My university client is about to sign a letter of intent for a Net Metering Credit Purchase Agreement with a PV Developer for a 650 kW array. The land is located about a mile from the project site and is owned by another party (city land or non-profit). The system will be tied directly to the grid, which I understand to acceptable based on previous interpretations. The contract is for 20 years and all RECs will be granted to the university. A letter from the university will be written allocating all the energy to our building project. It is not part of a mandate. My primary question is, can the university take credit for off-site PV array for EAc2?

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Marcus Sheffer

LEED Fellow

7group / Energy Opportunities

LEEDuser Expert

4454 thumbs up

Tue, 05/27/2014 - 15:26

This will likely not qualify under EAc2 which is defined as on-site. I have always been under the impression that the power has to feed the building side of the meter and not the grid side. If you have an interpretation that says different I would like to read it. Sounds like it would qualify for EAc6.

Peg Manuel

Tetra Tech

LEEDuser Basic Member

3 thumbs up

Tue, 08/26/2014 - 19:26

We have a similar situation on an air force base, where the solar array is located on a vacant piece of land several blocks away from our building, and not currently within the LEED Boundary. Where in the credit documentation does it require the power feed the building side of the meter ...as opposed to the grid side? Our array has a PV meter adjacent to the panels, downstream it feeds the grid via an onsite transformer. If the owner provides a letter stating the renewable energy for this project will only apply to our building and no credit will be taken for future subsequent buildings seeking LEED certification - could we attempt pursuing EAc2?

Marcus Sheffer

LEED Fellow

7group / Energy Opportunities

LEEDuser Expert

4454 thumbs up

Tue, 08/26/2014 - 20:31

The title of the credit is on-site renewable energy. What you describe is off-site. If the array is on the base (campus) and the power feeds the campus grid then there are exceptions. The building/grid feed is not absolute and the power can feed into the grid (I clarified this issue in another post - see above). It is the ownership of the power and the RECs that are the primary issues.

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