Price difference from PV generated and bought AC energy

[foo1bar]

No, not POCO credits.
...
Just a couple of examples (which as we have seen depend on a lot of factors and vary) on how much do you pay for 1kWh, and how much you get paid when you feed it to the grid. That's it.

POCO credits *is* what I get paid when I feed it to the grid.

I think you need to explain a little what question you're really trying to answer.
ie. why are you asking?

Then the responses you get will probably be more useful.

One way to read your question is: "How much are POCO's paying for energy generated from your solar? And how much are they charging retail for energy?"
Another way to read it is "How much does it cost you to generate a Kwh over the life of the system? How much does your POCO charge for a kwh?"

Can't say I see much usefulness to either of those other than to try to form examples for some kind of debatable point.
And by debatable point I mean something like "Solar is bad for the POCO - they're getting screwed over by net metering" - OR - "Solar is great - look how much POCOs charge per kwh" or something similar.

[Bobodude]

What's Your Watts Worth?

Bernard. Depends on who's grid you are hooked up to. It seems there is no standard as to what you get for your excess generation from any particular utility. Here in Nevada, its a equal swap for excess generation. During the day I "bank it" as a credit and pull it back at night or on cloudy days. My tarriff gets a little complicated as I am on TOU plan so what I generate off peak can only be applied to off peak kwh's that I use. Same with peak watts used.

One thing a lot of people are missing in this whole equation is the payback on your REC's if you own your system. Nevada Energy, who is mandated to incorporate a certain percentage of solar power to their generation portfoilio pays us once a year for our REC's, $25 for every 1 AC MWH generated. This is station DC MWH generation minus system losses. As a kicker, when I report my generation to our PUC, they apply a multiplier of 2.40 for installations that have come on line before 1/1/15. This ends up being over $500 per year for my 6.2 kw system. That, over the life of the panels can be considerable. But unfortuneately, solar installers do not generally push this apect because they want you to take the state incentive, make your costs look better out the door and better chances for a sale. But you forfit ownership of any REC's generated forever to your utility. My state incentive, in 2012, would have been only $3500. With all things equal, I'll get that back in a total of 7 yrs operation. With an expected life of 20 or so yrs, I will end up better off financially.

[bernard]

Thank you for all the replies.
They have been truly helpful.

[Naptown]

Hi Bernard
This is how I calculate the cost per KWH
I take the gross system cost
Subtract the federal credit, local credits rebates SREC's that the system will produce over its life.
This gives me net cost of the system after incentives.
I then calculate the production of the system over its lifetime taking into account the .7% per year degredation.
Divide the total net cost by the # KWH produced ant this is your cost per KWH using solar.
I am pretty sure that's what you are asking.

[Bobodude]

Hi Bernard
This is how I calculate the cost per KWH
I take the gross system cost
Subtract the federal credit, local credits rebates SREC's that the system will produce over its life.
This gives me net cost of the system after incentives.
I then calculate the production of the system over its lifetime taking into account the .7% per year degredation.
Divide the total net cost by the # KWH produced ant this is your cost per KWH using solar.
I am pretty sure that's what you are asking.

Don't forget that the average cost per KWH is rising at a rate of around 3% or more, depending on your location. You could be looking at 30% addition savings per KWH in 10 yrs!