If your home solar panels produce more electricity than you’re using, your local utility will pay you cash or assign credits that you can redeem when needed, under a bill Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law last October.
Assembly Bill 920, known as the California Solar Surplus Act of 2009, went into effect Jan. 1, 2010. The law requires utilities to pay for extra electricity that consumers feed back into the grid. Therefore, if your home or business solar panels produce more electricity than you’re using, your local utility will pay you cash or assign credits that you can redeem when needed. The law applies to Southern California Edison (SCE); and San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) Net Energy Metering (NEM) customers, among others.
In essence, this means the state is helping more people to use solar power by not just saving money on electricity, but paying cash for the power they generate. The new law makes solar energy financially viable at the source, but it also encourages customers to conserve energy. Previously, under the state’s net metering law, utility companies were allowed to receive surplus solar electricity from their customers for free.
Under the law, utilities will offer compensation to customers for any net surplus electricity they generate over a 12-month period. Utilities will either pay homeowners for the extra power, or they’ll roll the credit over to the next year. Rates will be determined by the California Public Utilities Commission, and will likely be below retail, according to reports.
For more information, visit http://www.sce.com/customergeneration/nem-ab920?from=nemab920 orhttp://www.sdge.com/nem/questions_ab920.shtml#howmuch.
Hope to find more states other than California to fully supports solar power users. This encourages more people to switch to solar power technology.
Please send information on how much is being paid for solar energy supplied back into the grid.