Title :
The Massachusetts Electric Solar Project: a pilot project to commercialize residential PV systems
Author :
Russell, Miles C. ; Kern, Priscilla D.
Author_Institution :
Ascension Technol., Appl. Power Corp., Waltham, MA, USA
Abstract :
In February 1999, Massachusetts Electric Company (Mass Electric) announced a pilot photovoltaic commercialization project in the town of Medford, MA. Residential customers in that town were offered the opportunity to purchase a 250 W or 500 W grid-tied PV system for their home at a subsidized price. SunSine((R)) AC modules combine a state-of-the-art electronic inverter with a large, powerful PV module to simplify the grid-tied residential PV installations. The original project had a limit of 15 kW, which translates to 30-60 installations. The project is an on-going joint effort between Mass Electric and Ascension Technology, a Division of Applied Power Corporation. Sponsors also include the US DOE through the UPVG Team-UP program. This paper describes the project including system design, lessons learned and customer responses
Keywords :
invertors; photovoltaic power systems; solar cell arrays; 15 kW; 250 W; 500 W; AC modules; Applied Power Corporation; Ascension Technology; Mass Electric; Massachusetts Electric Solar Project; Medford; SunSine; UPVG Team-UP program; US DOE; customer responses; grid-tied PV system; lessons learned; residential PV systems commercialisation; state-of-the-art electronic inverter; system design; Asphalt; Cities and towns; Commercialization; Contracts; Photovoltaic systems; Postal services; Power generation economics; Production; Solar power generation; US Department of Energy;
Conference_Titel :
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2000. Conference Record of the Twenty-Eighth IEEE
Conference_Location :
Anchorage, AK
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5772-8
DOI :
10.1109/PVSC.2000.916200
