Ohioans give back to the grid through alternative energy sources

By Eric Weaver and Philip de Oliveira

Receiving a monthly electric bill is an experience common to most Ohioans. For some residents, however, becoming energy producers themselves lowers their costs and supplements the region with alternative energy.

 

Ohio has had a net-metering law in place since 1999. Under this law, residents who produce electricity themselves are reimbursed financially for electricity produced beyond their usage. Their electric meters record both their input to the grid and usage from it. If they produce more than they use, they can get a yearly refund.

The net-metering law covers multiple sources of consumer-produced electricity including solar, wind, biomass, and hydropower, among others.

Federal tax credits for installation and upgrading of consumer property to contribute electricity to the grid help Ohioans recover their initial investment in generating equipment.

With net-metering in place and federal tax credits, consumers in northeast Ohio are taking advantage of the opportunity to become electric generators.

Solar Panels in Rootstown
Rootstown resident Ken Christensen, a biologist with Davey Tree Expert Company, contributes to the electric grid through solar paneling.

His home was built in 1955, but he had solar panels installed in 2012. Before the panels were installed, Christensen said he paid roughly $100 per month for electricity. Now, he pays that for an entire year’s worth of electricity.

Christensen considers the panels a worthy investment.

“For our first set, we had 30 panels, so it was about $30,000, but there was the federal tax credit for 30 percent of that,” he said. “In about eight or nine years, it’ll pay for itself, and there’s a 25-year lifespan on it, so it’ll work out fine.”

Christensen said that the summer months are when his panels produce the most electricity, which makes up for the lull in wintertime production.

“During the winter months, when the angle of the sun is worse, and there’s snow cover, we’re not producing more than what we’re using. So that’s when we start using up our credits that we generated during the summer,” he said.

In the summer, his panels generate roughly one megawatt hour of electricity each month.

“On a sunny day we’ll generate maybe 38 kilowatt hours, and we’ll use 16,” Christensen said. “That solar we’re producing during [the summer] is actually more valuable electricity going back to the grid.”

The Christensens met a local installer at a home and garden show. The company looked at their electric bills and calculated their annual usage. Electric utilities don’t allow residential customers to generate more than 90 percent of their annual usage.

“You have to pay something every year,” Christensen said.

Maintenance is more of a struggle during the winter months.

“During the winter, especially if we have snow cover on the panels, I try to get it off when I can. It’s not very convenient to do that,” he said.

The company that installed the panels also helps out the Christensens when equipment fails.

“We’ve had a few of the microinverters go bad, but the company has replaced those As they fail, they just send them out and put new ones in,” he said.

Even with the occasional maintenance, Christensen said the benefits outweigh the downsides.

“You get a twofer. In the summer, your roof is being shaded by the solar panels in addition to producing electricity.”

Wind Power near Louisville
Gus Cespedes, resident of Nimishillen Township near Louisville, has had a 100-foot wind turbine on his property since 2009.

Louisville resident Gus Cespides talks about his residential wind turbine.

As in Christensen’s case, the installation of the generation technology was an investment.

“These units cost about $60,000,” said Cespedes.

Cespedes was one of the first applicants for a state grant to install a wind turbine on his property, which covered $25,000 of the cost.

With additional federal tax credits, Cespedes saved even more. “I only paid maybe $12,000 or $14,000 of my own money,” he said.

Cespedes said without government money, “you couldn’t possibly do it unless you were rich, I guess. It wouldn’t be for saving money or anything, it’d just be for trying to help the environment.”

Cespedes said he will recoup the initial cost in about five years.

Unlike with the Christensen’s solar planels, Cespedes see more production in the winter months.

“All winter long, when it’s making a lot of energy, I usually get credits,” he said. “I’ll get credits all through the wintertime.”

The summer months are calmer, and his electric generation is significantly less. At that point, he starts using credits he accumulated during the winter.

“My electric bill in a whole year is probably only a couple hundred dollars at the most,” Cespedes said.

Installing his 100-foot turbine required multiple permits, and regular maintenance is needed. So far, Cespedes has had the three 12-foot blades on the turbine replaced. He refurbished and stored the old ones in his garage as a backup.

Cespedes said he expected there would be maintenance costs when he decided to go ahead with the project.

“When you build a home or something, you’re replacing water tanks or a roof. Nothing’s ever maintenance-free,” he said. “I guess a tornado could come and knock it down. But that’s another one of the things you do. You call your insurance agent, just like any other thing on your property.”

Luckily, the wind turbine is insured for the full amount of $60,000.

Future of Consumer Generation
With the recent shift to a new presidential administration, changes are always possible to the policies governing energy generation.

As of now, wind and solar grants, as well as federal tax credits, continue to be available to Ohio residents.

In 2016, Congress extended federal tax credits for residential wind and solar energy until 2021, though the size of the credit will shrink after 2019 from the current 30 percent rate to 26 percent in 2020 and 21 percent in 2021.