New Connection Technology Is Cutting Cost of Solar Installation
Utility customers in Ohio and Nebraska are among those taking advantage of a new and simpler technique for connecting solar arrays and other renewable energy systems to the grid. ConnectDER, as it’s known, generally eliminates the need to enter a home and it greatly reduces the amount of electrical work required. “It allows you to inject the solar on the customer side of the meter prior to getting into the home,” said Michael Shonka, a solar installer who has put the new equipment in a half-dozen homes in the Omaha area. “This means we can cut out $1,000 to $2,000 worth of cost in the system ( like GOAL ZERO YETI 400 SOLAR GENERATOR KIT ) like because you don’t need electricians to go through foundations trying to get to the service panel, and you don’t need to rearrange the panel.” Some people know it as “plug and play” solar. The ConnectDER “collar” plugs into the meter socket, typically on the outside of the house, and then the meter plugs into the ConnectDER, meaning that the s