Smart Metering for a Solar Garden
Author: Robert Orsello P.E.
Principal Engineer and CEO
Triage Corp “It’s an Emergency”™
www.triage.com Copyright 2009
Publish Date: 2/19/09
Do Solar Panels have to be on our rooftop?
We have every right to place solar panels on
our roof, but why not put them some place
where there is immediate access to the utility
grid, are in collected areas, where they are the
featured attraction, rather than the eye sore,
and allow for lower installation and maintenance
costs through economy of scale.
Author: Robert Orsello P.E.
Principal Engineer and CEO
Triage Corp “It’s an Emergency”™
www.triage.com Copyright 2009
Publish Date: 2/19/09
Do Solar Panels have to be on our rooftop?
We have every right to place solar panels on
our roof, but why not put them some place
where there is immediate access to the utility
grid, are in collected areas, where they are the
featured attraction, rather than the eye sore,
and allow for lower installation and maintenance
costs through economy of scale.
You can still have an old fashion meter on your
home, but your solar installation in the Solar
Garden would have a smart meter and its
identification code would register to your home
address.
Now the utility company simply applies Net
Metering (1) and credits your residential utility bill
with the production from the solar array in the
Solar Garden and everyone wins.
home, but your solar installation in the Solar
Garden would have a smart meter and its
identification code would register to your home
address.
Now the utility company simply applies Net
Metering (1) and credits your residential utility bill
with the production from the solar array in the
Solar Garden and everyone wins.
Solar panels mounted over beautiful Spanish
tile roof lines don’t really look that nice.
Cleaning and maintaining panels on your
pitched tile roof is not safe.
Home Owner’s Associations try to prohibit roof
top Solar installations.
I propose to create common areas where home
owners can install solar arrays for the
generation of power for their own use, as if the
installation were on their roof top, and tied to
their meter.
Call it a Solar Garden! A solar garden might
be placed in land set aside by a community, or
housing development, or it might be on the roof
of a supermarket.
Not to be confused with a Solar Farm, which is
to generate and distribute wholesale power to
the grid; a Solar Garden is to only produce
enough power to offset and nourish the
consumption of its small community,
neighborhood or complex.
The point is to allow people the flexibility to
place solar arrays in places other than their
own rooftop adding a whole new economic
dimension that makes solar more attractive.
The trick is how to meter the individual home
owner’s panel output and to give them fair
credit for the power produced.
First it would be a must that a home owner
places their installation in a Solar Garden which
falls within their utility provider’s service area.
Second, the use of smart meters would be
applied to the specific solar installation in the
Solar Garden. A smart meter uses wireless
transmission to report directly to the utility
company without the need for a meter man to
show up monthly and read the meter.
tile roof lines don’t really look that nice.
Cleaning and maintaining panels on your
pitched tile roof is not safe.
Home Owner’s Associations try to prohibit roof
top Solar installations.
I propose to create common areas where home
owners can install solar arrays for the
generation of power for their own use, as if the
installation were on their roof top, and tied to
their meter.
Call it a Solar Garden! A solar garden might
be placed in land set aside by a community, or
housing development, or it might be on the roof
of a supermarket.
Not to be confused with a Solar Farm, which is
to generate and distribute wholesale power to
the grid; a Solar Garden is to only produce
enough power to offset and nourish the
consumption of its small community,
neighborhood or complex.
The point is to allow people the flexibility to
place solar arrays in places other than their
own rooftop adding a whole new economic
dimension that makes solar more attractive.
The trick is how to meter the individual home
owner’s panel output and to give them fair
credit for the power produced.
First it would be a must that a home owner
places their installation in a Solar Garden which
falls within their utility provider’s service area.
Second, the use of smart meters would be
applied to the specific solar installation in the
Solar Garden. A smart meter uses wireless
transmission to report directly to the utility
company without the need for a meter man to
show up monthly and read the meter.
Now the utility company simply applies Net
Metering (1) and credits your residential utility bill
with the production from the solar array in the
Solar Garden and everyone wins.
Foot Note:
1.) Net Metering has significantly reduced the
payback period for the cost of a residential
photovoltaic solar installation.
What is Net Metering? Essentially, Net Metering
pays full retail value for all of the power your
solar system produces, so long as you do not
produce more than your residence consumes.
For Net Metering to work, the Utility Service
Provider installs a bidirectional meter which
monitors how much power your home uses and
how much is sent back to the utility. On your bill,
you get full credit for the power which you
overproduced, so long as you eventually use it
back.
It is like having a perfect Battery to hold your
excess power until you need it back, like on a
cloudy day, or at night.
Metering (1) and credits your residential utility bill
with the production from the solar array in the
Solar Garden and everyone wins.
Foot Note:
1.) Net Metering has significantly reduced the
payback period for the cost of a residential
photovoltaic solar installation.
What is Net Metering? Essentially, Net Metering
pays full retail value for all of the power your
solar system produces, so long as you do not
produce more than your residence consumes.
For Net Metering to work, the Utility Service
Provider installs a bidirectional meter which
monitors how much power your home uses and
how much is sent back to the utility. On your bill,
you get full credit for the power which you
overproduced, so long as you eventually use it
back.
It is like having a perfect Battery to hold your
excess power until you need it back, like on a
cloudy day, or at night.