Harvest Hours for me are approx: 8 to 4.
SCE Peak times are 12 pm to 6 pm and we can keep usage to a minimum during those hours. Pool is scheduled to run at night... during the summer months the only hiccup might be the kids turning the pool on in the afternoon but it is a very efficient variable speed pump.
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What are your solar harvest hours, and what are your peak use hours. Can you hold off on appliance usage in the evening till 9pm ?Leave a comment:
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Newbie Time of Use Question...
Just got our system installed in Southern CA and loving it. Having the dilemma of switching to Time of Use or sticking with the basic Tier Structure.
Trying to calculate the difference in credits I'd receive and while the Domestic Tier Rate is straight forward and easy to calculate I am having a hard time figuring out the corresponding credit I would receive under the TOU rate. I first thought it was calculated daily for a dollar amount but I guess I was a little too anxious and optimistic. Found out it is done at month's end and is some huge calculation. Does anyone have a simple way of figuring this out?
Here are my projected usages for June and it's pretty easy to see with the Tier Plan I'd get approx. $23 credit at the end of the month (-177 x $0.13) I gotta think going to TOU would be beneficial right?
USAGE: 413 (On Peak: 11 Off Peak: 402)
Solar: -590 (On Peak: -393 Off Peak: -197)
NET: -177
Throw in the two tier levels for TOU and I am completely lost. My Tier 1 allowance is 367 and the current summer rates for Tier 1: Off .12 On .31 and Tier 2: Off .27 On .47
I know the solar providers have programs to determine this but I am actually trying to understand the "how" this is derived.
Thank you for your time and help.Leave a comment:
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SC 10-$20 a month hold on to your wallet
Keep us up to date on your search. I'm curious to know how much "10-$20 a month" costs these days.Leave a comment:
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Hi Kingocat,
Here is the original thread I started when I was considering solar - gives some background.
I ultimately went with a Sunpower system sold by Revco Solar in Laguna Hills (the first bid I reference above). The system cost about $28k +/- after tax credits and SCE rebates. We paid for it vs. leasing since we consider this a long-term home and I didn't want to deal with leasing (and any issues that *might* arise from that). Furthermore, I looked at it as a long-term bond that pays approx. $2,500 - $3,000/year (roughly my annual electric bill before solar because we always ended up in tier 5), with an escalating return as rates increase.
TOU has ended up making a difference for us, because the credits on straight net metering are minimal given the low wholesale rates SCE pays out.
Honestly I can't speak too intelligently on lease vs. buy because I went in focused on buying. Good luck and feel free to ping me with any questions.Leave a comment:
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Ian,
I was told by Solarcity that everything would be free in exchange for them to use my roof to generate electricity so they can sell it to the electric company. There would be a 20 year lease and I would pay about $10-20 bucks for the term of the lease. I don't have the contracts but I'm in the process of having a solar consultant come by to look at my home.Leave a comment:
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Even though you live in California where rates have tended to increase over the years, avoid a lease where they build in an annual escalator. Also, make sure you really save a significant amount of money (lease payment + new electric bill) vs old electric bill. By significant, I'd say somewhere around $100/mo or more. Otherwise, when you go to sell your home you may have a lot of handwaving to do to convince your buyer to take over the payments. In any event, keep lots of detailed records of the savings so you can prove to a buyer what a great deal it is.
Get a copy of the lease before you sign and go over it in detail so you know exactly what you're getting into. It is a 20 year commitment after all and adds to the complexity of selling your home. You might also look at other companies' leases too - I got one here in Arizona with Sunpower although it's prepaid.
There's been plenty of discussion of leasing pros and cons in this forum so search the archives.Leave a comment:
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He didn't even get that did he? As I understood his post, he lost that:
Here in AZ, they keep track of actual kWh credited and pay us at year's end at a low $0.06/kWh rate. Better than nothing and discourages responses like that of the poster who plans to waste more electricity in the summer so no one winds up winning.My only disappointment was that I thought I'd get some benefit, even negligible, for the credit I had generated. However, since I was still a net "user" of electricity (my off peak usage outweighed my on-peak generation) I get exactly $0.00.Leave a comment:
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