Solar power in Vermont

Solar panels at Middlebury College
U.S. solar potential

Solar power in Vermont provides only a small amount of the state's electricity. A study indicated that distributed solar on rooftops can provide 18% of all electricity used in Vermont.[1] 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.[2]

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.[3] Vermont is given an A for net metering and a C for interconnection.[4] 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.[5][6] Seven solar projects are receiving payments, of $0.30/kWh, for 25 years.[7]

Vermont has five solar arrays of at least 1 MW, the 2.2 MW SunGen Sharon 1 in Sharon completed in July 2012,[8] the 2.1 MW concentrating photovoltaics array installed in July 2011 in South Burlington,[9][10] the 1.5 MW photovoltaic array also in South Burlington installed in October 2011,[11] the 1 MW photovoltaic array in Ferrisburgh,[12] and the 2 MW Williamstown Solar Project.[13]

A proposed 20MW solar farm in Ludlow is opposed by Green Mountain Power and the governor. The power company claims that there is no need for any utility-scale solar in the state.[14]

Installed capacity

Source: NREL[15]
Grid-Connected PV Capacity (MW)[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
Year Capacity Change % Change
2007 0.7 0.2 40%
2008 1.1 0.4 57%
2009 1.7 0.6 55%
2010 3.9 2.2 129%
2011 11.7 7.8 200%
2012 28.0 16.3 139%
2013 41.5 13.6 49%

Generation

1 MW fixed tilt Ferrisburgh generation (kWh)[7]
YearJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
2010 25,234 25,234
2011 33,369 56,396 134,873 115,728 126,312 141,528 168,590 136,755 127,040 89,381 75,377 64,207 1,269,556
2012 54,200 99,123 124,243 141,875 149,987 159,116 172,179 157,429 125,141 76,049 81,109 38,388 1,378,839
2013 49,832 71,062 103,822 142,788 155,750 133,042 656,296
Total 3,329,925
2.130 MW dual axis tracking South Burlington generation (kWh)[7]
YearJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
2011 244,684 446,839 355,547 298,142 200,576 163,960 121,541 1,831,289
2012 88,165 223,306 311,089 327,782 376,112 427,720 470,300 398,723 342,073 177,785 171,268 73,913 3,388,236
2013 110,132 158,350 259,135 323,186 398,593 342,079 1,591,475
Total 6,811,000
2.2 MW Southern Vermont Energy Park solar generation (kWh)[7]
YearJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
2012 84,161 84,161
2013 159,783 173,281 227,341 304,241 323,422 297,834 1,485,902
Total 1,570,063
2.2 MW fixed tilt SunGen Sharon generation (kWh)[7]
YearJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
2012 291,536 251,252 141,742 146,717 59,795 891,042
2013 81,010 103,008 208,807 257,346 288,636 281,957 1,220,764
Total 2,111,806
2.0 MW Williamstown Solar Project generation (kWh)[7]
YearJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
2012 43,159 43,159
2013 46,254 28,541 195,539 283,670 340,484 286,397 1,180,885
Total 1,224,044

See also

References

  1. ↑ Report Argues for a Decentralized System of Renewable Power Generation
  2. ↑ Vermont
  3. ↑ Vermont Net Metering
  4. ↑ Freeing the grid
  5. ↑ Standard Offer Program
  6. ↑ Standard Offer for Qualifying SPEED Resources
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Monthly Production
  8. ↑ Talmage Solar Engineering, Inc. Unveils Largest Smart Array in North America
  9. ↑ July 28, 2011 - Vermont's largest solar array compared to California's
  10. ↑ Energy Production Report
  11. ↑ Military Invests in Solar at Vermont National Guard Base
  12. ↑ Ferrisburgh Solar Farm
  13. ↑ Williamstown solar array to be among state’s biggest
  14. ↑ 20-megawatt solar project needed, developers’ report says, VTDigger, Mike Polhamus, December 6, 2015
  15. ↑ "PV Watts". NREL. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  16. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (August 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2011" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  17. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (June 2011). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2011-06-29.
  18. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2010). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2009" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  19. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  20. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (August 2008). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2007" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  21. ↑ US Solar Market Insight Report
  22. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  23. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2012" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  24. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2014). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2013" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2014-09-26.

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