Solar, Clean but Complicated
The solar conversion continues. It is a long process, don’t let anyone fool you, but we take one step at a time. Today the electric company pulled up, an hour before scheduled, to set up the net metering. That is the monitoring of power going to the house from the grid and the feeding of power from my house to the grid. We have to keep track, so if I use more than I make, the electric company gets their five cents.
The long anticipated work visit has been postponed twice before, but this time two teams and two huge trucks have arrived. They waited to turn off the house power, until our solar company representative had arrived. We were warned that they might need to, so it was no surprise.
Even with their feet dragging and complaints, the electric company actually benefits from the addition of solar power. It does ruin their monopoly, destroys the myths of power shortages, and provides a clean regular source of power. It also shuts down their expansive and badly maintained coal plants, thereby making them a cleaner company as well. But best of all for me, it controls my power payment. It prevents the bill from going up every year, it protects me from seasonal rate increases, and it gives me a positive way to fix the problems in our environment.
I guess empowering the customer is not the power company’s priority, so they make this as difficult as possible for the solar people. On the other hand, the solar people are concerned with getting everything exactly right, passing inspections, and maintaining their equipment. The electrician working here today is grumbling about my electric box being outdated, about the underground power supply pipe not coming out of the ground far enough, and in general he is worried that things should run perfectly and my power should be restored as soon as possible. I mentioned that I appreciated that.
It may sound like I am bashing the electric company, but I am not really against them. I have met many employees at the power company and they are good people with fine intentions. In most cases, they do not understand how this newer technology works and they mimic the falsehoods of others. Like so many things in today’s world, there is an abundance of false information about solar power.
Yes solar works in cold, snowy climates, yes it works in the fog, in the rain, and even in the gloom. The panels do not need direct focused sun to produce power, and with net metering we add and pull from the grid at will, banking power hours and pulling them back when needed. This technology is not limited to sunny all-day environments and it is no longer only available to the wealthy or techno-do-it-yourself-geniuses capable of making equipment from spent and used aluminum cans and foil.
As a matter of fact, so far I have paid nothing to go solar and all I anticipate paying is for the power I use from what is being made on my roof. I am leasing, or more exactly I am trading my roof space for a lower constant power rate in a bill swap agreement where I save money.
In any case it seems we still have many steps to take before the panels on the roof are producing power and feeding my house and the grid, but we are moving forward. I suppose as long as steps are being taken I can be patient. It can take six long months to carefully take each step including weather delays and equipment problems, unexpected challenges and so forth. I guess we are are only beginning the 4th month of the process.
As this adventure continues I’ll update everyone. Let me know if you are adventuring beyond your comfort zone with new tech, or a new job. Life is filled with boundless adventure, we might as well enjoy it.