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Curious what experts are thinking about the change in ROI this program is offering? Link is at the bottom for details. Short version, NGrid will pay approx $1,500/year in incentives for PV customers to install a battery solution that they can draw from during peak loads. At the surface, this would seem to solve many of the (long/negative) ROI topics about moving from net metering to hybrid.
The number of power outages in my neighborhood is continuing to rise annually. Most of them are not load-related, but instead due to storms, trees on wires, construction-related outages, and so forth. But last year the total outage time was measured in days, with some of them lasting 3+ days straight. With multiple power plants going offline in the region, and Northern Pass defeated in the courts, I foresee this getting worse.
I run a home office so having consistent power is important. I do have a full generator that I can roll out of the garage for long term outages, but it's loud, annoying to refill, and I try to be respectful of neighbors and don't run it outside of sensible hours. I've had a battery system in the back of my mind to deal with outages. I've got a 9KW solar array (SolarEdge 7600A inverter) today that is of course useless during outages.
The pros are an accompaniment to SRECs that will shave significant time off the ROI, as well as having uninterrupted power + charging during storm/construction outages. The obvious con is that allowing the utility to tap my batteries during peak loads in summer would greatly increase the number of discharges, and likely negatively impact the life of any battery system. For reference, even on a peak load days when I've got computers & AC in use, I'm still net producing power for the grid on most days and typically wind my meter backwards about 300KWh per month in summer.
I'm far from a battery expert, and I'd imagine that different battery vendors are going to have different results. From the program listing, it appears they'll accept just about any battery solution.
The number of power outages in my neighborhood is continuing to rise annually. Most of them are not load-related, but instead due to storms, trees on wires, construction-related outages, and so forth. But last year the total outage time was measured in days, with some of them lasting 3+ days straight. With multiple power plants going offline in the region, and Northern Pass defeated in the courts, I foresee this getting worse.
I run a home office so having consistent power is important. I do have a full generator that I can roll out of the garage for long term outages, but it's loud, annoying to refill, and I try to be respectful of neighbors and don't run it outside of sensible hours. I've had a battery system in the back of my mind to deal with outages. I've got a 9KW solar array (SolarEdge 7600A inverter) today that is of course useless during outages.
The pros are an accompaniment to SRECs that will shave significant time off the ROI, as well as having uninterrupted power + charging during storm/construction outages. The obvious con is that allowing the utility to tap my batteries during peak loads in summer would greatly increase the number of discharges, and likely negatively impact the life of any battery system. For reference, even on a peak load days when I've got computers & AC in use, I'm still net producing power for the grid on most days and typically wind my meter backwards about 300KWh per month in summer.
I'm far from a battery expert, and I'd imagine that different battery vendors are going to have different results. From the program listing, it appears they'll accept just about any battery solution.
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