By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff
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| Yesterday, the crew from Sol Power installed panels we bought through the Solarize Charlestown program. (Photo by Will Collette) |
Many trick-or-treaters ventured through southern New England neighborhoods afflicted by the latest power outage.
Some houses were lit by
generators, others arbitrarily spared from the blackout. To grown-ups at least,
the Halloween displays were far less scary than the darkened homes with spoiling
food and a lack of heat.
After a string of
blackouts in recent years, it’s hard to blame homeowners for wanting backup
power such as portable generators.
The noisy, gas engines
are more common since storms like Sandy and Nemo have hit the region during the
past five years. Some homeowners have even installed large, permanent standby
units fueled by a direct hookup to a natural-gas line.
Property owners have
reason to look for backup energy. Extended power outages are more common, in part
because of higher winds and more powerful storms fueled by climate change.
Generator choices and prices vary widely. Portables start at $150. Quieter, cleaner and more powerful models can be as much as $5,000 or more. Permanent, standby units are priced upwards of $4,000 to as much as $25,000.
Adding backup battery
storage to a solar array costs about $12,000, or about $8,400 after a federal
tax credit.
That’s on top of the
price of panels and equipment, which typically cost between $12,000 and $25,000
for the average home. Current rebates and incentives cut the expense by about
40 percent.
While the price may be
high for the solar + storage, consumers are looking.
“There is huge interest
for energy storage. We get calls all the time,” said Doug Sabetti, owner of
Newport Solar, based in North Kingstown, R.I.
The first thing
residential customers want to know is whether they can go off the grid. Sabetti
explained that cutting ties with the power grid is complicated and expensive.
Several renewable incentives require a grid connection.
So far, Sabetti has
installed one solar + battery unit, but as incentives improve and hardware cost
drop, the option of solar backup with grid connection will become more common.
Nationally, Tesla
launched the solar + storage movement with the release of its Powerwall lithium
battery storage pack in 2015.
Sales have been slow and
Tesla has shifted its focus to commercial customers, who use batteries to lower
energy costs during peak demand. Tesla still offers solar + storage to
residential customers through its SolarCity subsidiary.
Other national
installers such as Sunrun are expanding into the residential market using the
Tesla Powerwall.
These systems are
grid-connected, allowing for financial discounts and other benefits. In
principal, the systems sell excess power back to the grid. And, of course, when
the power goes out, the lights and refrigerator stay on.
However, not all states
are prepared for permitting new solar + storage systems. Massachusetts and
Rhode Island support the model and regulators are clarifying the rules.
One problem: solar
regulations don’t state whether battery storage can be coupled with net
metering, the process of taking and sending electricity to the grid at the
regular retail price for power.
Utilities such as
National Grid don’t want customers charging their batteries off the grid when
prices are low and selling the electricity back to the grid when prices are
higher.
In September, the
Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities issued a temporary ruling allowing
net metering solar + storage systems while it further investigates the
implications of those systems.
Sunrun and Tesla have
a petition before the
Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that limits the size of eligible
solar + storage systems to 25 kilowatts or smaller and batteries can only be
charged by the sun and not from the power grid.
The docket is supported
by the Office of Energy Resources and the Northeast
Clean Energy Council. National Grid generally favors the concept but
wants the rules clarified. The PUC may rule on the petition at its Nov. 27
meeting.
Another approach to
ensuring that the power stays on is to create municipally owned electric
utilities. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that public utilities have fewer
power outages.
National Grid, a
for-profit company, was criticized for its response to the recent lengthy power
outages in the region.
Rep. Aaron Regunberg,
D-Providence, plans to introduce legislation when the General Assembly convenes
in January that would allow more public, nonprofit utilities to operate in the
state.
Currently, the Pascoag
Utility District is the only municipal electric utility in Rhode Island.
Massachusetts has 41 municipally owned electric utilities. None have been created since the 1920s, and bills allowing new ones to form have stalled for years in the Legislature.
Massachusetts has 41 municipally owned electric utilities. None have been created since the 1920s, and bills allowing new ones to form have stalled for years in the Legislature.
Proponents of public
utilities say they invest in community projects, including renewable energy.