California and New Jersey have high numbers of PV installations 1

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   GreenEngineer Posted 5:23 am
   31 Jan 2008

   Effectiveness in rebatesI worked in PV design and sales from 2001-2005, so I lived through the explosion that this map depicts.  (It's fascinating to see that the ramp-up really was as fast as it felt during that period.)  I can tell you with 100% confidence that the industry lived and died by two things:
   
   
   The rebate program:  This was key, because without it the systems did not pay back quickly enough to be attractive to any but the rich-and-guilty.  The level of the rebate was important, but equally important was the continuity of the rebate program.  During those years, the rebate fund required reauthorization basically every year, so each year there was alot of uncertainty that our industry would continue to effectively exist.  There was also a period of about 3 months in which the rebate program was spent out and wasn't taking new reservations.  That was a tough time, because alot of small outfits suddenly found that they had no revenue.  Fortunately, that period didn't last any longer than it did.  If it had, the growth of solar would have been badly set back.
   Full retail price net metering.  This is as important as the rebate, and wasn't explicitly mentioned on the list above.  There are a number of utilities throughout the country that will allow you to connect a PV system and will credit your bill for excess production.  However, most of them credit you at the wholesale rate (i.e. what they pay to their regular generators) rather than the retail rate (which is what the consumer pays).  The retail rate includes transmission and distribution costs, and is about twice or more the wholesale rate.  Since surplus grid-connected PV energy is generally consumed very near the point of generation (e.g. the house next door, that doesn't have solar), it makes sense to credit the producer for the retail price -- unlike the big central generators, they are not relying heavily on the full T&D infrastructure.  It's also essential to the economics of the system.  Time of Use metering is a nice extra benefit, but it's not nearly as important as the basic notion of getting credited for surplus power at the retail rate.
   
   

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