Solar with Integrated buy back from Duke

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L

Local Electrician

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NC
Has any one installed solar power in a house with Duke Power integrated buy back program. Or does Duke even do that ? I am in central NC . I have customers willing to pay. But they want the buy back program.

I know we have heard lots of talk about it. But I am not sure how many poco's are actually participating.
Even the President Obama said today (Did any body else hear ? He said we need more electricians for this )
I would be interested in what any one dealing with this has to say.
Thanks
L.E
 
I can't answer your question directly, but it is easy to find out. Call the POCO and ask them if they offer Net-Metering or any incentives...

Some states do not offer Met Metering which means grid-tied solar is out of the question. Some place like Phoenix has it pretty good depending on which side of the subsidy fence you sit on, but in addition to the Fed Tax Rebate, APS (Arizona Public Service) pays $3 per watt of installed system, and credit $ for $ on Net Metering. Then in some places in CA your neighbors, Fed, and POCO pay for just about everything, plus TOD (Time of Day) Net metering where the POC pays you 20-cents per Kwh generated during peak hour, and charges you 5-cents off peak when the sun goes down. So basically your neighbors via electric rates and tax payers pick up the bill plus pay you to generate power and give it back to you for free.

One thing though that is hard to get a handle on is permitting, and who can do the work. I do a lot of design builds in TX, OK and NM and electricians get locked out of the instals because in a lot of places no permits are required, or if they are required a lower clas licensed like LV or Solar can be used. So what I have found is roofing and siding contractors get the work using low skilled low paid minimum wage workers and have one tech with a LV license to pull the permits, and a PE on retainer to stamp a cookie cutter drawing if required.
 
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Yeah, thanks,
I should have titled my thread. Did any one hear President Obama today. Because he specifically said what you are talking about.

He said we have the technology for meters to cut back on power at certain times of day. And he said we have the technology for solar power with poco's buy back incentives.

He implied the reason we are not doing it is beause"Their are not enough electricians" I was shocked, to hear him say that.

This thread is not political. Whom ever you voted for. It's nice to hear a President talk about electricians.
 
Local Electrician said:
Because he specifically said what you are talking about.

He said we have the technology for meters to cut back on power at certain times of day.
Click to expand...
That is not Net-Metering, that is a smart grid tech, and I do not want any part of it. Basically it allows big brother to control your usage. Trust me you don't want any part of of it either.



Local Electrician said:
And he said we have the technology for solar power with poco's buy back incentives.
Click to expand...
That is Net Metering and is nothing new, been around for a few decades. Net metering is just a meter that is able to spin backwards when your solar production exceeds what you use. The other method is a two meter set up for POCO that charges retail rate when you use power, but only pays wholesale when you generate.


Local Electrician said:
He implied the reason we are not doing it is beause"Their are not enough electricians" I was shocked, to hear him say that.
Click to expand...
You should be shocked, He simply does not know what he is talking about. Solar is a niche biz operation and there simply is not a lot of demand for it except in places like CA and AZ where there is excellent solar insolation, and very lucrative incentives. I use one EC in AZ, and solar makes up about 5% of his biz, or 1-n-20 jobs.
 
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