I dont know the answer to your question, but im sure a quick call to gmp in the morning would answer it...

How far from your house do you plan on installing the array? What obsticals will be between the two? (As far as burying cable)

A large natural rock formation the length of the property and about 500’ straight line.

I’ll try calling in the AM.

Thanks!

Sounds like thats not an option! I dont see why gmp wouldnt drop a meter for you, what they will charge is the question...who knows may be free

Yes they will. Look up “virtual net metering”. You can take the credits from one meter and apply it against your house meter.

Hmm. My house came with a ground-mount PV system (We currently have ~$1k in credits as we produce way more than we consume). It's ~150 feet from the house & all the meters. I don't know what the per foot cost was to lay that cable, all I know is that it works.

Are you asking if you could have a ground mount that feeds right into the GMP grid vs. going through your house, because there are utility wires a lot closer to the proposed array than your house is? I am not sure, but I think it's possible. Call them. They are super helpful.

>If you're a Green Mountain Power customer looking for information about interconnecting your own generation to the grid, you've come to the right place. After reviewing the resources outlined below, please contact our team directly at DR@greenmountainpower.com or call 802.770.3399 if you need further assistance.

Link

Yes. The poles and wires would be maybe 50-100 ft from the array and the array would be at least 500’ from the house and the ground is mostly untrenchable rock.

What company are you getting your ground array installed from?

Either way you need to run power back to the utility… it shouldn’t need to go to the house necessarily.

I think it’s a definite maybe. Good luck!

My solar company installed the meters and all wiring. I’m on VT Electric coop so I’m sure there are some differences. Once installed the CoOp came and swapped the meter and activated it.

Can’t you sell or give your credits to another person? I’m on vt electric coop. For several years I was generating more than needed and I applied my excess credits to my parents account. They allow you to apply credits to any account also served by the coop, could be your camp, second home, neighbor, etc.

Yes- I’m in the process of doing that.

If they will install a separate meter (likely), you'll almost certainly also have to pay for a transformer as well which will run around $1500. They upgrade transformers whenever a solar installation is done but you also get a credit for the existing transformer which essentially brings the cost down to labor. There is also a monthly $20 fee for having service to a meter which is a cost you'd want to factor in - net metering credits cannot be used for this.

You can most likely get a separate service installed for the array and have the credits go to your homes bill. Call gmp, they can answer this and will come out to look it over with you.

Yes. Just call them. You will end up with two accounts (less than $20/mo each), and the solar credits do not offset those fixed costs, only the power consumption on your other account(s).

I'm curious what their response was..if they allow this, that's pretty cool. One issue worth checking is whether they would reject because there's already too much solar generation on the grid in your area. Not sure if that's an issue in Vermont, but I've seen a LOT of solar go up here in the last few years. Only a good thing! Though they may need to upgrade infrastructure to ensure your new generation gets where it needs to go

Kind of. Vermont law basically says that the PUC sets the rate that your power company will credit you for on a per kwh basis.

Depending on the company, you can often "give" extra credits away, but the days of direct transfer are over (at least with gmp). Gmp uses a group system whereby the sum of meters in the group generate x power, and divide that total over percentage-assigned recipients who must also be a group member.

Creating a group is easy, but only credits generated by the group are eligible for group distribution.

And ofc you can only group / share credits with people on the same utility