solar/wind power, return from power company

[severous01]

does anyone KNOW for sure if you can get a return from the power companies in TX for providing power TO the grid via solar or wind power?

i'm seriously considering installing solar power on my house, and with the requirements of my house i would need about half the roof covered to break even. but, if i cover the other half of the roof and my garrage i could get almost 150% return on my power....meaning instead of paying 150 bucks to the power company they would owe me about 225 bucks per month.

what i want to know is if texas pays for inputting into the grid. i know some states do this, NY and NJ being 2 that i know of, but i dont knwo about texas and i can't find any specifics on the matter. anyone know for sure?

 

[$ub$onic]

So it's no secret I produce 100% all my own power. My house is not even on the grid. I do it by natural gas generators( I have wells). I do it by a 30kw Onan generator to charge a battery bank. I use 3 inverters to convert the dc battery power to ac for the house. Now with wind and solar power it is not produced all the time( day,night, and wind) so you would still need to be on the grid. Good thing is you can go straight to the grid with solar/ wind and use the grid as the battery. Basically your putting power back during the day and consuming at night(wind conditions) I can not do that with my set up due to the generator. In pa they want me to produce for 30 days at a time (24/7) I am not putting my Equipment though that. On top of that the power needs to go through my inverters to go to the grid and if the grid drops/ surges there goes my inverters.
Hope this helps


Also, expect to break even, maybe a little money returned. unless you plan on producing a massive amount of power. That's how it is in pa anyways

 

[firstorbit84]

have you tried calling your power company?

 

[severous01]

yes i tried. on hold over 30 min and 'nobody knows' anything. i cannot get a diffinitive answer

 

[sprchik]

The map on this page indicated that Texas has no state policy to participate in net-metering... It's listed as "Voluntary utility program(s) only" - DSIRE Solar Portal

I don't know where in Texas you live, or who your utility company is... but here's a list of a bunch of residential incentives in Texas. Maybe look around here and see if it helps - DSIRE: Incentives in TX : Texas Homeowner Incentives for Renewable Energy