The excitement over his new solar array was dampened for West Bradford Township resident Kevin Dunleavy, after he discovered that he would have to pay $45,000 to get it connected to the PECO utility grid, writes Frank Kummer for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The roofing contractor had planned the project meticulously, but the price of connecting to the grid came as an unwelcome surprise. The connection is essential as the solar array can generate excess energy on sunny days but not enough on cloudy days.

According to PECO, the power cables that connect to Dunleavy’s home are too small to handle the surplus energy his system would send back to the grid, and would have to be upgraded.

Dunleavy said that he simply cannot afford this unexpected additional cost. He has already invested $6,000 into installing the panels, on top of the $18,000 cost of the panels themselves.

“I never expected that they would not be able to take my energy,” said Dunleavy. “I was blown away by that. I invested a lot of time and passion into this.”

Read more about the solar project in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.