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Selling Solar to Your Utility - Interconnection Agreements
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By Rick Chapo
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In many states, homeowners and businesses can now sell solarpanel energy to utilities. Doing so requires an interconnectionagreement with your local utility.
Lowering Your Utility Bill
In a majority of states, homeowners using solar can takeadvantage of a concept known as net metering. Net meteringessentially refers to the act of selling excess power producedby your solar panels to the local utility. While you are at workduring the day, the energy produced by panels is fed directlyback to the utility [your meter runs backwards] and then you useutility energy as you need it in the evening. The utilitycompany "pays" you at the same rate per watt as what it chargesyou, thus creating a "net metering" situation. Practicallyspeaking, it is a tremendous way to slash or eliminate yourelectrical bill.
If you intend to sell electricity to the utility company, youcan't just do it. Instead, you must get and sign aninterconnection agreement with it. While the name can changefrom utility to utility, this agreement basically lays out theground rules on how the process will work. Let's take a closerlook.
Federal and state laws require utility companies to supply youwith standard interconnection agreements. The agreementspecifies the terms and conditions under which your system willbe connected to the utility grid. These can include yourobligation to get any required permits, maintain homeowner'sinsurance and meet certain connection specifications.
Sometimes set apart as a separate document, the agreement willalso include the specifics related to the sale and purchase ofpower by each of you. Instead of installing multiple meters toasses the transfer of power, most utilities will simply let theexisting utility meter run forward when you are drawing energyfrom the grid and backward when you are supplying energy to it.
If you supply more energy than you use in a month, must theutility company send you a check? Unfortunately, net meteringlaws do not require the utilities to do so. Instead, the companywill credit the monetary equivalent of the excess generation tothe next month's electrical bill until you eventually use itduring a cloudy or rainy month.
Interconnect agreements are fairly standardized agreements thatshouldn't cause you much concern. Just make sure you get onebefore hooking up to the local utility.
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