pittmike wrote:
Friend of mine out a bunch of panels on his roof. No batteries as that adds a lot of cost. Only uses what he needs. Not sure how the hookup works. A lot of the time though his electric meter spins backwards and the utility is buying back from him.
I see vanity and homeowners associations being a roadblock though. Might be unsightly for the uppity types
the hookup works on basic electron flow. if you press more electrons one way than you do the other, they flow that way. you can think of it like two water pumps, one being the power company and one being your solar panels. the pressure is higher from the power company at night, but during the day the pressure from your panels exceeds what is getting to you by the power company. your meter records that backflow, and the power company deducts a percentage off your bill for that because you are taking stress off their generators.
at some point though, the power companies wont like it because their purpose will really just be to provide peak power and nightly demands, and to maintain the grid. oh well. boo hoo
and homeowner associations wont care when solar panels come in the form of 'shingles'. roofs wont really look any different as they will be a part of the roof structure.