The Massachusetts Electric Solar Project: a pilot project to commercialize residential PV systems

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.