Power up: Solar

Solar power primer• Solar technologies convert sunlight — solar radiation — into electrical energy.• Energy from sunlight is absorbed by the solar panels' photovoltaic cells, typically made of silicon, generating an electrical charge.• Electrical charges move in response to an internal electrical field in the cell, causing electricity to flow.• Solar inverters convert direct current electricity produced by solar cells to usable alternating current electricity.• The solar panel system is connected by wire to the user's house, and the energy is measured by a meter.Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

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Patricia Finley Perfetti and her husband, Tom, put solar panels outside their Rostraver home four years ago.

They have been reaping the benefits of homegrown electric power and lower utility bills ever since.

“It’s sure nice to get a zero charge on the electric bill,” Patricia Perfetti said.

The Perfettis are among a growing number of Pennsylvanians who in the past dozen years have opted to supplement the electric power they buy from a utility with power they generate from solar panels attached to their roof, erected in their yard or in an array to generate utility-scale power.

The couple have 30 solar photovoltaic panels in their backyard. The panels are heated by the sun, and silicon cells in the panels create and store electrical energy.

Patricia Perfetti often watches the FirstEnergy Corp. electric meter on her house as it shows whether their house is drawing power from the utility company or they are generating so much power from their southward-facing panels that the excess may be sent to the electric transmission line along Finley Road.

As of July 1, the solar power industry in the state had grown to 40,345 installations — both small-scale and utility-scale — generating 920 megawatts, compared with 2,189 installations generating 57 megawatts in 2010. There were 6,714 systems registered with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in 2015, producing 215 megawatts.

Duquesne Light Co. has seen an increase in customers installing power generation, including solar, at their homes and businesses, said Ashley Macik, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh-based utility.

“We attribute the acceleration of solar energy adoption to the steep decline in equipment costs, to rising prices of traditional energy, as well as to growing awareness that solar energy works well and is an important tool in combating climate change,” said Shannon Pillar, executive director of the Pennsylvania Solar Center, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit promoting solar power. “But the true gamechanger is that solar is saving homeowners, schools, communities, businesses, etc., significant money on their utility bills.”

Giuseppe Sciulli of Plum has 56 panels measuring 18 by 24 inches on the roof of his home.

The power generated offsets electric use from Duquesne Light Co. by about 80%, Sciulli said.

The amount of power pulled from the grid is tracked by a bi-directional meter from Duquesne Light that measures how much power flows into the house from the transmission lines. When the power used by the building is less than is being produced by the generator, electricity flows out of the house, and the meter measures energy generation, Macik said.

“I’m really pleased with it. We looked at it as getting a return on our investment,” said Sciulli, who said he was not keen on the idea at first because he was not familiar with the technology. They opted for the panels on the rear of the house, rather than the front, for aesthetics, he said.

Paying the electric provider a mere $7 in a summer month is enough to convince Joy Uschak that the decision to place solar panels on the roof of her Hempfield home “has been advantageous.” She credited her mother, the late Eleanor Tornblom, who wanted the solar panels at age 83, for pushing the decision 18 months ago to have the panels put on the roof.

“We’ve had very low electric power use” from FirstEnergy Corp., Uschak said.

But, as much as it has grown in recent years, the state’s renewable power sector — including solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass and landfill methane — accounted for only 3% of the power generated by all sources in the state in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The state’s solar power industry accounted for just 11% of the electricity generated by all renewable power, the EIA said.

Even though Pennsylvania is not in the Sun Belt and Western Pennsylvania is known for cloudy days, Tom Perfetti said the system makes power year-round, even on cold winter days. Surprisingly, the meter will show power is being generated — just slightly — when there is a full moon, Tom Perfetti said.

Pillar believes there will be even more of a build-out of solar power projects in the Keystone State, if the state develops a solar power policy. The state Senate and House have bills in committees that would update the state’s 2004 Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, including permitting a path for creating community solar programs that would allow homeowners to tap into a solar power system even if they can’t put one on their property.

Upfront cost concerns

Some of the hesitancy people have about installing solar panels at their home is the upfront cost of the project. A residential solar project typically is able to pay for itself in about seven to 10 years, especially since the cost of electricity has increased, Pillar said.

The average home solar power system generates about 7 kilowatts and costs an average of $2,500 to $3,500 per kilowatt, or between $17,500 and $24,500, before the 30% federal tax credit and without an energy storage capability, Pillar said.

There also is a charge to connect a home’s solar panel-generated power to Duquesne Light’s transmission lines, established by the PUC, Macik said. The fees for certified-installed equipment range from $100 for a system rated for generating at least 10 kilowatt hours to $250 for a system generating up to 2,000 kilowatt hours of power. The utility charges $350 for connecting noncertified equipment to the grid.

“These fees are used to ensure that the customer generation can connect to the grid safely and does not impact the reliability of the system,” Macik said.

How much power solar panels generate and how quickly the homeowner can see the return on their investment can vary depending on the slope of the roof, the composition of the roof and in which direction it will be installed to catch the sun’s rays.

The federal government has incentivized homeowners to install solar panels by taking advantage of the Solar Investment Tax Credit that allows them to deduct 30% of the cost of the solar installation from their federal income tax. That’s up from 23% before the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which also extended the tax break through 2033.

Sciulli, whose solar panels were installed when the tax credit was 23%, said they opted for a payment plan that would stretch out the costs of the system over 15 years, so they did not bear upfront costs of the installation.

Patricia Perfetti figured it will take about 10 years for the solar panel power system to pay for itself, through the savings they will realize from the lower heating bills. They were told by the installer that the panels should last about 50 years, and they will be able to continue to pass along power savings to their children.

Solar energy credits

One enticement for those considering installing solar panels on their home is that they can sell the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, that they receive for every 1,000 kilowatt hours of power their system produces. A typical solar system produces about 6 kilowatts, which is enough energy to earn about five or six credits, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

It is easier to sell the solar credits a homeowner’s solar system creates because the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards of 2004 mandate that 0.5% of Pennsylvania’s electricity must come from solar. To meet the requirement, utilities purchase SRECs to meet annual requirements for solar production, the Pennsylvania Solar Center said. The value is fluctuating between $20 and $30 per credit, and a typical homeowner can earn about $100 to $180 per year in income from selling the credits.

Those SRECs are a commodity whose worth varies depending on market conditions, said Ed Johnstonbaugh, who serves as a broker of SRECs through his firm, Exodus Renewables of Peters Township, Washington County.

Sciulli said he has accumulated about 31 SRECs and estimated they could be worth around $1,300.

Johnstonbaugh, a former West Penn Power employee, said he is an aggregator of SRECs and has about 600 clients generating 15 megawatts who rely on him to sell the credits. He formed the company in 2008 and said he typically bundles the solar energy certificates in groups of 1,000 certificates and sells them on the spot market, which is valuing the credits between $44 and $48. Selling them in small allotments is not feasible.

“The market’s been good for the first and second quarter,” Johnstonbaugh said.

He defends the issuing of the SRECs against opponents who say that the solar power industry is being propped up by the tax credits and solar power credits.

“It levels the playing field between the fossil fuels and the renewables,” Johnstonbaugh said. “Fossil fuels are environmentally harmful and are subsidized way too much.”

---This story is updated to reflect the correct spelling of Giuseppe Sciulli's name.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .

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Power up: Solar