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Let's say I buy enough panels and storage that I don't need a connection to the mains.
There's a law what says that my house in uninhabitable if it's not connected, and I have to pay a minimum fee to the electric company even if I'm not using any electricity from them.
They are slowly, but surely, raising the minimum fee.
We have, as a given, stated that I have enough solar panels and storage to run my place without the mains connected, that means that I don't need the mains... but they are hooked up anyways.
A storm blows through and the mains are severed!
No problem, right? I have enough panels and storage to go without them, right?
Nope.
Not unless I paid almost five times as much for the panels and storage and didn't take advantage of any of the incentives or breaks to get them.
Because it's illegal to install a simple, automatic, switching system that prevents my panels and storage from back-feeding the mains in the event of a black-out. BUT ONLY IF I TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS!
You read that right.
Even though I have a fucking power plant on my roof, it's useless unless a power plant miles from here is making power that reaches my meter.
Now, if I decided to buy an emergency, whole-house, natural gas fueled generator that simple, automatic, switching system comes with it. Why? Because such a switch is required by law for every power generation system EXCEPT solar in Florida.
Solar is a con, and I'm not quite sure who the con is, but I'm damn sure who the marks are.
Why not just trip the main breaker and let the panels do their thing? Not automatic, but you avoid the problem if you have enough storage to last the dark periods. The connection law does not say you need to USE the power, does it?
ReplyDeleteDo you have electrician skills to wire in a transfer switch yourself?
If I was in that situation, I would wire in the necessary equipment and damn the "law".
Solar is not for me, up here in Wisconsin, unfortunately. I've got plenty of roof area.Alternatively,
Because when you trip the main, you are also disconnecting your solar panels. For obvious reasons, they're wired so you can isolate the house from the power...
DeletePeople ARE putting the transfer switches in themselves. It's no small job.
The problem is finding an electrician who will touch it and voiding your panel's warranty.
Illegal modifications void that warranty, dontchaknow.
But here, I am not certain that after installation of the panels that putting in the switch is illegal. I do know that both the contracts I've read indicate that you cannot modify the installation or the warranty is void.
Considering the lifespan of most panels is a bit shorter than that warranty, you're going to want it to replace them!
With any alternate power source, there should be a way of disconnecting the system from the grid, else some lineworker doing repairs will become a very large bug in a very large bugzapper.
DeleteMethinks I smell corruption by solar powers here.
Regulatory Capture is the term.
DeleteThe power company doesn't regard that solar power plant on your roof to be yours. It's theirs. It's the reason they're trying to reduce the price they pay for the power you generate.
Here's how the bill works: They note how much power you used. Subtract the power you generated. If you generated more than you used, you get a credit against the next bill. If you used more than you generated you pay them. Right now the power you generate is billed at the same rate as the power on the mains. If they managed to reduce the amount that your power is sold to them, you could end up paying a power bill even though you took nothing from their mains.
There is a cut-off that keeps your panels from back feeding the lineman. It cuts both directions. Up the mains and into your house.
the cons are soros and other big dem investors. they bought into "green energy" whole hog to the point of almost going bankrupt . only obama saved them with tax dollars and these stupid regs. until they improve battery storage by a quantum leap solar is a boondogle.
ReplyDeleteThey are pushing green energy because of just this issue. It makes the masses much more reliant on city living, on reducing, on becoming more serf and peasant than citizen.
DeleteHow can you tell? Just look at their palatial estates. Where's the solar? Where's the wind? Where's the alternate energy systems? Oh, at their palatial estates there are either huge diesel or nat gas generators or both.
It's all about control. I used to think this was all conspiracy theory but, nope...
That is an interesting set of rules for use of any kind of generator in FL. I am amazed that you are REQUIRED to have an automatic switching system. What if your generator is pull start and requires hookup when power fails (not permanently wired)?
ReplyDeleteI installed my own manual 8 circuit transfer switch to cover all critical circuits to keep da wife happy. Maybe once every 3 or 4 years we get a bad ice storm or gales of the lake that knock out power. Trundle out the old gen-set, connect to the outdoor feed inlet and one yank of the cord makes it go(I completely drain the carb after every use). Walk down to the basement (yah, I know, what is a basement?) and transfer freezer, fridge, heater, kitchen, bathroom and tv room. Done. Just picked up a neat gadget that allows me to add another gas can to the one on the generator, it sucks in fuel from the outboard tank until all gone, then drains the main tank. Get easily 12 to 24 hours of operation depending on size of the external tank.
Have thought about investing in a natural gas/electric start but for the frequency of use, just not worth it. Solar is 100% a scam and not worth a cowflop outside of the far south or near the equator if you live where there is no grid..
If your generator automatically starts when the mains are off, you must have the isolater switch which engages when the generator is on.
DeleteThe issue with solar is the installer selling with the incentives is required to wire it so that your house goes dead when the mains are dead, regardless of whether the panels are producing power.
It's literally the same switch as a whole house natural gas generator, just wired differently.
The reason, it turns out, is the power generated by "your" panels isn't actually yours as per the agreement included with the incentives. Your generation "goes" to the grid. You are charged for all the watts you use, subtracting the watts generated by "your" panels. You pay the difference.
If you fired up your whole house genset, because it's unmetered, you're only charged for the power the mains actually bring into the house.
I've seen solar setups where the panels don't feed the grid at all, and they paid significantly more for the installation than a neighbor with more capacity.
A number of states are changing their net metering policy because of lobbying by power companies.
ReplyDeleteI have talked to several solar salesmen who insist the rules will never change in THEIR state, I don't trust them as far as I can throw them.
Unfortunately, you don't have a choice in Florida since grid hookups are required, unlike most states where off grid is legal.