On-Farm Solar Net Metering

On-Farm Solar Net Metering

Do you want to reduce your reliance on buying power from the grid in a sustainable way? Are you tired of someone else controlling your electricity costs? Our team has helped both large and small farm operations understand the benefits of solar net metering to reduce their electricity costs and make them more energy independent.

A chicken farm operation was looking for ways to reduce its electricity costs and wanted to reduce its reliance on buying power from the grid but did not have enough information to make an informed decision about the costs and paybacks with solar net metering.

The solar net metering feasibility analysis had to include both a technical and economic assessment. Therefore, we had to answer the following questions:

• How much additional weight would the solar net metering system add to the chicken barn?
• Did the electrical grid have capacity to allow for the solar project to connect?
• Was their enough on-site electrical consumption to justify the solar net metering installation?
• How big of a solar net metered system could be installed on the roof?
• Based on the proposed system size what would the economics of the solar system, including capital, operating costs, and paybacks?

Compass completed a detailed pre-feasibility analysis that allowed our customer to make an informed decision regarding the ability and benefits of installing solar net metering at their farm operation. Our approach included:

• Conducting a bill analysis to understand the farm operation's electricity use and historical cost increases
• Engaging with the local utility to assess if there was electrical capacity to connect the solar net metered project to grid
• Designing a solar net metering system based on the existing building size and electrical constraints
• Developing a customer specific financial model to calculate the paybacks of the investment of the solar net metering system based on the building characteristics and constraints as well as accounting for operating costs and tax benefits
• Summarizing the analysis

As a result of our analysis, our client understood the economic benefits of solar net metering for their farm operation and was able to confidently proceed with the project.