Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
(OP)
Hi All,
This may sounds a basic question, but I would appreciate any feedback.
With distributed generation becoming more viable (especially solar systems on the roof of customers' buildings), customers might produce energy more than their demand. In this case can they sell it to electric utilities and get money (cash)?! I'm talking here about normal residential customers in normal cities. I know that they can sell energy to utilities but utilities deals with incoming energy?
Thanks in advance
AG
This may sounds a basic question, but I would appreciate any feedback.
With distributed generation becoming more viable (especially solar systems on the roof of customers' buildings), customers might produce energy more than their demand. In this case can they sell it to electric utilities and get money (cash)?! I'm talking here about normal residential customers in normal cities. I know that they can sell energy to utilities but utilities deals with incoming energy?
Thanks in advance
AG






RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
Regards
Marmite
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
Thanks and regards,
AG
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
Regards
Marmite
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
Now with the advent of solar farms, you can purchase solar panels (a share of a farm) and be credited with the energy on your bill, without the need to have them installed on your house. The same goes for wind farms. The issue is we do limit the size of solar farms, and roof top solar to a capacity, above which the installation of additional capacity will be born by the energy supplyer (solar customer).
We also add limits on the amount solar capacity can be on a feeder to limit operational issues. With solar farms they will pay extra for the additional feeder capacity, where most roof top customers won't.
Solar energy may seem free, but there is an expence, maintenance, and life of the equipment, which if you calculate out is about where they start to break even. There are exceptions for remote locations where there is no current electric service, where they will pay back much quicker. But that is mainly because of the cost of the distribution lines.
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
The ultimate issue is how the power inflow effects how the protection of the feeder works. Most distribution feeders were designed for a one way flow, but as it happens a limited amount of inflow from customer generation is in the area of few problems with the protection. Hence the limit of 10% of generation allowed for the feeder loading.
With the limits of 10% generation, and net metering, it makes since for us connect customer generation. But the devel is in the details, and if you look into most inverter manufactures they can perform to the requirments we need with a few external additions like generation metering, and a lockable disconnect switch. We also have built up billing and maping to support this, so there is a little back ground.
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
The concerns are that the inverters must shut off when power source is lost, and before you reclose. You might rethink the instantious reclose however. Because most inverters are electronic they should drop off very quickly for small power, so a 2 or 3 secong reclose should work (It even worked with engine driven generation at my old company).
I would consiter a 10 or 20% limit per feeder to be sure to not create an island, or if one forms it will die quickly.
Larger farms should only be connected to higher voltage where protective relays come into play, and not distribution reclosers, and fuses.
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
If the bill dosen't allow any safety requirments, then your lobbyest should be fired.
Yes you can reclose onto customer generation just to make a point, which will probally be missed by the customer.
I love sarcasm, because it helps to describe things that you know are likely to happen. Like to guy that wanted to sell us power, but could not understand that we can't take DC power, and he thought the conversion was our problem.
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
The other basic items on the checklist include:
Can't overload the service transformer
Must use either UL listed inverters or other similar IEEE 1547 protection for non inverter based generation
Can't over duty the utility's protective devices
Connection at 120V cannot unbalance a 120/240 v connection by more than 5 kw
uses and external accessible safety switch if required by the utility
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
RE: Can electric utilities buy electricity from custormers?
This is for my city. It doesnt say but i believe the maximum allowable capacity is 10 KW you can get.