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Selling Extra Wind or Solar Power to the Energy Grid

By Ezra Drissman

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 09Oct2009 Word count: 467 Viewed: 241 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

For who believed that wind or solar power was a passing fancy or that it was only for the hippies or tree-hugging types, there might be an incentive beyond just protecting the environment. This incentive would be to make a little money in the process of helping to protect the environment.

A privately owned system that collects and stores solar or wind energy often generates enough excess stored energy that some of it could be sold to the utility companies. Over half of the states in the United States offer solar energy rebates that will offset the cost of solar power systems. "New Jersey for instance, will offer rebates that cover more than 50% of the retail costs (up to $2000) for either solar water heating or solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity." (MacKenna n.d.)

How does the average person actually sell their excess energy to the energy grid and how long does it take to see any kind of actual returns from doing so? The most common way to do this is with a reverse meter. Instead of charging you for the power you are drawing out of their system, the utility monitors and pays you for the power you are putting back into the system. The PV system produces electricity which is first used by the lights, appliances, and other electric household items. The power that remains will then go to the system through the meter. The utility company will credit the account either monthly or yearly. Some people think that there should be more individual choices. For instance, some would prefer to have a check disbursed instead of having a credit to an account that is not likely to be used anymore. Others would like to be able to decide for themselves how often they are paid for the power that they generate.

Another consideration is the cost of installing the system in the home. Remember, the larger the home and the power demands, the larger the system that is needed to run it. Larger systems generate higher costs. On average, the cost of a PV system is around $50,000, which could drop to half with rebates and incentives, but it is still a huge investment especially during hard economic times.

The length of time that is needed before there is any payback varies wildly based on a number of factors which include the initial cost of the system that was installed, the actual amount of all rebates and incentives, and the original cost of electricity to begin with. In general, the amount of time that it takes is "8-25 years to start paying back." (MacKenna n.d.) Reference:

Elle MacKenna. Sell Solar Power into Your Grid and Make Money, no date listed. Retrieved from http://www.hubpages.com/hub/sell_solar_power_into_Your_grid on August 16, 2009.

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