What is Net Metering?

Renewable energy is increasing in both popularity and affordability for businesses and homeowners. Net metering is a process that allows the unused electricity that privately owned solar panels, wind generators, and other forms of renewable energy generation are creating to be redistributed back into the shared power grid. In essence, this allows people and businesses to be credited for power they’re creating.

When solar panels create more energy than needed on a sunny day, the unused power will be sent to the grid. However, grid power may still be required during periods when the panels aren’t producing as much electricity. As energy flows out of (rather than into) the home, the electric meter will run backwards, and at the end of the month, the customer will only be charged for the ‘net’ amount of energy they’ve used.

Some utility companies may require the customer to have two separate meters; one to measure incoming power and one to measure outgoing power. This method of measuring and crediting back power is called a ‘feed-in tariff.’ If this is necessary, the utility company is required by law to pay for the installation of the new meters themselves.

Benefits of Net Metering

During ‘high use’ hours, some areas might experience rolling blackouts due to everyone using large amounts of power at the same time, such as everyone turning on their air conditioners on a hot day. This can over-stress the grid and lead to power interruptions. But, by using net metering, your unused solar power goes back into the shared grid, which will help maintain its dependability during times of peak usage.

This concept is called ‘distributed generation,’ and basically allows consumers to pull electricity from several small sources, instead of everyone pulling all their electricity from one centralized source. This is the principle that community solar farms are based on.

Consider Renewable Energy

Solar power is the future of affordable, environmentally responsible electricity. And, in order to support the adoption of this technology, IGS offers a simple energy contract where we will install, own, operate, and maintain the solar panels for you. The only thing you have to do is sit back and enjoy the sun.

Contact us to learn more!