Browsing articles tagged with "Smart grid news and job notes"

Smart meters finally available in PECO territory

May 11, 2012   //   by Robert Monk   //   New in electricity..., Smart Energy Blog, Solar PV Blog  //  4 Comments

Pennsylvania Electric Company (PECO) has finally begun its full scale roll-out of smarter meters. Its slowness to implement the recently-mandated 15-minute increment bi-directional reporting meters may have to do with the fact it invested millions of dollars of rate-payer funds in now-outmoded ‘smart’ remote-readable meters only a few years ago, in what was probably just a matter of unfortunate timing for the ratepayers.

The new meters will help PECO and its customers better understand their electrical use, and adapt behavior to the actual cost of generating electricity, as alternative generation providers offer time-of-use tariffs with different prices different times of day, or even spot-market tariffs that could change price every 15 minutes.

side-by-side meters required by PECO for solar PV

PECO’s ‘smart’ meters require two meters to do the work of the required single, bi-directional meter, in violation of PA’s Act 129

PECO’s new smart meters fail to achieve compliance with PA’s Act 129 for grid-tied solar PV Read more on smart meters for PECO customers>> Read more on smart meters for PECO customers>>

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Smart inverters, distributed deployment make small PV worthwhile

May 25, 2011   //   by Robert Monk   //   New in electricity..., Solar PV Blog  //  1 Comment

An interesting article from the online magazine Electric Lighting & Power on PV’s developing role on utility electrical grids has swerved my thinking on distributed, small solar PV (capacity denominated in kW, or thousands of Watts) vs. utility-scale large solar PV (capacity denominated in MW, or millions of Watts). Having been a part of installations ranging from tiny 2.5 kW to pretty-big 150 kW in DC generating capacity, I began thinking the economies of scale on the larger installations undercut the rationale for offering incentives to individual homeowners for the 2-20 kW installations typical on these smaller properties. Electric Power & Light points up the fact, though, that as PV becomes a significant portion of total energy inputs to the grid (at least 0.5% by 2021 rather than the even more-paultry .0203% today, under the AEPS renewable energy portfolio standards enacted by PA legislature), it will need to play better with the grid. Especially large solar farms over 1MW will need to act more like conventional power plants, delivering energy when expected, or, at the minimum, not suddenly dropping off even when a big cloud rolls by. Distributed solar solves these problems inherently by averaging a cloud-spotted day over a land-spotted deployment of solar collectors.

Small, Distributed PV + Smart Grid = Dynamic Duo for grid support

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PPL Time-of-use rates a summertime shock to customers

May 21, 2011   //   by Robert Monk   //   New in electricity..., Smart Energy Blog  //  No Comments

Time of use rates (TOU) should be good thing, right?

According to today’s Inquirer (“Utility’s rates up, or down” 2011-05-21), PPL customers who elected to be among the first in the state to try time-of-use metering for consumer tariffs (account billing schemes; PECO does not yet offer time-of-use billing for consumer accounts) got stiffed with extra-high rates for summer peak hours and above-the-default-rate rates for so-called ‘off-peak’ hours in the tariff.

TOU metering and tiered charges promise enhanced grid stability and prices for all customers, since the scheme provides participants incentives to respond to the actual costs of energy at any moment in time. As the grid approaches maximum output capacity in high-demand events, especially peak mid-day hours in summertime when the most buildings operate their A/C, momentary pricing for energy skyrockets, with TOU customers the only ones who have any direct economic incentive to respond by throttling their A/C and other loads down to save money. Read more >>

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  • Bartram's Gardens Founded in Philadelphia’s colonial era, today the gardens continue pioneering in horticulture and agriculture with a variety of herbs, trees and other vegetation in an arboretum/gardens on the Schulkill River banks, and a new farm abutting sadly neglected
  • HiddenCity Philadelphia Surprising places it takes an adventurer to discover; events, too.
  • Philly Household Hazardous Waste Drop-off Schedule City of Philadelphia dates and places for disposing of spent batteries, CFL lamps, unused paint and cleaning products, etc. LovePhilly: don’t pour these in the drain or send them out with the trash.
  • Reading Terminal Market Purveyors of fine foods and foodie stuff, all under one roof downtown under the PA Convention Center
  • Secret Garden on the Rails Jacques-Jean Tiziou shows some dramatic natural and urban and naturalized-urban scenes along abandoned rails of Philadelphia
  • Sketch Burger, Fishtown A vegan-friendly burger joint with a #1 in Philly contender beef burger, best fries that somehow stay fresh for 1/2 hour while you tackle burger, and a vegan cafe vibe of friendly folks.
  • WXPN: Philly sings in key of love Love songs by Philly artists