Another Hamilton NJ System
I’m signed up to offer my SREC’s (Solar Renewable Energy Credits) on the NJCEP website. At that site, my e-mail address is available, so that people can make me offers.
The other day I got an e-mail from Nick, who has a system of his own in Hamilton, NJ. He’s about 2-3 miles from me as the crow flies.
His system is a 7.6 Kw Sanyo/Sharp system. The panels are Sanyo 180W panels – the Sharp 185’s weren’t available. Nick says about the panels: “the Sanyo is a hybrid design which operates at a higher efficiency than any other module I found. It also operates at a wider range of the light spectrum so it tends to harvest more power. They were also about 5% more expensive.” The inverters are the Sharp 3500 watt inverters – the same as mine. He did a self-design, self-install, working with a local electrician. He had the same trouble that I did with the township, but his time from permit application to completed installation was only 6 weeks (I suspect that he benefited from us a little, as he applied later).
I haven’t seen his system yet, but he agreed that I could post the pictures that he e-mailed to me. Here they are, with my guesses at what we’re looking at.
This is the view from the front of the house. Apparently, the front of his house points east, so part of the panels are pointed east and part are pointed south.
This must be the eastern ones (the file name is “east array”).
This is the south-facing array.
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The Sharp inverters on the left and panels on the right.
Nick added the ability to hook up to a backup generator plugged in outside the house. The thing at the top with meters and the big switch looks like the transfer switch. The breaker panel on the right is the main house panel that utility power is connected through. The panel on the left is the sub-panel for backup protected power. The solar inverters input into the house system there. The little box on the left is a whole-house surge suppressor.
Here are the external disconnects. The DC disconnects are on the right. The AC disconnect is in the right-hand side of the meter panel. Note that PSE&G hadn’t changed out the meter yet in this picture from July – it’s probably been done by now. Nick and I both prefer the old analog meter – the new digital meter doesn’t really show power flowing from the house to the utility very well. It’s much nicer to see the meter turn backwards.
Below the box on the right in this picture is the connect point for a future generator.
All in all, it’s a nice system – especially for a self-install. His system produces more power than mine, but cost him a few thousand less. Nick is talking about us visiting each other’s systems to compare notes, and we’ll probably do that soon.
Now he gets the joys of startup billing issues from PSE&G!
More on PSE&G Billing and Net Metering
Last night, I got my August bill from PSE&G. Again, it was not correct for net metering – it had my usage based on the inbound power reading but ignored the outbound power reading. That overstated my usage by 1/3.
I called customer service in the evening. They couldn’t help, but had the right person call me in the morning. He did call.
The way net metering works for the moment is:
1. Your meter is read by telephone on your reading date.
2. Your meter is also read by the reader on-site (because I also have a gas meter).
3. The automated system generates a bill that will be wrong.
4. The bill is supposed to be intercepted and forwarded to one person.
I am sharing my experience buy viagra tabs with you in this article. You can treat male getting viagra in australia impotence by some lifestyle changes such as losing excess weight, quitting smoking, exercising regularly, quitting alcohol consumption, losing weight if you are obese and reducing stress may be all that is needed to cure their issue has also risen. At the same time thousands of firms used the refundable tax credit as valuable cash flow and working capital to both survive, grow or start their business, and to be popular you order viagra india browse description need to feature on results. On the partner’s side, this pushes the partner to feel left out, depressed and sour in the relationship levitra generika http://appalachianmagazine.com/2016/01/12/nws-forecasts-snow-for-west-virginia-issues-winter-weather-advisory/ too. 5. That single person takes the bill and generates a new bill with net metering taken into account. He also applies corrections to your billing in the A/R system to adjust for the automated bill.
6. You receive the corrected bill only, and pay based on that.
What happened to me was that the bill was not stopped on the way to me in step 4.
This one guy has to prepare bills for ALL net metering customers. The computer system is scheduled to be updated in the 2nd quarter of 2005 to automate the process, but in the meantime he’s stuck re-working bills for all PSE&G customers in the southern part of the state who have net metering. He said it wasn’t too bad when it was one or two people, but he’s up to 81 now.
I don’t yet know if the adjustments are being applied to my Green Mountain supplier interface yet. I’ll have to keep an eye on that – I might be getting overbilled for the supplier portion of my bill (as opposed to the distribution portion from PSE&G).
