This Ain't Gonna be Easy

I just checked out the PSE&G web site looking for a magic portal through which I can easily report this issue (as detailed in my last post about the "smart" meter). There doesn't seem to be an easy way to contact them (what a surprise). I'll probably call the emergency number since they give me no other recourse...

My New "Smart Meter" Seems Dumber Than the Old One

A few days after PSE&G installed a new electric meter on my house there was this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Now, a lot has already been said about privacy concerns and big-brotherism when it comes to the new, smart meters. I won't rehash or even comment, but here's an earlier article about such concerns by the same writer, Andrew Maykuth, who does a great job covering issues important to me.

My concern is more down to earth. I don't think this new meter understands that I'm generating surplus energy and throwing it out onto the grid, and obviously isn't recording that. There doesn't seem to be a digital equivalent to "meter spinning backwards" on this LCD readout. In fact, I suspect that this meter isn't even allowing my surplus power to pass back through at all.

The installer guy made a few remarks about this, but he came and went so quickly that my feeble brain was unable to process it until after he was long gone. He never acknowledged my solar panels at all until I brought it up, which concerned me. Then, he expressed surprise that I had the "old meter" because he didnt' think it was "a solar meter." [I know from experience that the old one kept track of excess power exported back onto the grid, and this was reflected in our bills, so I don't think he was on top of his game here].

He then said that he didn't think the new one is, either. Now, knowing he was wrong about the old one, and imagining that the power company wouldn't leave this capability out of a so-called smart meter (or send him to install a "non-solar meter" at a house where they know there is a solar electric system), I figured he wasn't on top of his game here, either.

However, after watching the meter and the sky for three days, it is apparent to me that this meter isn't as smart as the last one. We've had a ton of sun and haven't used a lot of juice (no AC or pool filter), so we've definitely generated far more than we've used. Yet the number that appears on the LCD reading goes up during dark hours and doesn't go down during extended periods of sunlight. In other words, as far as I can tell, it never turns backwards.

PSE&G has been great to work with so far. They've been very cooperative with my installer and have handled the "net metering" transactions perfectly. I have to admit, though, that I'm not looking forward to working my way through solving this problem. They have a lot of red tape over there...

update: I watched the meter on our sunny Sunday. It's definitely not counting any KWh during periods that we are obviously generating power. That's good. But it's also not "turning backwards" (exporting our surplus onto the grid and crediting us for that). That's bad.

Grid Needs Tweakage to Maximize Renewable Energy

There was an interesting feature on NPR this morning about the need for some adaptations to the power grid. It seems that the unpredictable bursts of renewable energy dumped onto the grid by installations like mine could be handled more efficiently.

So what happens when you add in unpredictable sources of electricity, like wind or solar power?

"The operator does not have control of when to turn it on and off," Moniz says. "It's a new challenge that we just have to meet, and we're not doing it at anything like the pace that I think we need."

That's the conclusion of a study that Moniz's group at MIT is issuing Monday. It's all about how the grid must change to handle the fickle flow of electrons from renewable energy.

Power Grid Must Adapt to Handle Renewable Energy

Evaluating the Different SREC Brokers

Funny thing about how these blogs work. If I approve a comment, it flies away to whatever original post it was made to, with no way (that I see) for me to subsequently address it.

I just had a question about whether I'm still satisfied with my choice in SREC brokers, which is SRECTrade. The answer is yes. They're very easy to deal with, everything is completely transparent, the interfaces I use to maintain my account are strong, and I'm convinced that I'm getting as much for my SRECs as I would any place else. Occasionally somebody will reply when I mention a selling price to tell me they got more, but I'm guessing it's more a function of my own bid floor/ceiling settings, etc., than anything else. The fees that SRECTrade is charging per transaction seems minimal and these things are publicly traded, so I can't imagine too much variance.

There are some "higher level" (for lack of a better term) brokers out there that use guaranteed prices to lock SREC owners in for set periods of time. Many installers try to push these on new solar installation owners, most likely because they're getting a commission. At first I scoffed at these because when I was starting out, SRECs were going for a lot more money than these "lock/guarantee" people were offering. Now that SREC prices have dropped, maybe it wasn't such a bad deal after all.

But in sum, I'm happy with my broker and have no plans to change in the near future...

Cleared Out my Backlog of SRECs

Well, I sold 4 SRECs in the latest auction after slashing the minimum price. $245 each.

This morning on NPR I heard a story about how SRECs were going for about $20 each (I haven't confirmed that number, maybe I misheard). Yikes!

Now that I've cleared out a backlog I'm thinking of bumping minimum price back up for a bit...

Solar Firms Face Hard Times in New Jersey

Here's an interesting article from today's Philadelphia Inquirer on the birth and maturation of the solar industry here in New Jersey. It talks about changes since the salad days of government grants and subsidies all the way to today's climate of sparse assistance and the SREC glut.

Oh, and it features SolarWorks NJ, an installer based right here in Washington Township!

Solar Firms in Hard Times

Lowered All my SREC Minimums

There's a lot of talk about changing the SREC market to address the glut. for now, though, prices are what they are. I have 4 SRECs in hand and I just lowered my minimum asking price to $200 for today's auction. I'll bet they all sell...