Have Questions?
It occurs to me that some of you who are considering PV solar for their home or office might be a little concerned about bothering us with questions.
Please don’t be. If we have information that can help (especially if we haven’t managed to post it here), please send us a note at markrsmith@gmail.com.
We’ll be glad to help if we can, and I might even do a little digging for your answer if I don’t already know it.
NJ BPU Commissioner Walks the Talk
New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Commissioner Connie Hughes is the first state utility board commissioner in the country to install a solar electric system on her home. (Press Release)
Her home includes a 9.9 kW solar electric system, a thermal solar system for her pool, and passive solar features on the south side of their house. She shares the home with her husband, James – a Dean at Rutgers University (our alma mater!).
I wonder how long it took her to get the various approvals required?
UPDATE: 7/7/2004 – They have pictures up on the NJ BPU Home Page, at least temporarily. It looks like Sharp panels, and almost definately the same inverters that we have (she has 3).
Some Early Numbers
We officially turned our solar electric system on last Monday evening. As of last night, we have some early production numbers.
For the past week, our system produced 210 KWh of electricity. It was a particularly sunny week, including the longest days of the year. Last month while we were in test mode, we produced 183 KWh during a cloudy week.
For June of 2003 (reading on about the 20th of the month), we used 790 KWh. For June of 2002, we used about 900 KWh.
If you multiply the 200 KWh by 4 (for four weeks in the month), we’re due to produced about 750-800 KWh. That is well over the 2/3 of usage estimate, but it’s only one month.
July will be tougher – with the air conditioning requirement last year we used 1460 KWh, against which we’ll probably produce about 750-800 KWh.
Looking good so far!
Meter Confusion
Today is meter reading day. My wife happened to be home and working outside, so when the reader wandered by, she walked over.
Apparently, he was confused as our new meter was not on his list. He made a few phone calls, and that got resolved. Apparently, even though they can read it via the phone line, he still has to record the number as a double-check.
Today will be the end of the first week – tomorrow I’ll post some numbers. I won’t have any real comparison to usage until next month when we get a bill for an entire month with the system active.
Final Approval
We got final verbal approval from PSE&G today! We’ll be turning the inverters on permanently tonight.
Our installer called his PSE&G contact, and was told that we could have turned on the system as soon as the meter was replaced. Of course, that isn’t written anywhere (in fact, the tariffs say you have to wait until your next meter reading after filing as a minimum). We decided to stick with the letter of the rules until we got some communication from PSE&G.
We should be getting the letter from them soon with the signed agreement.
Solar Installation Site Index
On May 25, 2004 the installation of solar panels on our house in Hamilton, NJ was completed.
This index lists all interesting entries for this project. Click the links below to go directly to that article.
The System We Chose (Jan 28, 2004) (NOTE: Some technical details changed later.)
A Little About Us (Jan 28, 2004)
How It Will Work (Jan 29, 2004) (NOTE: We ended up not using a sub-panel.)
Some of The Components (Feb 3, 2004) (NOTE: We ended up with the 175-watt cousin of the 185-watt panels mentioned here)
Switching Panels (“Latest Update”) (Mar 29, 2004)
Permit Delays (“More Delays”) (Apr 8, 2004)
Township Permit Issues (“Yet Another Update”) (Apr 23, 2004)
Permit in Hand! (Apr 29, 2004)
INSTALLATION Day 1 (May 3, 2004) – PICTURES – setup
Homeowner’s Insurance and PV Systems (May 3, 2004)
INSTALLATION Day 2 (May 4, 2004) – PICTURES – rail installation
INSTALLATION Day 3 (May 5, 2004) – PICTURES – roof wiring
INSTALLATION Day 4 (May 6, 2004) – PICTURES – most of the panels
INSTALLATION Day 5 (May 10, 2004) – PICTURES – last panel, wiring conduit
INSTALLATION Day 6 (May 18, 2004) – PICTURES – inside electrical, installation complete
Final Cost Roundup (May 20, 2004) – includes payback information
Inspections (May 25, 2004) – township and NJ Clean Energy Program
Phone Line Installation (Jun 8, 2004)
New Meter Installation (Jun 10, 2004) – PICTURES
Reading the Meter, PSE&G Billing (Aug 4, 2004)
Jersey Solar, LLC – A Review (Aug 27, 2004)
In addition to those entries, there are many other “still waiting” entries, entries about other people’s installations, and entries containing my thoughts on solar energy topics. You can most easily find those by choosing an Archive month link at the left.