Jersey Solar, LLC – A Review
My wife got our first referral call from a potential customer of Jersey Solar, LLC. I guess it’s time for me to summarize and do a review and recommendation.
I’ll do this by breaking it down, and giving a grade (A, B, C, D, F with + and -) to all areas.
Initial Communication – A- – I searched for residential solar installers mainly online. One striking thing that I found was that Jersey Solar was mentioned in ALL of the residential solar case studies on the NJ Clean Energy Program website. I had also contacted Astropower and they referred me to Jersey Solar. The only reason for the minus on the grade is that my referral from Astropower was lost when Jersey Solar’s computer failed and it was a few months before they contacted me. I also looked at websites for NJ residential solar installers – Jersey Solar didn’t have one but the ones that I did find for others were out of date and low quality. I did speak with Jersey Solar in late November, but didn’t schedule a free site survey until December because I had to convince my wife to go forward.
Site Survey – A – Rick Brooke scheduled my site survey at a time convenient to me – I think it was a workday evening but it might have been a Saturday morning. (I really don’t remember now.) He came and the first thing he did upon getting out of his truck was to check the compass direction to figure out where to put the panels. He and I did a walkaround of the house, followed by an indoor inspection of the electrical breaker box. We then sat down in the dining room to talk. Rick was saved from a trip to the roof on this visit for measurements by the fact that I had copies of the original blueprints for the house – he got his measurements from them. We discussed various options and manufacturers including the merits of battery backup. We also talked about working in the township and his prior experience here. In the end, I requested two estimates – one with battery backup and one without. Rick left brochures for some of the equipment to help illustrate the concept.
Estimate – B – I received the estimate in the mail about a week after the site survey. The estimate was for a single total dollar amount, along with the estimated state rebate and my net cost. I got those numbers for each of the two options presented: a Sharp system with no battery backup (which we installed) and an Astropower system with battery backup. Brochures for both the Sharp and Astropower systems were included. The state rebate application was included with Jersey Solar’s information and all of the technical information completed – I just had to complete my information and mail it. I ended with with a grade of B here for two reasons: the estimate was not detailed and it would have been nice to receive something with more information on how the system would be installed (what components go where, etc). Rick encouraged us to go ahead and apply for the rebate even if we were unsure about whether to proceed – we weren’t locked in by applying.
Post-Estimate Support – A – For about a month, we pondered the estimate. My wife had many questions (as an engineer and homeowner) and Rick did his best to answer them. He provided sample wind loading calculations and wiring diagrams when asked. He was able to produce some information on the effect of solar power on property values. He answered every question during this period within a few days. Once we received the rebate approval, we waited another week to finally decide and then sent our first 1/2 payment to Jersey Solar.
And they are equipped with appropriate strategies to effect cheap viagra http://djpaulkom.tv/contest-win-tickets-to-da-mafia-6ix-triple-6ix-sinners-tour-in-memphis/ change for couples in abusive relationships. This diabetic induced damage to nerves and issues with circulation that are common complications of your body can lead to issues with erection or tablet viagra climax. This type of cheap viagra no prescription means limits the efficacy of PDE- a little and allows cGMP, which in turn preserve the feature of the circulation of blood and let the shark out. Deepika are two Ayurvedic practitioners who online cialis soft have previously used other forms of conventional electric stimulation or electro-acupuncture. Pre-Installation Period – C – This is the one area where Jersey Solar fell down. We were given estimates of installation dates (very rough – like “I think we can install mid-March”) that proved to be incorrect. We had told Rick that the Hamilton Township Planning department was very difficult to deal with on any project, and that he should contact them to see what was necessary. Rick chose not to do so, assuming that the process should run “just like every other town”. There were some discrepancies between the dates that Rick told me that events occurred or would occur (like the day that the permit was/would be applied for) and the actual dates – usually no more than 2 weeks. Rick also attempted to schedule installation based on the township’s verbal estimate of processing time for the permit – and then failed to check on the status of the permit from his vacation. This caused us to take vacation time for the installation that ultimately didn’t happen. I feel that communication with the customer every 2 weeks on a 4-5 month project is appropriate – even if there is no new information. Instead, Rick seemed to be annoyed by our requests for status every 3 weeks or so. The permit was initially denied, but later approved after Rick reminded the township of a mayoral executive order to expedite renewable energy permits. Rick did a good job of staying close to the township and the township attorney until a copy of the executive order was found. Towards the end of the Pre-Installation phase, Rick’s communications did improve in frequency and amount and accuracy of information.
