Michigan Votes Forum

The following information is about PV (photovolatic) (solar) panels. But in the case of a wind or hydro-electric generator the process is the same. The utility will give you a credit, well your meter runs backwards if you are producing more than you are using hence offseting the usage of your property or creating a credit on your bill at the rate charged by the utility is how I understand it.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/net_metering.html

Under federal law, utilities must allow independent power producers to be interconnected with the utility grid, and utilities must purchase any excess electricity they generate. Many states have gone beyond the minimum requirements of the federal law by allowing net metering for customers with PV systems. With net metering, the customer's electric meter will run backward when the solar electric system produces more power than is needed to operate the home or business at that time. An approved, utility-grade inverter converts the dc power from the PV modules into ac power that exactly matches the voltage and frequency of the electricity flowing in the utility line; the system must also meet the utility's safety and power-quality requirements. The excess electricity is then fed into the utility grid and sold to the utility at the retail rate.

 how big of a pv array do you need to supply the needs of your home and still have some left over?

Here are some sites you might want to study up on. also if you type in "size home for PV power" your browser should list an aray of different sites to study. Wind power generation for homes might also be a viable source here in Michigan becasue of our prevaling winds off the lakes.

http://www.kyocerasolar.com/products/pv_calculator.html

http://www.yoursolarpowerhome.com/index.html

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pv_physics.html

Hope this helps you out good luck with your project.

 mississippi state university us doing a 'test house' with pv power.

their array is movable, and is 15 x 22 feet. it provides 4kw. on bright mississippi days, and much less than that on overcast days, and nearly nothing at night. even with the size of those panels, a modest array costing only $32,000 dollars, it only provides half to eighty percent of the power for the house.

while that is quite good, it's not nearly good enough to totally replace grid power, and still not enough to sell power back to the utility company. that's not counting the batteries necessary to store power for low light times. no, i don't see pv power as ready yet to become the cost efficient saviour of the planet from the bugbear of fossil fuel consumption.

 So the bill passed then?  I just got a house "off grid' outside of Leland.  I would like to connect it to the grid and do the net metering thing.  Is the utility (which passes right by the house) legislated to do that?  I know I will have to pay for the hook-up and necessary wiring, but it sounds like they are legistlated to have the process in place for me to sign up for net-metering, correct?