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The Cheapest Clean Power You Can Buy An Introduction to Utility-Interconnected Solar Electricity Solar (photovoltaic, or "PV") power has for many years been associated with "off-grid" living: homes and wells that are beyond the utility power lines. In sheer numbers, most of the more than 100,000 homes in the U.S. that use PV are off-grid. But now this is changing, and clean renewable power is finding its way into many residential neighborhoods. Several developments over the last decade have contributed to this current growth: __ Growing awareness that we can't drill and mine our way to national security is prompting many to invest in renewable sources of energy for our homes and vehicles. __ In 1993 the first inverters capable of full utility interconnection--sending power back as well as taking power from the utility grid--became available. While crude by today's standards, this woke up many "green pioneers" and utilities to this emerging possibility. __ In 1999, Y2K concerns led many utility customers to invest in backup power systems to ensure that they had reliable power to run their homes. Full interconnection allowed them to "bank" excess solar generation for later use. __ California's "energy crisis" of 2001 added to the concerns of many people about the aging utility infrastructure and long term reliability of utility power. Since then, California has instituted buy-down and rebate programs that have led to hundreds of interconnected systems being installed there. __ Many states, including New Mexico, have passed "net metering" legislation requiring utilities to accept excess solar generation as a credit on a customer's utility bill. Currently about 30 states have some form of net metering laws in effect. __ The current inverter technology has developed to the point that systems are now simple, efficient, and reliable. A Positive Energy utility-intertied power system allows you to get part or all of your electric power from renewable sources, and reduces demand on existing coal, oil, gas, hydroelectric, and nuclear generating plants. "Net metering" laws allow electricity consumers to connect batteryless PV energy systems to the utility grid. When your renewable energy system is generating more power than you are using, the excess feeds back into the grid, reducing your utility bill. Your electric meter literally spins backward, "banking electrons" as a credit for future use. The primary benefit of this type of system is environmental: the majority of your daily electricity is clean power from the sun, thus reducing demand on existing coal, oil, gas, hydroelectric, and nuclear generating plants. The systems are very efficient, low-maintenance, and trouble-free. However, they work only in concert with utility power, so they cannot provide backup power in case of a utility outage. In California, tax credits and nominal price supports for renewable electricity have made these systems very popular, especially as partial deregulation has made utility rates climb. New Mexico lacks the strong economic incentives found in California, so these systems, while not yet commonplace, are being installed by pioneers with green motivation. The Interconnection Process The New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission (PRC) has established a Rule requiring all utilities under its jurisdiction to allow interconnection and net metering of residential-scale, customer-owned power systems. Public Service New Mexico (PNM) has made the interconnection process relatively straightforward and routine, and the smaller utilities in our region have generally followed PNM's lead. There is an application process with a nominal fee, and the utility performs a safety test of the system upon startup. Positive Energy has successfully completed interconnected PV systems with four New Mexico utilities to date: PNM (Santa Fe/Albuquerque area), Mora-San Miguel Electric Cooperative (Pecos area), Jemez Electric Cooperative (Española area), and Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (Taos area). We have completed more interconnections than any other PV systems integrator in New Mexico. We know what each utility requires, and we can smoothly guide you through the interconnection procedure or handle the entire process for you. The article available here is reprinted from the Spring 2002 edition of the Dankoff Sunpaper. Dankoff Solar Products, Inc., of Santa Fe, New Mexico is a respected manufacturer and wholesale distributor of solar products to the renewable power industry. Dankoff Solar Products publishes the Sunpaper as a service to their dealers nationwide. This article compares the costs and benefits of batteryless and battery-based utility interconnected solar. While written for installing dealers, rather than end users, it is well written and informative. We have reprinted it as an introductory primer.

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