NJ Solar Rebate Changes
The NJ Clean Energy Program changed some of the rules for the solar PV rebate program. The changes can be found HERE.
One small change is how the rebate is figured. The rebate used to be based on the lesser of $5.50 per watt or 70% of the total invoice from the vendor. Now, it’s based on $5.30 per watt. Supposedly, this is intended to foster price competition among installers. For me, based on my installer’s charges, it would have cost me about $900 more – I guess my installer was more expensive than most. I suspect that my installer will eat the decreased rebate rather than lose business.
They also want an “electric bill showing yearly usage”. Now, PSE&G doesn’t produce that. I suppose you could produce two bills a year apart, but the only way I’ve ever gotten yearly usage from PSE&G is via screen prints from their billing system.
They also want a copy of the Completed Interconnection Agreement before they’ll pay the rebate. In my case, the rebate was paid even though PSE&G forgot to sign and return the agreement. I wonder how this works with the new BPU rules that state that the system can be activated if the utility doesn’t reply within 2 weeks.
They’ve also added an inspection charge beyond the first 2 inspections by the state inspector. My installation only required one inspection, but I guess lower quality work might require multiple inspections.
Renewable Energy Feasibility – NJ
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities commissioned a study to determine whether or not it would be feasible to require that 20% of NJ’s energy needs be met by renewables by 2020. They received the results last week. (Press Release)
The study results show that increasing the requirement to 20% by 2020 would only result in a 3.7% increase in electric rates – which is negigible over the 16 year period. It’s important to note that this scenario assumes significant cost-reducing technology changes for wind and PV (solar) production. The report leans heavily on wind-generated power including off-shore wind installations in it’s estimates.
Interestingly, the report promises 11,700 jobs related solely to the production and installation of solar and wind technology in NJ. The report also points to reduction in natural gas prices as a result as demand for natural gas in utility production of electricity declines. And of course there are the health benefits of reducing polluting methods of producing electricity.
I have to admit – I’m a little skeptical of the results. For one thing, they base their estimates on the best case scenario – that we would have significant cost reduction for wind and PV power in the 20 years. However, I’m strongly in favor of anything that makes NJ cleaner and less dependent on fossil fuels.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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).
NJ Requires Utilities to use Solar Energy
This press release from the NJ State Board of Public Utilities details an doubling in required use of renewable energy and a new requirement that some of it come from solar power.
Basically, 4 percent of a utility’s power (up from 2 percent) must be from renewable sources. This new rule mandates that 90 megawatts of NJ electric power come from solar energy.
Here’s another article from SolarAccess.com that talks about the changes. (Apologies if it’s expired – they do that for non-paying customers after 14 days.)
An article in today’s Trenton Times (couldn’t find it online) talks about how small businesses and households can get a renewable energy credit, which can be sold to a utility to allow them to meet their requirement. This could reduce our project costs, so I’ll be digging to find out more about that and will report more when I have it.
Another NJ Solar Customer
Found this today, at the top of Google’s news after searching for “solar energy”.
Days of Solar Energy Dawn Across Area (NJ Express-Times)
These folks are way up in Warren County.
Here’s a quote:
Winka [director of the NJ Office of Clean Energy] said generating electricity locally is a goal of the power industry. With more local sources, there is less reliance on electrical transmission lines where power is lost due to resistance, Winka said. Local electrical production reduces resistance, increases productivity and reduces costs to consumers, he said.
That fits my reasoning completely – one of the reasons that we’re installing our system is to reduce the load on the electrical infrastructure (a fancy term for the local wires).
Also mentioned in the article is Partners for Environmental Quality, an interfaith religious group committed to getting religious institutions and groups involved in a sustainable environment. These folks have their headquarters just around my corner in Trenton!
New Jersey – the Green Power State
Word comes to us today from SolarAccess.com that the NJ state government is pushing hard to build a green power infrastructure in the state: Solar Energy Message Amplified in New Jersey
The truth is that NJ really is working hard on becoming green. The incentives right now are incredible – 70% on most small projects (under 10kW). With this effort, the state is trying to create a bank of installers for solar system for homes and businesses. Right now, there aren’t many installers (maybe a dozen in NJ that I found in my search), but this will dramatically grow that number. Of course, the downside to this effort with installers is that they’ll be taught the cookie-cutter method of installing solar. The current installers are likely to be much better at customizing each installation to the owner’s needs.
This effort also will be creating radio ads explaining the benefits of solar energy on their building. THIS part will be the greatest positive step for this effort – once we have many more solar installations, prices will come down along with pollution. (The price decrease won’t help me any, but at the very least I should be able to serve as an example.)
Web Stuff
