HOW SOLAR WORKS
How It Works
Solar panels generate electricity for your home or business, but at a fraction of the cost of utility generated electricity. The solar panels can generate excess electricity during the day, which is what makes your electric meter “spin backwards”. Under previous Net Metering (NEM) iterations, NEM 1.0 and NEM 2,0, utility customers were paid for the excess solar electricity generation that they exported to the utility company’s electric grid in the form of bill credits, which were then applied to offset utility company charges. If you have an existing system that was interconnected under NEM 1,0 or NEM 2,0 you are grandfathered into that arrangement. If you are installing solar now for the first time it will be interconnected under NEM 3.0, which is otherwise known as NBT (Net Billing Tarriff). Under NBT you will be paid very little for your solar exports, so the objective is to keep as much of your solar power as is practical “behind the meter”. Which is to say that a battery is also installed with your solar system, so instead of exporting the solar system’s excess electricity to the utility grid to make the meter spin backwards, it is instead stored on the battery to be used later in the day, with the greatest benefit coming from discharging the battery to power your electric loads during the utility company’s Peak billing hours which are currently from 4 pm to 9 pm.
The experts at 180 Solar Power are well versed in Net Metering. Fill out the form below or click here to get a solar quote before current Net Metering laws expire.
About us
180 Solar Power is a local family owned company that services residential, commercial, non-profit and government customers throughout southern California. 180 Solar Power is a licensed C-10 electrical and C-46 solar contractor.......Learn More