Net Metering - What is it?

What is Net Metering?  When your solar system generates energy it offsets the cost of your power usage through your utility company. 

How it works:
When your system is generating more power than you use, it flows back into the utility grid making the meter ‘run backwards' and creating a possible credit to your account.  When you use more energy than your system generates, you take energy from the utility grid. A specific meter will be installed to measure the energy used by your home. 

Net Metering allows customers with solar systems to cut down on energy costs and can even zero out their rates. It also is a great way to measure your energy usage and performance stats of your solar system.

In the Bay Area, PG&E is the major energy provider. They currently provide two ways to apply Net Metering;

- Standard Rate Schedule: cost per kilowatt is a set number and will not change by time of day
- Time-of-Use Rate Schedule: cost per kilowatt varies by season per day. Peak Hours apply.

To read more about these schedules click here

With a Net Metering agreement with your utility company you can elect to receive a monthly bill for your net usage or ‘settle’ your account after a 12 month period.

Have questions about going solar and lowering your energy costs to zero?
Call us today! 510.559.7700

BPI and Home Performance Standards

The Building Performance Institute, BPI is a national organization for residential energy efficiency and weatherization retrofit work. Their standards are noted by the US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency as well. The BPI Standards program is an industry leader in standards. Individuals that have been trained, tested and certified to BPI’s nationally recognized standards use the house-as-a-system approach to improving the performance of existing homes – an approach proven to reduce home owner annual utility bills by as much as 20 percent or more.  

Our company president, Metin, is undergoing BPI’s certification process and wanted to share the knowledge he’s getting…

“BPI approaches entire building as a whole system. Integrating science with practices. The idea is to make our living environments healthy, safe, energy efficient and comfortable for the occupants. Nearly 90% of the homes in Bay Area are not up to BPI standards in safety. If there are small children in the home, the problem can be considered more serious. Most of the new constructions do not qualify or pass the BPI test.

For example: Turning up the thermostat to warm up our living space can cause the furnace fan to force the air out from our room (depressurizing) which can allow air from the attic and crawl space into a room. Particles of dirt, chemicals and rodent feces can be found in that air, too.  Disgusting! Think about the thousands dollars we spend on beautiful remodeling jobs with high-end appliances and high quality materials.  All in a home that still may be an unhealthy living environment for you and your family.

At that point choosing a well-trained contractor is key for safety and health of our little ones and ourselves. Making contractors get the certification before starting a new building will help enormously to improve the well being of our lives."

More on BPI's standards for home performance to come...stay tuned