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Solar power in Vermont provides almost 11% of the state's in-state electricity production as of 2018.[1] A 2009 study indicated that distributed solar on rooftops can provide 18% of all electricity used in Vermont.[2] A 2012 estimate suggests that a typical 5 kW system costing $25,000 before credits and utility savings will pay for itself in 10 years, and generate a profit of $34,956 over the rest of its 25-year life.[3]
Net metering is available for up to at least 500 kW generation, but is capped at 15% of utilities peak demand. Excess generation is rolled over each month but is lost once each year. Group net metering is also allowed.[4] Vermont is given an A for net metering and a C for interconnection.[5] A feed-in tariff was created in 2009, but is limited to 50 MW and is fully subscribed. The cap increases by 5 to 10 MW/year starting in 2013 until it reaches 127.5 MW in 2022. It is available for solar, wind, methane, and biomass.[6][7] Seven solar projects are receiving payments, of $0.30/kWh, for 25 years.[8]
In 2012, Vermont had five solar arrays of at least 1 MW, the 2.2 MW SunGen Sharon 1 in Sharon.[20] the 2.1 MW concentrating photovoltaics array installed in July 2011 in South Burlington,[21][22] the 1.5 MW photovoltaic array also in South Burlington installed in October 2011,[23] the 1 MW photovoltaic array in Ferrisburgh,[24] and the 2 MW Williamstown Solar Project.[25]
As of 2019, Green Mountain Power (GMP) has further constructed several solar arrays as large as 5 MW.[26] In 2015, the 20 MW Coolidge solar farm near Ludlow was opposed by GMP, which claimed that there was no need for such utility-scale solar in the state.[27] The farm was completed by NextEra Energy at the end of 2018.[28]
Generationedit
Using data available from the U.S. Energy Information Agency's Electric Power Annual 2017[29] and "Electric Power Monthly Data Browser",[30][31][32][33] the following table summarizes Vermonts’s solar energy posture.
Capacity factor for each year was computed from the end-of-year summer capacity.
2017 data is from Electric Power Monthly and is subject to change.
A small-scale 15KW installation at a homestead in middle Vermont generated 19,480 kWh of electrical energy at a Capacity Factor of 0.15. The homestead was sending energy to the utility when it was produced and taking energy from the utility when needed. Overall, the homestead consumed 80% of its generation and sold the remaining 20% to the utility. The generation profile is shown in the chart.
Beginning with the 2014 data year, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) has estimated the distributed solar-photovoltaic generation and distributed solar-photovoltaic capacity.[34] These non-utility-scale appraisals evaluate that Vermont generated the following amounts of additional solar energy:
Estimated distributed solar electric generation in Vermont[35][36]
^Sherwood, Larry (August 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2011" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 6, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
^Sherwood, Larry (June 2011). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved June 29, 2011.
^Sherwood, Larry (July 2010). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2009" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 25, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2010.
^Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
^Sherwood, Larry (August 2008). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2007" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved July 24, 2010.[permanent dead link]
^US Solar Market Insight Report Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
^Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
^Sherwood, Larry (July 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2012" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
^Sherwood, Larry (July 2014). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2013" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved September 26, 2014.
^"Electric Power Monthly"[6] |title=Electric Power Monthly (February 2018 with data for December 2017) - Table 1.17.B. Net Generation from Solar Photovoltaic retrieved 2018 5 29
^"Electric Power Monthly"[7] |title=Electric Power Monthly (February 2018 with data for December 2017) - Table 6.2.B. Net Capacity from Solar Photovoltaic retrieved 2018 7 27
External linksedit
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