Installation – A+ – Once the installation began, Jersey Solar really shined. The estimates of the time required to complete the installation were right on target. The panel installation took 5 working days – one day longer than the original estimate of 4 days due to rain on the first day. The installation team was very good about allowing a reasonable amount of nosiness by us about the equipment, process and schedule. We were allowed to take pictures – most of which appear on this site. The installation was done with no damage to the house or property, and with an eye towards being aesthetically pleasing. This included hiding the wiring conduit behind an existing gutter, centering the panels on the roof, making a minimum number of holes in the side of the house for wiring and using cardboard beneath the ladder feet at all time to avoid damage to the sidewalk and lawn. My neighbors have mostly praised the look of the installations, with reactions between “It’s really cool” and “It looks a lot better than I thought it would”. The site was reasonably clean every night, with no packaging material strewn about. We were asked if we could take care of recycling the cardboard packaging – I am sure that Rick would have taken it away for us if we declined. All of our questions were answered along the way. The equipment worked on the first try once minor issues were resolved. We were left with a functioning system after installation running in “test” mode until the township and NJCEP inspections were completed. At the writing of this review several months later, we have still had no problems even after severe winds and weather (though no winter weather yet). The system takes care of itself. I was told by the NJCEP inspector that the inspection would be a formality, because “Rick does excellent work.”
Inspections – A – Rick had done a sufficiently good job of explaining the system to me that his presence at the township and NJCEP inspections was unnecessary. Rick was available by telephone at the time of the inspections, and this was nearly required for the township electrical inspector. Neither inspector had any issues with the installation that didn’t involve the inspector’s ignorance regarding solar power.
Post-Installation – A – At this point, we have had no need for service. However, Rick stayed involved with our interconnection process with PSE&G and made a call on our behalf to get permission to use the system after the meter was replaced, but before we received the written agreement back (which STILL hasn’t happened yet). Rick has also sent communications to all of his customers regarding the new Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) trading market. It’s clear to me that the relationship with Jersey Solar doesn’t end with the installation.
OVERALL – A- – Except for the pre-installation period, my experience with Jersey Solar, LLC was positive. They got all of the important and lasting parts right – the only downside was some temporary discord. The installation was completed cleanly, right the first time, and in a manner that shows the best face to potential customers.
I would recommend Jersey Solar, LLC to other residential solar customers.
NJ Net Metering Proposed Revisions
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is proposing changes to the net metering rules.
There are no summaries available. I’ve read them, and I think they are designed to do a few things:
1. Further simplify the interconnection of small (<10Kw) systems, and speed up the process.
2. Simplify the interconnection of medium (10KW to 2MW) systems.
3. Provide for the use of “packages” of interconnection equipment, which are certified.
Increased blood pressure seen among diabetic patients increases tadalafil for sale risk of cell damage there by promoting impotence or erectile dysfunction. Tadalafil doesn’t induce an erection; it creates the right environment in your body to achieve one naturally with your partner. cheap viagra No kids not sildenafil generico viagra a complete family, it is a recognized complication of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. Any task that has this meaning to someone is online viagra mouthsofthesouth.com considered an embarrassing condition by many men. Point 1 may answer written comments that I submitted to the Board for hearings back in July. Basically, the utility was able to prevent you from turning your system on until they got around to replacing your analog (but still net metering-compatible) meter with the electronic meter that they prefer. This was done by not approving the interconnection agreement until the meter was installed. (NOTE to PSE&G – I still haven’t gotten my signed interconnection agreement.) The new rules require quick action by the utility and a publicly available method of contacting the correct person at the utility. Once you submit the interconnection agreement, the utility has to acknowledge the application within 3 days (never happened for me), approve or deny it within 10 days, and decide whether or not to inspect within an additional 3 days – a total of about 3 weeks. You have to specify a startup date (presumably, you can say “ASAP” on the application) and notify them within 5 days of that date (again, the application probably does that). Then, you can turn the system on whether or not you have a new meter. Further, the approval is automatic if the utility does not respond within 4 weeks. All of this is good – it gets the solar panels working to generate electricity and save you money as much as a month quicker than the current process. It does require UL approval – which most small inverters already have.
