NEM 3.0 20 year payback clock

[mdscole]

California sucks. The PUC naming is a misnomer. There's nothing "Public" about it. It's as corrupt as FIFA.

I'm currently at year 12 since my system was installed here in California. I'm under NEM1.0. (solar city system with 22 Kyocera 210w panels and a basic string inverter.)
So - I have 8 years left.
Question: If I slightly upgrade the existing system somehow and complete that permit by 3/30/23, will that reset the clock for another 20 years instead of 8?
If so, what's the least expensive upgrade? Add a single 360 watt panel and throw in optimizers?

[J.P.M.]

Question: If I slightly upgrade the existing system somehow and complete that permit by 3/30/23, will that reset the clock for another 20 years instead of 8?
If so, what's the least expensive upgrade? Add a single 360 watt panel and throw in optimizers?

If you add more than 10% capacity or 1 STC kW (whichever is greater) you will lose the MEM 1.0 status. I'm in the same boat.
That's always been the case, has nothing to do with MEM 3.0 deadlines and (at this time anyway) can be done whenever you want.

What happens if you change inverter functions is a question I've not gotten an answer to yet.

I would question the practicality and cost effectiveness of adding optimizers.

[mdscole]

The comparison is:
8 years with NEM 1.0
20 years with NEM 2.0

If it's post 3/14/23 - then it's crap without onsite storage. (even then - the seasonal differences are all discounted by 30¢ a kWh.)

My understanding of the 1.0 - 2.0 change is that the nuclear decommissioning, grant fees, (basically all the extras) are added to the bill where they weren't there under 1.0. Is an extra 20 years under NEM 2.0 more financially beneficial to 8 years of NEM 1.0?

NEM 3.0 absolutely destroys the value of my existing solar for my situation. They buy excess for 5¢ and sell it back 35¢. Batteries will be the option when I'm kicked off the grandfather status. but it still won't help with seasonal differences.

[davidcheok]

If it were me and I already had a system that produced more than I could use and the ROI has been fulfilled, my next investment would be redux flow batteries with very large capacities. These batteries have long life cycles and are easily scaleable and can store energy for extended periods. In 7-8 years time, these would have dropped significantly in price. Currently they cost the same or more than lithium based. With these in place, you will be able to go semi off-grid running totally off batteries and only use grid in times of maintenance or emergencies. ROI will then be based not on export prices but instead on import prices.

[MGE]

Yeah I toyed with the idea of adding more panels but after further review I'm standing pat.

My system went live back in April of 2013 and being on the 1.0 plan for me it's better to live with it even though the Utility Co. might just change everybody at to a "more fair for everyone" type of billing system at some point and time and to heck with being grandfathered in.

Now their trying to get rid of natural gas and gas/diesel so the only game in town will be electric and they can't even fully support customers on the grid as it is now.

What could possibly go wrong if EVERYTHING is dependent on electricity?

Monopoly's are all good yeah?

[davidcheok]

Well if you have enough storage capacity, nobody can bill you for energy from the sun. Everything else is billable.

[J.P.M.]

No one seems to be thinking about conservation, but for most folks it's always been about the most cost effective way to reduce an electric bill and one that's usually not utilized to the greatest extent possible. Bonus: the POCO can't screw with it.

[mdscole]

Flow batteries are an interesting idea. Lithium lifespan doesn't seem worth the expense. I guess I'll find out in 8 years.

[solardreamer]

Is your roof good for another 8 years? If not, it may be better to do any solar system changes when you replace the roof.

[davidcheok]

Is your roof good for another 8 years? If not, it may be better to do any solar system changes when you replace the roof.

This is good advice

[azdave]

Well if you have enough storage capacity, nobody can bill you for energy from the sun.

Don't be naive about government and public utilities. They will create new ways to charge you for independently collecting your own electricity (aka sunshine tax). Give it a few more years to develop.

[OCJ]

Don't be naive about government and public utilities. They will create new ways to charge you for independently collecting your own electricity (aka sunshine tax). Give it a few more years to develop.

This was in the first California NEM 3.0 proposal: $8 per kW tax on the sun. I actually started my order in January 2022 staring down this barrel and would have canceled had it been approved.

[davidcheok]

Don't be naive about government and public utilities. They will create new ways to charge you for independently collecting your own electricity (aka sunshine tax). Give it a few more years to develop.

So much for the land of the free.

[silversaver]

I am in the same boat 10th year with NM 1.0. I don't think adding a 3-4kW system will really benefit me under my own calculation. With a growing family conservation isn't an option, but increase in consumption. SocalGas increase price so you will need more electricity during Winter month or electric appliances as water heater. Paying $400 + for gas bill is surprisingly high

[nomadh]

The comparison is:
8 years with NEM 1.0
20 years with NEM 2.0

If it's post 3/14/23 - then it's crap without onsite storage. (even then - the seasonal differences are all discounted by 30¢ a kWh.)

My understanding of the 1.0 - 2.0 change is that the nuclear decommissioning, grant fees, (basically all the extras) are added to the bill where they weren't there under 1.0. Is an extra 20 years under NEM 2.0 more financially beneficial to 8 years of NEM 1.0?

NEM 3.0 absolutely destroys the value of my existing solar for my situation. They buy excess for 5¢ and sell it back 35¢. Batteries will be the option when I'm kicked off the grandfather status. but it still won't help with seasonal differences.

I'm not understanding something here. Nem 1 , that i have, keeps you with poco being your battery for 15 or 20 years (iforget which) nem2, my kid has, just ran off contract at 7 or 8 years and saw a big bill increase. Someone contacted him on doing an add on before April to It seems reset his nem2 status?
so what's the deal on resetting nem2? If you reconstruct on nem2 does it now extend to 20 more years?