Stimulus funds at work: 600 Calif. homes get wired for solar power

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A large residential project in Monterey, Calif. is being equipped with solar power under the auspices of the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Housing Authority of the County of Monterey. Stimulus funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will go to building approximately 600 multi-family units, each of them solar-powered. The initial phase of the project includes units at four different housing complexes.

Emard Electric of Loomis, Calif., will install the solar electronics.

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Emard designed the systems to meet the power production targets specified by the California Solar Initiative (CSI). And although performance monitoring is not required by HUD, Emard is developing a custom performance monitoring system so that real-time display of power output can be available at the HUD office.

Emard is also setting up virtual metering over the Internet with Pacific Gas and Electric to enable the establishment of feed-in tariff (FIT) arrangements with the electric company. FITs typically offer long-term (15-25 year) contracts for a guaranteed purchase of electricity generated by renewable energy sources.

Emard is using solar inverters from PV Powered Inc.

PV Powered was recently selected to receive a Stage 2 award under the Solar Energy Grid Integration System (SEGIS) program by the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE). The company is leading a team of distributed energy and smart grid partners in developing innovations that increase energy harvest, reduce the cost of PV systems, and remove barriers to high levels of PV grid penetration.

For more information on the company, visit www.pvpowered.com.