What we buy
Ranges we buy on this page
Net metering in North Carolina connects small generation to utility service, but energy accounting does not establish transformer capacity. This guide explains the rules that shape those connections and what they mean for transformer sizing, replacement, and removal.
It is written for plant engineers, facility directors, contractors, and transformer owners reviewing solar projects on Duke Energy, Dominion Energy North Carolina, municipal utility, or electric cooperative systems before equipment leaves the pad.
| Phase | kVA | Voltage | Fluid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-phase | 10 - 333 kVA | up to 25 kV | Liquid or dry |
| 3-phase | 25 - 10,000 kVA | 25 kV | Liquid-filled |
Who we buy from
Six kinds of seller
- Recyclers
- Electrical contractors
- Equipment dealers
- End users
- Demo contractors
- Distributors
Fast offers
A written offer the same business day, based on your photographs.
Dedicated logistics
Our own crew, trailer and crane, not a brokered haul.
No broker fees
One buyer from first call to cleared pad, with nothing skimmed.
How it works
Six steps from photograph to payment
- 01
Take pictures
Photograph the nameplate, the inside of the cabinet and the tank from both ends. Four frames on a phone are enough to price most units.
- 02
Send them to us
Email or text the photographs with the site address and whether the unit is still energised. We reply the same business day with questions or a number.
- 03
Review the offer
The offer names the unit, the site, the price and the pickup window. It is written, dated and good for thirty days unless the unit changes hands.
- 04
We schedule freight
A crew, a trailer and a crane if the pad needs one. You get the date and the arrival window, and the site does not have to close for it.
- 05
Testing on arrival
Winding resistance, insulation resistance and a turns ratio check, plus oil analysis where the unit is liquid-filled. Results travel with the unit.
- 06
Get paid
Payment is released against the signed bill of sale and the scale ticket, by check or ACH, with the paperwork copy left on site.
What we handle
The parts sellers dread
Rigging
Crane, skates and a route survey for anything that will not roll onto a trailer.
Oil containment
Pans, absorbent and a spill plan before a drain plug is touched.
Bill of sale
A document that clears a lien, a lease or a bankruptcy file, not a handwritten note.
PCB paperwork
Testing and manifesting for pre-1979 oil, handled before the unit moves.
On the ground
The short version
Net metering addresses how a utility records electricity moving between a customer’s generation system and its distribution system. In North Carolina, the applicable service provisions depend on the utility and the project.
Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress have separate documents; a municipal utility may use different requirements.
Transformer sizing remains an engineering decision governed by load, generation output, voltage, impedance, and utility approval. A solar array connected behind a 480Y/277-volt service can export through the service transformer.
Permission to participate in net metering does not establish that the existing tank, windings, or protection can handle that duty.
Local reality
Why a seller should care
A North Carolina solar installation can trigger a service review that leaves an existing transformer surplus after replacement. Before treating that unit as yours to remove, check ownership.
A pad beside a privately owned building may carry utility-owned equipment, even when the customer maintains the surrounding pavement or protective bollards.
For equipment you own, keep the nameplate photographs, one-line diagram, and replacement scope together. Those records distinguish a service transformer displaced by an interconnection requirement from one removed after overheating or a winding fault.
Transformer Buyers NC buys used, surplus, failed, and obsolete transformers throughout North Carolina, including customer-owned units displaced by generation projects.
Around the site
The arithmetic
Start with AC output, not the solar modules’ combined DC rating. For a balanced three-phase connection, apparent power in kVA equals square root of three times line-to-line voltage times line current, divided by 1,000.
At 480 volts and 300 amperes, that calculation gives approximately 249 kVA at the connection point.
Do not subtract annual solar production from annual facility consumption to select transformer capacity. A North Carolina warehouse can export at midday and import after sunset.
Evaluate the maximum expected import and export separately, then check power factor, reactive-power requirements, ambient conditions, harmonics, and the utility’s required loading assumptions.
Where it sits
Where people go wrong
An approved net-metering arrangement is not a substitute for an approved interconnection design. The utility may require protection changes, meter changes, or distribution upgrades before parallel operation.
For a Duke Energy or Dominion Energy North Carolina project, retain the approved one-line diagram and written permission to operate with the equipment records.
Reverse power flow alone does not prove that a transformer needs replacement. The problem may instead involve voltage rise, regulator behavior, protection coordination, or inadequate thermal capacity.
A 480Y/277-volt nameplate also does not identify the primary voltage, winding connection, impedance, or tap position needed to evaluate the complete installation.
On the ground
Value impact
Net-metering paperwork helps explain why a transformer became surplus, but it does not establish its condition. A documented upgrade on a North Carolina commercial solar project provides useful removal history.
Oil leaks at radiator flanges, cracked bushings, abnormal test results, and previous overheating still need to be disclosed separately.
The information useful in a buyer’s assessment is specific: kVA, primary and secondary voltages, phase, cooling designation, fluid identification, dimensions, and removal access. If the interconnection upgrade includes new switchgear, show which elbows, cabinets, or accessories belong to the transformer.
Do not assume everything beside the pad transfers with the unit.
Local reality
Your next move
Before arranging removal, have the project engineer reconcile the approved interconnection drawings with the transformer actually installed. Confirm ownership, replacement responsibility, and whether utility acceptance requires the old equipment to remain temporarily.
North Carolina generation projects can leave a disconnected transformer on the pad while commissioning work continues elsewhere.
Once the owner authorizes removal, assemble nameplate photographs, condition notes, fluid records, and an access sketch showing gates and overhead obstructions. Qualified personnel must isolate all utility and generation sources, verify absence of voltage, and apply required grounding.
Pickup planning should follow that electrical release, not a solar contractor’s projected completion date.
Get started
Get an offer in minutes
Five fields is all it takes. Photographs help, but a nameplate and a town are enough to start.
No fee, no obligation. We reply the same business day.
Tell us what you have
We reply the same business day.
Questions
Straight answers
Equipment types
Does every North Carolina utility use identical net-metering rules?
No. Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress, Dominion Energy North Carolina, municipal utilities, and electric cooperatives may have different service provisions and interconnection procedures. Confirm the documents applicable to the service address and project before relying on another facility’s approval or meter arrangement.
Service area
Can solar generation overload an existing service transformer?
Yes, if operating conditions exceed the transformer’s permissible loading. Export through a 480-volt connection must be evaluated alongside maximum import, reactive power, and thermal conditions. Annual energy totals cannot establish capacity, and net-metering acceptance does not replace the utility’s engineering review.
Payment
What documents should accompany a transformer removed for solar?
Keep the nameplate photographs, approved one-line diagram, ownership confirmation, condition records, and removal authorization. For a North Carolina interconnection upgrade, also retain the replacement scope so the buyer can distinguish a capacity-driven removal from equipment taken out after a fault or fluid leak.
Logistics
Value impact: what should a seller know?
Net-metering paperwork helps explain why a transformer became surplus, but it does not establish its condition. A documented upgrade on a North Carolina commercial solar project provides useful removal history.