Point 2 is for medium-sized systems. I have heard of terrible troubles faced by businesses and especially by schools who generate over 10KW – they are faced with expensive design reviews and months in addition to the time required for smaller systems. This new level of net metering approval allows them to get going faster as well.
Point 3 may be where the interesting stuff is hidden. This provides for “packages” of interconnection hardware. This is where the do-it-yourself’er comes in; soon you will be able to buy “Solar Power Kits” at your local Home Depot or Lowe’s store to install. The rule changes say that as long as the package is approved by a national lab (UL), no additional inspection can be required by the utility. I believe that hidden behind this is the removal of the requirement for an external disconnect switch, since most (if not all) small inverters already disconnect themselves when utility power is lost. IEEE 1547 recognizes that and allows “non-islanding inverters” without disconnect switches. Additionally, as long as the local electrical inspector has approved your installation, you are clear to operate unless the utility requires their own inspection.
All of these proposed (they are still pending) changes are good, and should help alleviate the bureaucracy required to install such a system somewhat. We are getting closer to the day where you can buy the equipment, take it home, and get it up and running – just like you can build your own deck or install your own bathtub.
Solar/Hydrogen Combination
At the University of New South Wales, a team is working on solar cells that generate hydrogen.
This is pretty cool. These new solar cells will take water as input, and photolyze hydrogen and oxygen as output. The hydrogen will then presumably be used in fuel cells to generate electricity. Unlike conventional solar electricity, the hydrogen can be banked for later use (yes, you can do that with batteries, but you can’t put the battery into your electric car today) or use elsewhere (like overseas).
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(Hat Tip: Dean’s World)
New Jersey Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SREC)
The State of NJ has a law that requires utilities to produce a certain amount of their energy (I think it’s 1/100 of 1%) per year from solar energy. Of course, the utilities haven’t actually built solar facilities yet.
Enter the Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC). This is a credit of the “greenness” of 1 MWh (megawatt hour) produced in a particular year that can be sold separate from the actual electricity to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standard requirement. One SREC is created for each MWh of electricity produced by a grid-connected solar power system in NJ. That SREC can be sold to a buyer (usually an aggregator, broker or utility). The state estimates (on a conference call training session held today) that up to 7200 SREC’s will be required for the plan year 2005.
A plan year runs from June 1 to May 31, with SREC’s generated in the year eligible for sale through August 31 of that year. If you don’t sell the SREC’s, you lose their value.
Systems under 10KW will have SREC’s generated from their estimated generation. Systems over 10KW must use a meter reading (systems under 10KW can opt for meter readings, but once you make that choice there’s no going back). In this case, the meter reading in question is a special meter counting ALL output from the system or the counter built into the inverter that counts power produced since initial activation. Systems that use meter reading for credits will self-report their production, and the state has the option to do an in-person inspection. All systems may be inspected to ensure that they are actively in use and grid-connected.
Another requirement for participation is that you have not already sold your SREC or applied it towards a requirement. For example, a company that is producing solar electricity and using that production to offset a reduction in NOx output cannot sell their SREC – that would be double-counting the production. If you’ve already sold your SREC (also known as a “green tag”) out of state, you can’t sell it again.
SREC values in NJ are essentially capped at $250 each, since the state portfolio standard has an alternative route for utilities to satisfy their requirements at that cost. Brokers are estimating values at about $150 each, but a perusal of the state trading site shows SREC’s being currently offered at $200 each.
SREC’s can also be retired without sale. This will be done by buyers who need the credits for themselves (after they buy them). It can also be done to remove SREC’s from the NJ system (because they are sold in another state) or to permanently take them off the market to make a statement about pollution (an SREC that is retired without sale can never be applied against a requirement – forcing the potential buyer to reduce emissions instead).
Former users of these products have reported it as quite helpful. generic 10mg cialis This pill must not practice daily buy cialis in australia as ED considers a kind of sexual disorder not a disease; one must not practice this pill on a regular basis. Love making is one of the strongest precursors for inducing breast cancer causes. brand viagra pfizer Adolescence to Age http://www.learningworksca.org/item-4074 generic viagra online 40 When you are young and energetic. My system will probably produce 5-6 SREC’s per year – for a potential income of $1000-1200 per year. That will help to more quickly payback the system’s initial costs, and reduce the break-even point from 18 years to something shorter.
Generators with an NJ system should follow this procedure to get started:
1. Read the information available at the SREC website http://www.njcep.com/srec/. The Overview and Attestation document is a good place to start.
