IPP87
Economic Payback
In IPP85 we examined how Time of Use (TOU) and net metering affected pay back time. It was shown that TOU could significantly reduce the pay back time for a PV system if a household could manage their daytime loads. Back in IPP65 (Beyond Net Metering) we envisioned the possibility of real time pricing and how that would improve the economics of PV. Real time pricing is still not a reality but changes in California’s utility rate structure have improved the economics of PV. As already mentioned TOU and net metering together can significantly improve the economics of PV generation and certainly represent a step beyond net metering.

However, most California residential utility customers are not TOU but rather are charged according to a multilevel or tiered price schedule. The recent rate hike given to the utilities in California was achieved by significantly increasing the price of the tiers above baseline while baseline rates remained unchanged. This strategy put the bite on heavy users of electricity. It is not uncommon when reviewing these customers’ electric bills to see third and fourth tier charges as high as $.25/Kwh. Since the economic benefits of PV will accrue to the highest tiers first, the economic payback time for a PV system is reduced significantly for customers with high usage. For example; at $.12/Kwh simple payback would happen in about 15 years. However, at $.25/Kwh the payback happens in about 7 years. These figures do depend on the 50% rebate available to Californians. What we can see here is that as utility rates more accurately reflect the time value of power and send appropriate price signals based on the volume of power consumed, opportunities for economic PV develop.

Lovins On California Electricity Restructuring
Amory Lovins' writings may be known to many Home Power readers. He is CEO of Research at Rocky Mountain Institute, author of many books on energy efficiency, credited with the concept "negawatts" and designer of the Hypercar. On July 11, 2001 he made a presentation "Electricity Solutions for California" to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. Though commentary about electric restructuring has been generous in Home Power, these additional comments by Lovins are edifying and generally amplify points made in past columns.

Amory Lovins begins with four statements about electricity restructuring that run counter to common opinion.
-California's electricity demand did not soar. Nor was there a huge increase in demand due to the Internet and the dot.com boom.
-California did not stop building power plants during the 1990s.
-Even during outages, California was not short of generating capacity.
-The current rush of power plant construction may result in overproduction in the future.

Lovins provides extended dialog on each of these points. Interested readers can get a copy of the presentation by contacting IPP. Besides debunking the four myths cited above, his main conclusions are that market gaming and intentional reduction of plant output by generators created the emergencies and that flaws in the restructuring legislation made certain that retail competition failed.

Dealer-Installer Certification Programs
Training for installers and dealers of PV systems have been offered by distributors and manufacturers for many years. These trainings offered everything from one-day topic specific sessions to longer trainings involving home study and hands-on infield components. Solar Energy International (SEI) for many years has also offered both short and long classes on a wide range of renewable energy topics.

The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), currently applying for non profit status, is organizing and developing a national certification program. The board includes participants from all areas of the PV industry. NABCEP will be incorporating successful elements from these existing programs. The goal of the project is to create a national installers' certification standard and test.

System Output-Xantrex Publishes Study
In the last few past columns we have reviewed Sandia’s work on module output and how to make reasonable predictions for system power and energy output. Based on some simple approximations it was shown that a system’s AC power output is about 70% of the solar array’s STC rating (the manufacturer’s “name plate” DC rating).

Xantrex, in response to customer concerns regarding under realized system output expectations, has recently released a white paper on this topic. Titled “Measuring Photovoltaic and Inverter Efficiency and Performance”, the paper goes into great detail explaining the instrumentation and methodology of measuring system output. Other system issues such as a module’s maximum power point variation with temperature and installation site details are also covered. The conclusions are very close to those of the “casual” approach used in this column but the rigor and detail may be of interest to some. The paper is available on Xantrex’s web site.

Caspian Sea Oil
The currently popular view of the war in Afghanistan holds that it is about terrorism and the September attacks on New York and the Pentagon. On the surface this seems like a reasonable conclusion. But looking deeper, I suggest its about oil. Several years ago (IPP69) I mentioned the oil fields being developed in and around the Caspian Sea basin. My information came from a series of articles by Frank Viviano written for the San Francisco Chronicle. Titled, “New El Dorado”, the series began in the August 11, 1998 issue. According to that article, the Caspian Sea area holds oil and gas reserves equal to the Persian Gulf. The author detailed the extreme political instability of the region and the difficulty of locating the pipelines needed to get the oil to Western markets. Certainly the political stability of the region has not improved since that time! My analysis is that the growing fundamentalist Taliban control of that region was totally unacceptable to the oil cartels and their governments. September 11 aside, it was only a matter of time before the need for Western control of this oil rich area would lead to military action. The destruction of the Towers provided the “green light”. Our addiction to imported oil comes at a high price.

