Some Maine householders seeking to arrange photo voltaic panels have had their electrical energy requests turned down, saying there’s an excessive amount of demand to hook up with an growing old grid that is operating out. in capability.
Photo voltaic panels are cheaper now than ever, with costs dropping by greater than 70 % over the previous decade, in line with the Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation. Panels also can get householders a federal tax credit score to cut back their federal revenue tax invoice.
However as many Mainers make the most of as we speak’s aggressive pricing and incentives, they generally run into an issue: There is not at all times room on the wires to hook them up.
When householders are excited by residential photo voltaic, they normally name a photo voltaic set up firm. The corporate determines whether or not the situation is appropriate for rooftop or floor photo voltaic panels, and determines which system will meet the house owner’s power wants.
Then, the corporate applies to a utility firm, resembling Versant Energy or Central Maine Energy Co., to attach their buyer to the grid. Utilities are accountable for the system of poles, wires, substations and different gear that make it attainable to ship electrical energy. The photo voltaic set up firm’s software consists of particulars such because the variety of panels wanted and the kilowatts of electrical energy the house owner’s system is anticipated to generate.
However lately some Mainers have had their purposes denied because of an absence of electrical grid capability. One is Matt Quinn of Trenton, whose rooftop photo voltaic software was denied by Versant on Dec. 7.
“The truth that we’ll personal our photo voltaic panels and primarily cut back our electrical energy invoice by 80 % may be very impactful for us,” Quinn stated. He stated the state’s aim of turning into carbon impartial and electrifying is vital, however for him “insurance policies do not depend on actuality.”
Danny Piper, the proprietor of Sundog Photo voltaic in Searsport, an organization that installs residential photo voltaic techniques, stated he lately noticed three different clients, along with Quinn, flip down their purposes to hook up with the grid.
Versant, which serves 159,000 buyer accounts in northern and jap Maine, has not supplied another or proposed modifications to assist Quinn join, Quinn stated. The utility’s electronic mail response to him stated it denied his software as a result of the era degree would trigger excessive voltage within the present system. Versant additionally stated that the challenge designed for Quinn’s residence doesn’t measure as much as small modifications.
Connecting a selected challenge can have an effect on the voltage of the bigger system or the facility high quality, each of which should be maintained inside sure limits, stated David Littell, an power and environmental legal professional, and a former commissioner of the Maine Public Utilities Fee.
“It is positively a difficulty,” he stated. “It is actually in regards to the grid degree to accommodate the power and the voltage change.”
In any other case the voltage variations can injury the gear inside the house proprietor’s house or the houses of others on the grid. He confronted the difficulty final yr when a change in voltage led to an influence surge and fried his electrical automobile charger, he stated.
The Public Utilities Fee has ordered utility firms, the biggest of that are Versant and Central Maine Energy, to take care of ample energy ranges to keep away from points resembling voltage fluctuations and energy failures.
“When individuals generate quite a lot of photo voltaic power and solely use a fraction of it, they launch an entire bunch of power into the grid for different close by clients to make use of,” stated Judy Lengthy, the communications supervisor. in Versant. “And if they do not produce sufficient photo voltaic power, they take the facility away from us.”
The electrical grid is just not designed to have a number of energy sources within the distribution system or to facilitate a two-way stream of power, Lengthy stated. Moreover, utilities don’t have any discretion and should not allowed to save lots of room for rooftop photo voltaic packages.
“We really feel for these clients,” he stated. “However we deliver them in on a first-come, first-serve foundation, and we have to examine them to ensure they’re secure and dependable.”
Granting residential photo voltaic connection requests was by no means a giant drawback up to now, he stated. However with incentives to develop bigger group photo voltaic initiatives, the necessity to hook up with the grid has elevated, and utilities are dealing with an even bigger concern.
“There’s quite a lot of room within the distribution strains, and with all the necessity to join the bigger initiatives, we’re operating out of area for all of the initiatives with out the required costly upgrades required to take care of the security and reliability of the system,” Lengthy stated.
In Maine, there are extra requests to hook up with the grid than ever earlier than.
“There are extra requests to hook up with the grid, megawatts-wise, than we even have demand for electrical energy,” Lengthy stated. “So once we join all these initiatives, we are able to produce extra power than we use.”
The Public Utilities Fee would not monitor what number of residential photo voltaic initiatives are denied statewide, however its chairman, Phil Bartlett, stated he would not consider there are extra rejections than approvals.
“It could occur in some areas when somebody is in a circuit with restricted capability for brand new photo voltaic, however that is not the norm,” Bartlett stated.
Central Maine Energy declined to say what number of purposes it rejected, however it sees a better want to attach rooftop photo voltaic to the electrical grid, in line with spokeswoman Catharine Hartnett. It had 1,663 new rooftop photo voltaic clients this yr, greater than any earlier yr.
Versant, in the meantime, started monitoring the difficulty lately when it was unable to attach 10 rooftop photo voltaic initiatives because of an absence of capability, Lengthy stated. It has related 485 rooftop photo voltaic installations as of 2020.
Connecting to the grid is likely one of the largest points dealing with renewable power growth not solely in Maine however throughout the nation, stated Littell, a lawyer who represents utilities and renewable power builders. He believes that the dearth of capability would require an improve of the electrical grid.
“However we actually want everybody to work collectively to successfully tackle these points,” he stated.
The typical value in Maine this yr to put in photo voltaic panels that produce 5 kilowatts of energy is between $14,238 and $19,262, in line with EnergySage, an internet market the place individuals can store for native photo voltaic installer. It estimates that, for an average-sized system paid up entrance, a home-owner can anticipate to save lots of $22,693 over 20 years.
Mehr Sher is a Report for America corps member. Further help for this reporting was offered by the Unity Basis and donations by BDN readers.
