New England behind-the-meter solar sets record

Behind-the-meter solar panels in New England recently set a new record for generating electricity earlier this month, according to the region's grid operator.

Regional transmission organization ISO New England tracks the generating resources connected to the New England electric grid. According to ISO-NE, "Solar power systems are rapidly being installed across the six states of New England and noticeably reducing the electricity drawn from the regional power system."

All solar photovoltaic projects use sunlight to generate electricity, but beyond this superficial similarity the category holds much diversity. Some utility-scale solar projects are relatively large and participate in wholesale electricity markets. By contrast, typical behind-the-meter distributed generation systems are located at retail customer sites, and have historically been electrically interconnected on the customer's side of the utility meter or to local distribution utilities.

Federal and state policies favoring distributed generation have led to significant behind-the-meter solar development in New England. As of December 2019, the grid operator reported more than 180,000 behind-the-meter photovoltaic installations in the region. ISO-NE has noted that while these resources have a combined nameplate generating capability of more than 3,400 MW, they typically do not all generate their maximum output at the same time.

During the hour between noon and 1 p.m. on May 2, 2020, ISO-NE reports that the region's behind-the-meter solar installations generated approximately 3,200 megawatts, a record level of behind-the-meter solar generation.

ISO-NE says it expects this record to be broken again, likely repeatedly, given its projections of nearly 8,000 MW of solar power installed in New England by 2030.