Greentech Lead America: PJM Interconnection has crossed
the one GW (one billion watts) milestone for solar power installed in its
region.
PJM Interconnection said one gigawatt of electricity
generated would power between 800,000 and one million homes. Solar power more
than doubled in each of the last two years and continues to grow.
“We’re now truly harnessing the sun’s power.
Throughout PJM we are seeing tremendous growth, which aids in meeting the
renewable goals of states in our region,” said Andrew Ott, PJM senior vice
president of Markets.
Businesses and residences who are able to generate at
least one MW-hour of power from solar energy can qualify to capture credit for
the MW-hour as a solar renewable energy credit (REC).
The solar REC can be traded or sold to another entity to
satisfy its compliance with state goals. PJM Environmental Information Services
(EIS), a subsidiary of PJM, administers the registry, the Generation Attribute
Tracking System (GATS), which tracks and records RECs.
A portion of the one GW of solar is considered
behind-the-meter generation because it is not offered into the PJM wholesale
market. However, “behind-the-meter” solar is tracked by the PJM EIS
registry.
PJM’s Renewable Energy Dashboard provides a snapshot of
how much renewable energy is available in PJM and proposed to be built in the
region.