City of Asheville shares energy data from first solar installation

Asheville -- City of Asheville News -- The City of Asheville recently “flipped the switch” on its first solar energy production site at the newly renovated ART Transit Station, 49 Coxe Ave.

After several weeks of being online, the City is pleased to share energy production data with the community.

The real-time information shows power being produced hour by hour and energy produced over the past seven days. The environmental benefits are provided by showing CO2 emissions avoided and the equivalent of trees planted.

“Over the course of the next couple of years, the City of Asheville will bring more solar production sites online. We will add the tracking data for each site to this web page,” said Energy Program Coordinator, Bridget Herring. “This is a major step forward in supporting the City’s 100% renewable energy goal by 2030.”

All the electricity produced by the solar panels is sold directly to Duke Energy. Since it is a “sell all” system, the City is compensated via a wholesale rate. The City will receive monthly payments from Duke Energy for the sale of electricity. We expect to receive our first payment in mid-November.

Definitions
Net energy metering: This is available to customers who generate their own power with renewable energy sources, such as rooftop solar panels. Customers receive a bill credit for supplying excess electricity to utility companies. That clean energy is passed along onto the grid for other customers to use.

Sell-all system: The customer buys energy from the provider and the solar array is separately metered. The energy generated by the solar array is collected through the separate meter and goes to the utility company. The utility then mails the provider a check for the electricity generated during that billing period.

More information
Please check with the project page for updates on the City’s renewable energy projects.

For more about City of Asheville sustainability initiatives, please visit the Sustainability webpage.