Category Archives: Renewables and Energy

Get off the Grid – Affordable Solar Battery Storage for homes

Posted on August 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

Elon Musk gets most of the attention for his ambitious promotion of the Tesla Powerwall, but there are many other on-site energy storage systems. Most of the new battery systems contain lithium-ion cells similar to power tools, tablet computers and electric vehicles. This is a new and exciting market that shows considerable promise for those with the vision to see its benefits and applications. It allows buildings to optimize use of solar and grid-based electricity. Electricity generated during a sunny today, can be used that day and/or during a cloudy tomorrow.

Will batteries add value to your home? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com, qualified, experienced green appraisers.

In areas with time-of-use electric rates, utility power consumption can be shifted to off-peak times when rates are lower. Commercial customers can reduce demand charges. If grid power goes down, you can keep the lights on. Some people are even leaving the grid altogether, something called grid defection. When tied to a rooftop photovoltaic system, storage qualifies for a Federal 30% Solar Investment Tax Credit

Here are a few on-site storage products:

As it stands today, solar consumers find themselves at the mercy of the electric utility industry. Some utilities recognize the benefits of distributed generation, while others have started pushing back, threatening the economic value of rooftop systems. Consumers with solar electric systems could become entirely independent. Utilities would be wise to recognize that consumers will soon have a choice.

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Websites- Get solar bids without having sales people come to your home.

Posted on August 15, 2016 | Leave a comment

Always follow through with a local solar professional to confirm the numbers. Pick My Solar is one site that can help you locate and receive bids from solar companies in your area. Energy Sage and Consumer Affairs also offer contractor comparisons. Real estate professionals can screen potential sites for buyers interested in finding a solar-friendly home to purchase.

Will solar add value to the home? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com , forerunners in green real estate appraisal.

Pick my solar:

Compare bids from top solar companies on Pick My Solar’s neutral bidding platform.
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Energy Sage:

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Solar Struggles to Pay for itself in some States

Posted on August 12, 2016 | Leave a comment

LAFAYETTE, Calif. — It was only two years ago that Elroy Holtmann spent about $20,000 on a home solar array to help cover the costs of charging his new electric car. With the savings on his monthly electric bills, he figured the investment would pay for itself in about a dozen years.

But then the utilities regulators changed the equation.

As a result, Pacific Gas & Electric recently did away with the rate schedule chosen by Holtmann, a retired electrical engineer, and many other solar customers in north-central California. The new schedule will make them pay much more for the electricity they draw from the grid in the evening, while paying those customers less for the excess power their solar panels send back to the grid on sunny summer days.

As a result, Holtmann’s solar setup may never pay for itself.

“They’ve taken any possibility for payback away,” he said with resignation, looking up at the roof of his 1970s ranch-style house in this suburb a short drive east of Berkeley, California.

The paradox is playing out around the country. Even as policymakers at the federal and state levels promote clean energy to fight global warming, the economics of electricity can often be at odds with those goals.

Thrust in the middle are utility regulators. Even if they support greening the grid through technology adopters like Holtmann, the regulators are also responsible for ensuring that the utilities can afford to supply power to the largest number of customers at the most equitable rates. That includes people without the money or inclination to install solar collectors.

“The grid is no longer just a cheap way to get electrical commodities to people,” said Michael Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission. “People want choices, they want customized services,” he said. “And how do you make that fair to everybody, because not everybody is moving as adopters at the same pace?”

Similar dynamics are playing out in some parts of Europe, including Spain and Britain, as public officials push for green energy to justify its costs.

For more than a century in the United States, the public utility rate system assumed a one-way flow of electricity from central power plants to their customers. The role of utility regulators was to adjudicate reasonable rates for the consumer, while allowing an adequate rate of return on the money power companies spent generating and distributing the electricity.

But now, even though rooftop solar energy still accounts for less than half of a percent of the energy generated across the country, its growing popularity is challenging regulators and utilities to rethink their old ways.