Solar power – Can you really sell unused power back to the utility?

August 5th, 2009

A friend of mine was thinking about putting solar panels on his house. According to articles he’s read and advertisements, the electricity you produce, but don’t use will flow back onto the grid causing your meter to run backward, therefore ‘selling’ electricity back to the utility. That is an intriguing thought. Not only would you be able to save a bunch of money by not buying power from the utility, but you would also be able to run the meter backwards at times and save even more money.

But, would it really work that way? According to this expert article at allexperts.com, you can do just that. Apparently, when you generate more electricity than you use, the power will actually flow backward onto the grid. Power companies that allow this refer to it as net metering.

So, you see dollar signs and you are ready to install solar panels and sell electricity to the power company for a change! Well, you need to check some things out, first. First and foremost, you need to check with your utility and find out, from someone who knows, what their requirements are. You will probably be required to install a device that prevents backflow in case the utility power is off. This is a safety measure to make sure you are not feeding power back onto the grid when a lineman may be repairing a problem.

In any case, check out the article at allexperts.com, if you are getting serious, this is one site I’ve found to get plans from, or search for other plans and articles.