Imagine a city full of electric vehicles. Now imagine how much of a drain on the power grid there would be if they all plugged in at the same time. Many municipalities and businesses where the use of electric and hybrid vehicles are increasingly popular have begun to address just that issue.

Fortunately this issue can be resolved by the building of public access sun carport structures in areas where there is a high level of EV usage. By erecting easily constructed systems in municipal and corporate parking lots that feature vehicle charging stations there is an ability to reduce the strain on the traditional power grid.
Typical carport installations can capture enough energy to fully charge an average of about twelve cars per day and reduce electricity usage up to about10, 000 kWh per year.

Use of sun carport structures in public parking lots would not only reduce the amount of electricity used when charging EVs but the local government would be able to generate additional revenues by requiring payment of a nominal fee for use of the charging station on a daily or weekly basis.

Several large energy producing businesses have begun experimenting with the use of solar carports for use with their electric powered fleet vehicles and have found them to be fairly successful for the most part. Several U. S. cities have installed testing areas for municipal parking where there are large numbers of EVs in use. The theory is if they build it-someone will plug in!

Taking an energy-efficient look at the amount of power you use from the utility company can make you decide to install solar energy panels and sell the surplus back to the utility company. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are 42 states, as well as the District of Columbia, that allow utility consumers to sell surplus power back to their respective utility companies.

This requires you to install solar energy panels, enough to generate more power than you use in your solar home kits. The initial investment can pay for itself over time by selling the unused power back to the utility company. Most houses and businesses have a meter that runs forward and backward. This tracks energy usage. Inside the meter is an inverter. This device allows the utility company to keep track of your energy usage.

Each company has different interconnection devices and standards, which allows power to be sent and received. Check with your utility company to find those standards. However, there are some common standards all utility companies use to pay you for your surplus of energy, it is net-metering.

Once you have installed your solar panels and hooked it up to your meter, the meter will automatically keep track of the energy used and you can start sell energy back to the grid. If you do not use all the energy our panels generate, the utility company will show a credit on our utility bill. At the end of year, if you sent back more energy than you used, then you can ask for a cash payment. Of course, at the wholesale rate, not the rate you are paying the utility company.

You will have to stay up on the changing energy regulations, as it pertains to your state. The best way to make sure that your utility company will buy your surplus energy is to contact them.