Blue Bird Days for Solar in Garrett County, MD

I was pleased as punch. Just checked on a solar PV system in Accident, MD yesterday and found the meter racing backward. This 2.4-kW solar PV system was installed by PIMBY Energy as part of a program administered by the Garrett County Community Action Committee. The GCCAC weatherization program had previously insulated the home and performed an energy audit so as to improve the comfort of the home and reduce its utility bills.

Winter Solar / 2012 Waiting for Winter

Some winters are better for skiing and others are better for solar.

Yesterday found me wearing shorts and working in the garden while our home's PV system pushed more than 800-watts back to the grid. The weather has been so mild and sunny that we even have a Lenten Rose budding in the garden.

White Grass Ski Touring Center in January of last year.

The lack of snow has been bedeviling to the friends and neighbors who look forward to the season each year. It has been hard on the folks who make a living from tourism and winter sports here in Tucker County. I've added some photos from the last couple of winters - good times.

Skiied into this off-grid home to set the solar tracking system upright so that I could brush snow off . This must have been in 2010 when snow started in December and didn't quit until sometime in March.

The back forty in 2010

The way back forty in 2011

Winter days are shorter for sure, but when you do have a beautiful cold sunny day you can see record peak power production from a solar PV system. Cold temps conspire with added reflectance from snow and these two factors can cause production numbers to be surprisingly good despite shorter days (these are also the days when sunblock is a must if you are out in the snow!).

If you're missing skiing you can take some comfort from the following YouTube segment. It's about 5 minutes long and has nothing to do with photovoltaics, but it is imaginative and may cause your jaw to hit the floor. Enjoy. Think Snow!

New Net Meters for First Energy Customers

Customer-generator n. Utility jargon for your neighbors with solar on the roof

Seen the new net meters? New and old net metering customers in First Energy's MonPower and Potomac Edison service areas of West Virginia and Maryland are being fitted with improved metering equipment to help track customer generated power as it is pushed back onto the grid.

New net meter for a First Energy customer (note, the code is 01 and the reading is 00000 kWh). Being brand new it has not had time to record any energy, but the small arrow below the 01 points to the right indicating that energy is moving from the utility grid to the home.

The new meters began to appear in July. I've been asked by several customers about the different flashing codes on the new meters. The First Energy folks have been getting a lot of calls too. To help their customers get a handle on reading the new net meter they produced a nice pdf which you can view here. The pdf has illustrations and explanations for what the meter is measuring and reporting.

I checked my new net meter a couple of days after it was installed this past summer. It flashed through three separate screens. Each screen references a code and displays a reading (in kWh). Here's what the meter read and what it means:

Code	Reading	Meaning
01	4	Net kWh that I owe money for (14-10 = 4 kWh)
04	14	Total kWh that my home has pulled in from the utility grid (14 kWh)
40	10	Total kWh that my solar pushed back onto the utility grid (10 kWh)

Another cool aspect to these meters is the dial emulator which is really an arrow that displays at the bottom of each meter screen demonstrating the direction that power is presently traveling. As you look at your net meter the arrow will point to the right if you are pulling in power from the utility grid. It will point to the left if you are pushing power back. The arrow will display more or less quickly depending on the amount of power that is running through the meter. The old dial-style mechanical meters would spin to the right or left, faster or slower, in a similar fashion.

Solar Tracking Trio

What about those solar things that follow the sun.......................? I get asked about tracking systems from time to time. Above is a fantastic time-lapse video of a solar PV system that relies on three dual-axis Wattsun trackers. PIMBY Energy installed this system for Richard and Susan back in the fall of 2009. Their property has great solar exposure which the tracking motors help to improve by moving the PV panels so that they are directly facing the sun. The upshot is that the panels are able to produce 22% more power than they would without tracking.

Below are a few additional photos of the installation. All the different personalities and talents that helped out on the project kept the mood light and made for a great experience.

Solar in West Virginia: Photon Magazine Article

Photon Magazine sent a writer and photographer out to the Mountain State last January to gather stories about the solar market in West Virginia. Photon is an international magazine read by professionals who deal in all facets of the solar industry including; solar panel manufacturers, utility-scale project developers, financiers, and installation experts. The article has just come out in print edition and it highlights three solar businesses in WV as well as a sampling of their customers.

Mike, from Photon Magazine, discovers the power of poultry at Taproot Farm in Capon Bridge, WV. Mike and photographer, Frederic, saw some stiff January temps in their multi-day tour of the state.

Beth and Tim, owners of Taproot Farm and customers of PIMBY Energy, pose here for one of the photos that appeared the magazine's article on the solar industry in West Virginia.

Solar Power Featured at The West Virginia Sustainable Fair in Elkins this Month

Solar Arrives at Davis & Elkins College

Do you know this gazebo? This gazebo is a familiar feature to anyone who has spent time on the campus of Davis & Elkins College. My friends who went to school at D&E remember the gazebo by Tolstead Lake as a common meeting place.


The student organization GreenWorks! just finished working with PIMBY Energy to add lighting to the interior of the gazebo to extend its use beyond daylight hours. The dusk-to-dawn lighting system uses low-profile LED strips which consume about 36-watts of power combined. The light is warm, but not glaring.


GreenWorks! received a grant to install the lighting system which is powered by an 80W PV (solar) panel. The students assembled the components in early February, but we had to wait until yesterday for weather that would allow for the completion of the installation.


Professor Russ McClain, Director of the Center for Sustainability Studies, sponsors the GreenWorks! group and spent more than his fair time with a shovel at yesterday's install. Russ and Bethany are pictured above with the PV panel and the electronics that control the lighting.


One of the hardest parts of the install involved the transplanting of an azalea. Barry and Russ spent almost two hours carefully digging and replanting it.


February weather proved too cold and snowy for outside work. Instead, the GreenWorks! group (Jennifer, Matt, and Bonnie) assembled the electronics cabinet and mounted the PV panel to the cabinet rack.




The final product.......Instead of disappearing at dusk the gazebo now looks like a welcoming place. I really enjoyed this project. Most of my work involves powering homes or businesses with solar - this is the first gazebo that I have had the opportunity to electrify!

Thanks so much to all who helped to make it a good experience - Russ, Bonnie, Jennifer, The New Guy, Matt, David, Bethany, Bob, Barry.