Hank Silverberg, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – If you have a solar panel on your roof or in your backyard producing more electricity than you need, it could soon be a moneymaker.
Dominion Virginia Power now has permission from the Virginia State Corporation Commission to start a pilot project on June 20 that will allow you to sell power to the company.
Here’s how the Solar Purchase Program works:
- The homeowner or small business is allowed to sell all the energy a panel produces to Dominion Power at 15 cents a kilowatt-hour.
- The company then sells you back just what you need for 10.5 cents a kilowatt- hour.
- You make 4.5 cents on each of the remaining kilowatt-hours from power that otherwise would be wasted.
Dominion Technology Manager Dianne Corsello says there is money to be made.
“It does depend on how big the system is that you put on your rooftop and how much electricity you use at your home,” she says.
Corsello says Dominion is the the first utility in this region to do this type of buyback, although it is being done in other parts of the country. It’s all an effort to encourage more use of solar energy.
You can find out more online at the Dominion Virginia Power’s website starting June 20.
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