your meter? If you're generating 5KW but "sucking" 6KW into your
>AC, etc., then you have a 1KW net draw, so you're not gonna get paid
>anything, correct?