New Meter
As I mentioned below, the new phone line was installed for our electronic meter. I called from it to my house the other day, and “PSE&G” came up on caller ID.
Today, I called and a machine answered with a single beep! I think we may have the new meter installed. I won’t know for sure until I get home tonight. If that’s the case, we may be able to turn our solar panels on as soon as tomorrow (or even today).
I’ll try to post pictures tonight, as long as there isn’t a severe thunderstorm going on when I get home (they are calling for one).
UPDATE: They did install the new meter. Here it is:
The meter is a replacement of the old mechanical meter. Also, the box attached to the lower left corner of the meter box is new – I think it includes the modem. It’s locked, so I can’t tell for sure.
This is a close-up of the new meter. I have no idea what the things on the screen mean – I’ll have to do some digging on the net to find out.
We are now waiting for verbal permission (to be obtained – hopefully – by our installer through his contacts tomorrow) to turn the panels on. At some point soon, we should receive the signed interconnection agreement and we can turn them on then anyway.
Phone Line Installed
Verizon installed the phone line yesterday – 1 day shy of 2 weeks after I mailed the PSE&G interconnection agreement, and about 1 week after they cashed my check.
They installed what seems to be a POTS line (normal, dial tone line) with a local phone number. Verizon left a modular station wire attached to the telephone network interface with the phone number written on the baggie.
I guess that this means that PSE&G can install the meter any day. Looking at their tariffs, there’s a chance they might wait until my next meter-reading day – which should be June 20 or thereabouts. Or, maybe I’ll come home tonight and find it done.
Time of Day Metering
PSE&G now allows Time of Day Metering (article on page 2 in this bill insert) for residential customers.
I checked the tariff (RLM rate schedule), and this rate schedule is available for net metering customers (like solar or wind customers).
Basically, if you have PSE&G as your energy supplier, you currently pay (RS schedule) 11.7 cents per kWh for the first 600 kWh, and 13.0 cents per kWh for all usage about 600. With Time of Day Metering, it’s 17.2 cents per kWh during the day, and 7.9 cents per kWh at night in the summer. In the winter, it’s 11.5 cents per kWh day or night for regular service, or 10.7 during the day and 7.8 at night for Time of Day. Day is defined as 7am to 9pm – just like a cellular phone company.
There’s a difference in the monthly charge as well. The regular service charges $2.41 per month. Time of Day Metering charges a whopping $13.85. There’s a catch as well – you have to pay a minimum of $2.95 per peak kW over a 30 minute period during the month against your usage charge – this is probably intended to keep people from using LOTS of power at night.
This seems on the surface like a good deal for solar power producers. Basically, you sell your power (or buy a little) during the day when your solar production is highest at a higher rate, and buy back at night at a lower rate. A hot, humid, cloudy day will probably hurt if you have your air conditioners on, but if the sun is shining brightly (when you have the highest cooling need), you’re producing the most energy. In the winter, you’re paying LESS than the typical customer so the relatively lower solar production doesn’t really hurt much.
I’m going to wait until we get through this round of approvals before considering this option. I’ll also have to do some measuring and figuring to see whether or not this is tipped in the utility’s favor (I think the higher monthly charge and peak minimum may be) before I’ll consider the option. It is a good idea, though.
STATUS UPDATE: I got an image of my interconnection fee check sent to PSE&G. It has a few numbers written on the front: a 9-digit “N#”, an 8-digit “S#” and a four-digit code that looks like a territory “62SS”. If anybody knows what these are, or how to figure out my status from this info, please let me know.
Another one in the area
Found this article from the Lawrence Ledger – yesterday’s edition.
These folks are in the next town north of Hamilton. Their system is going to be 8.4 kW – about 25% larger than ours. Of course, it’s going on a barn – lots of room.
UPDATE 2009: This guy is a member of the church that I ended up joining in 2006. He and I served together on that church’s Green Team.
Web Stuff
