Virtual net metering, put simply, is net metering for electricity generated by a solar system that is located at a different place than where the energy is consumed. If you’re a community solar customer (or you’re thinking about becoming one), you’ll want to familiarize yourself with virtual net metering. Lucky for you, we’ve got you covered!
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If you just purchased your first home, first of all, congratulations! Buying a home is no small feat and immediately planning your home’s upgrades may feel overwhelming–but we’re here to help! When it comes to solar, we think it’s a great upgrade for first-time homebuyers because solar saves you money in the long run and increases your home value. We’ve laid out some key questions to answer when making the decision to go solar as a first-time homebuyer.
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In this week’s news update, we discuss two important changes to net metering in Florida and California, and what you can do to help.
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Texas experienced a series of devastating power outages in February 2021 that some are blaming on its instability caused by its deregulated electricity market. However, proponents of deregulation say that it can help cut down on costs and improve services to customers. Given this recent discussion, we will explain what having a deregulated electricity market means, how Texas’s electric choice affects customers, and how it can impact your savings with solar.
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In this week’s news round up, we discuss an important update to solar regulations in California and an innovative new solar carport structure.
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Solar batteries are becoming more and more common for individual homeowners, and just like solar panels, the exact battery installation you should get depends on your unique situation and what you want to get out of energy storage. The question “how many solar batteries do I need?” doesn’t have a straightforward answer – in this article, we’ll outline the major factors that contribute to the size of a battery system, and around how large your solar battery setup should be.
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The California solar market is facing one of its biggest periods of upheaval ever and the next few months will set the fate of the industry for the next decade as the state decides the future of “net metering”. The stakes could not be higher for this 75,000 worker, $4 billion industry so let’s take a deeper dive into the forces bombarding the industry, the trials ahead, and how the industry can defend itself to make it through this challenging time.
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One concept gaining importance in the world of solar and home storage is self-consumption: producing and consuming your own electricity at your home or business. As net metering policies start to shift in the coming years, a self-consumption setup may be the key to maximizing your solar savings.
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California has historically been the best market for solar in the US, and the success of the solar industry as a whole can largely be traced back to the success of solar in California. In fact, out of the more than 2.5 million residential solar installations in the US, more than 1.2 million are in California alone!
However, the future of solar in California –and of residential solar in particular–hangs in the balance. In a current review of the future of net metering in the state, a series of proposals before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recommend significantly reducing the value of residential net metering credits. For a sense of the types of proposals submitted, check out this joint proposal from the major utilities in the state, which would reduce residential net metering credits to 23 percent of their value today and impose a monthly fee on solar owners of nearly $80 per month, making new residential solar all but impossible in the state.
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In this week’s Solar News Roundup, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) dismisses an anti-net metering plea, and Trina Solar announces new 600-watt solar panels.
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