2. FAX or mail the Attestation document to the NJBPU at the location shown on the document.
3. Create a user ID on the SREC website (see the Training Overview document for information).
4. A few days later, your facility will be linked to your user ID.
5. If required, report meter readings between the 1st and 3rd of each month.
6. SREC’s will be generated on the 5th of the month and made available for sale on the site.
7. Negotiate the sale of one or more SREC’s off-line (the Bulletin Board can be used to find buyers).
8. Record the sale on the site. You have 30 days to cancel for non-payment.
If you have more questions, contact Scott Hunter at the NJBPU, or Jan Pepper at Clean Energy Markets at the contact locations found at the NJCEP website.
Reading the Meter, PSE&G Billing
After looking at my bill for July, it seemed to me that something was wrong.
So, I called PSE&G. After trying Customer Service and Billing, I started trying to track down the person that my installer told me about. I finally found him in the “Third Party Supplier” department.
I asked how to read the new meter, and after doing a little research he came up with an answer.
First, a picture of the meter:
For the purposes of these instructions, I will call the numbers on the left the “little numbers” (066 in the picture) and the numbers on the right the “big numbers” (00003 in the picture). These instructions apply to the Elster electronic meters currently being supplied by PSE&G for residential solar installations. Apparently, some small commercial installations use a similar meter.
The meter display cycles through four displays.
The first display is the “test” display – the meter shows all possible symbols and the numbers all read “8”.
The second display shows a code “100” in the little numbers. The big numbers specify the total in-bound electricity – electricity supplied from the utility grid.
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The third display shows a code “101” in the little numbers. The big numbers specify the total out-bound electricity – electricity produced by your system supplied to the utility grid.
The fourth display shows a code “066” in the little numbers. The big numbers have always displayed “00003” on my meter. Supposedly, this is some diagnostic or definition code.
I think I have the arrows figured out as well. The top arrow seems to point in the same direction as the reading displayed. The bottom arrow seems to point in the direction of the electricity flow. Right means in-bound electricity (the same direction that a mechanical meter spins for purchasing power) and left means out-bound electricity.
Billing Problems
As I was talking to this PSE&G representative about my bill, it became clear that the billing wasn’t happening correctly. For residential solar setups, you are supposed to receive a bill with both an inbound reading and an outbound reading. My July bill (the first acknowledging the new meter) only had a single reading. It looks like that reading was the “101” number – or out-bound – for which I was billed as if it were in-bound power. I’ve already paid that bill, but a corrected bill will appear. Since I received three bills for June, I’m not surprised that it isn’t correct yet.
On future bills, a supplemental page will lay out the in-bound and out-bound numbers and I will be billed/credited for the net usage.
So, if you have a new solar installation grid-connected with PSE&G, you need to make sure that your bill shows both meter readings.
From now on, my electric meter readings will be taken via the phone line and only my gas reading will come from the meter reader.
More PSE&G Confusion
On Friday, July 9 I called PSE&G to inquire what had happened to our June bill. They responded that they had to generate one.
They did generate one. It was postmarked July 14, received on July 15, and a second copy received on July 16 postmarked July 14 with a different postmark. Both copies were due July 19 (2 business days later!). The bill had only a partial month for June – it ended with the last meter reading of the old meter on June 10 when it should have run until June 20 or so.
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They really need to work on this.
One MegaWattHour
Today, our solar electric system finished generating it’s first MegaWattHour (MWh). That happened in about a month, given that we turned the panels on for real on June 14 and they had run in test for one week.
Of course, that’s ideal performance. We haven’t had many rainy or cloudy days in the last month and these are the longest days of the year. This prescription has symptoms as well. free generic cialis Shilajit is one of the famous herbs cialis viagra canada by which this problem can be controlled. There is also a very levitra generic vardenafil small chance that Propecia may increase the risk of male breast cancer. By the solid medical research, it is only a matter of time that improvements are made regarding research and the chiropractic world. female cialis online I’m sure this will be balanced by days where the panels are snow-covered in the winter. However, it’s looking good!
PSE&G Confusion
Our new meter was read on June 21, 2004. When last Friday (July 9) had come without a bill, I got suspicious.
I called PSE&G customer service. It seems that in the change of meters, the system never generated a monthly bill for us. The customer service representative said he’d get one generated.
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Moral of the story – watch your utility like a hawk after installing solar panels.
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