The solar panels on my house were energized and connected to the grid yesterday.  Even though it sounds stupid, there is a certain amount of glee in watching the electric meter run backwards.  And when the AC unit kicks on, the meter runs normally, but very slowly.  While it still remains to be seen what the electrical bill will be like next month, I do have a feeling it will be lower.  And seeing the meter run backwards, makes me want to go inside and figure out what else I can turn off, unplug, or what to have more energy conserved.  I can monitor the output of solar energy, but because I do not have a smart meter that is capable of running applications that monitor household energy use, I cannot monitor what is using the energy.  Apparently the smart meter we had, if it runs backwards, it errors out.  They are testing one that can run backwards.  The electric company installed a new meter with the dials.  I think that is much more satisfying to watch a dial turn backward then a LCD arrow.  As energy usuage comes in, I will post more blogs on the savings.

Mark Viquesney