Renewable Lab
Drake Chamberlin, wrench and IPP member, is heading up the formation of a Renewable Energy Test Lab. The purpose of the lab is to provide independent testing of both equipment and practices as related to the safe installation of renewable energy systems. The lab is envisioned as providing a complimentary function to existing code writing agencies and other testing labs. A significant focus of the project is to develop and support techniques that are safe but don't increase the cost of code compliant systems. The lab will be set up as a non profit organization affiliated with and sharing IPP's non-profit charter. Chris Sinton of Alfred University is seeking funding for the lab. Those interested in more information, wanting to provide input, or wishing to support the project with tax deductible donations, can contact Drake at http://eagle-access.net/solar/ .

Net metering again!
Last issue we reviewed Carl Weinberg’s article “Keeping the Lights On”. He used the terms “hesitate and hassle” and “snarling dog” to describe utility behavior towards distributed generation. Those terms very well describes PG&E’s (Carl’s one time employer) current behavior regarding the implementation of California’s new one megawatt net metering law.

Richard Perez’s editorial in Home Power 85 described the case of Kenneth Adelman. Mr. Adelman recently completed a 31kw PV system for his home. Being under 1 MW, he planned to be net metered. However, when he applied for net metering, he was told that he would have to pay $7,000 for an interconnection study and $600,000 for distribution system upgrades. Since California’s net metering law explicitly prohibits any additional charges being levied on net metering customers, he declined to pay. He was subsequently disconnected from service and is now off grid.

PG&E is breaking the law. From section 2827 (d) of the net metering law, “Any new or additional demand charge, standby charge, customer charge, minimum monthly charge, interconnection charge, or other charge that would increase an eligible customer-generator’s costs beyond those of other customers in the rate class to which the eligible customer-generator would otherwise be assigned are contrary to the intent of this legislation, and shall not form a part of the new energy metering contracts or tariffs.” This is pretty clear language. In his editorial Richard uses this situation as a rationale for a federal net metering law. I support this goal. However in this case we have a law that is clear. What we need is enforcement.

On October 30, 2001 CALSEIA filed a protest with the California Public Utilities Commission. Included in that filing is a letter from the author of California’s net metering law, assemblyman Fred Keeley, stating clearly his legislative intention that net-metered systems be free of any additional charges. Additionally, the Office of Ratepayers Advocates has also filed a protest echoing CAL SEIA's comments. Hopefully this level of strong support for Mr. Adelman and PG&E’s blatant violation of the law will persuade the Commission to make the right decision. This situation stands as one more example of the fact that utilities are enemies of PV and distributed power. At the legislative level the PV industry must spend big money to get legislation allowing PV interconnection. Subsequently the industry must then spend additional efforts
and money getting those laws enforced. The utilities create barriers to PV and distributed generation at every possible opportunity. Carl Weinberg’s imagery of the utility as a “snarling dog”(IPP86) is right on the mark. California readers should keep in mind that AB29X, the latest net metering law approved this year will need to be re-legislated next year due to the one year sunset provision attached at the last minute.

Renewable Energy in San Francisco
Some very exciting news from San Francisco. On November 6, 2001 voters approved a $100 million renewable energy bond. It provides for the purchase of from 10-12 MW of PV and an additional 30 MW of wind. The systems are to be installed on city property and buildings. The bond measure passed with a 73% to 27% margin. San Francisco joins Sacramento and Los Angeles as “solar committed” cities.

San Francisco voters also voted on another measure on the ballot that would have allowed the city to form a municipal power authority. The municipal power measure lost by few percent. By the way, on the eve of the election, PG&E’s parent company announced a 234% increase in profit for the year. The two million dollars spent opposing municipalization is pocket change compared to their profits. Meanwhile, the regulated PG&E cries poor (following a massive transfer of wealth to the unregulated Parent Corporation last December) and has filed for bankruptcy! After the citizens of Sacramento decided to dump PG&E, it took another 23 years plowing through the courts to make it happen. These corporate thugs do not let go easily!

California Solar tax credit
California taxpayers can now receive a 15% State tax credit. Voted into law in October 2001, SBX2 17 is retroactive to January 1, 2001. The credit applies to the net cost of a system. For example, a $20,000 system after receiving a California rebate would cost the customer $10,000. That $10,000 can be reduced another $1,500 by taking the tax credit.

Other California Solar legislation recently passed is SBX2 82 (Solar on State Buildings) and ABX2 48 (Solar Training and Certification). The complete bills and their legislative histories are available at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/index.html .

On Line Information
Tor Allen is moderator and facilitator for the California PV Alliance . The Alliance is an ad hoc working group with members from all elements of the PV industry. The group meets 4 times a year, alternating between Southern and Northern California sites. Tor maintains a web site, http://californiasolarcenter.org.
The site has up to date information pertaining to the California solar scene. At the site one can also register for two newsgroups, Solar E Clips and CalPVAlliance. Tor's site is very well laid out and easy to navigate in addition to having a wealth of information. This site is valuable to all interested in PV, not just Californians.