3 ms·

> Don't even consider solar panels until you've reduced energy needs first. Absolutely, asynch13! That's what I did. It took over two years, starting with a

by EEGuy 14y ago

> Don't even consider solar panels until you've reduced energy needs first. Absolutely, asynch13! That's what I did. It took over two years, starting with a home energy monitor. Using a home energy monitor such as [1] or [2], one can get frequent measurements, every six seconds for [1], then identify individual loads by switching them on and off during a period of otherwise steady demand. Other loads silently switch on and off of course; Then one can start making evaluations and upgrades. Some can be surprising; I was able to reduce my demand by well over 20 KWh / day; details here [3]. After that, a 5KW / 8000+ KWh-per-year grid-tie no-storage solar PV system went in. My utility charges $11 for a month when the PV system produces more than the home consumes during a billig period. The utility did change out their transformer (to a smaller 25 KW unit feeding 3 other homes) on the power pole in my back yard. But home and location is 40 years old, so I can imagine the old transformer was fully amortized long ago. --- [1] http://currentcost.net http://currentcost.net [2] http://www.theenergydetective.com/ http://www.theenergydetective.com/ [3] https://discussions.zoho.com/powersave/topic/how-much-i-ve-been-saving https://discussions.zoho.com/powersave/topic/how-much-i-ve-b...

revelation 14y ago
They charge you for feeding excess power back into the grid?
- EEGuy 14y ago
  Not exactly. Since it was a subsidized system, with 'Net Metering', my utility sets the billing rules. Excluding the finer points, here's the gist of how the billing works: * My utility (Los Angeles DWP) accumulates a 'dollar banking' credit for the present value of net energy [signed power flow integrated over the two-month interval of my utility's billing period] fed back to the grid when a billing statement period is net-energy-productive (i.e. the PV system made more energy than my home consumed over the statement-period of two months). I pay a $22 'minimum charge' (normalized: $11/mo) for, as I see it, my share of utility equipment amortization and operations I'd otherwise be paying as a consumer. Fair enough: I do draw energy when the sun goes down. It's co-operative. * In the summer, my 5-ton A/C use exceeds my PV system's production capacity; I become an energy consumer during one or two billing periods. My utility calculates the price for the _net_ energy I use per period, then debits the 'dollar banking' account. If that gets exhausted, then I pay the residual, otherwise my 'dollar banking' balance just goes down.

by EEGuy 14y ago

revelation 14y ago

They charge you for feeding excess power back into the grid?

EEGuy 14y ago
Not exactly. Since it was a subsidized system, with 'Net Metering', my utility sets the billing rules. Excluding the finer points, here's the gist of how the billing works: * My utility (Los Angeles DWP) accumulates a 'dollar banking' credit for the present value of net energy [signed power flow integrated over the two-month interval of my utility's billing period] fed back to the grid when a billing statement period is net-energy-productive (i.e. the PV system made more energy than my home consumed over the statement-period of two months). I pay a $22 'minimum charge' (normalized: $11/mo) for, as I see it, my share of utility equipment amortization and operations I'd otherwise be paying as a consumer. Fair enough: I do draw energy when the sun goes down. It's co-operative. * In the summer, my 5-ton A/C use exceeds my PV system's production capacity; I become an energy consumer during one or two billing periods. My utility calculates the price for the _net_ energy I use per period, then debits the 'dollar banking' account. If that gets exhausted, then I pay the residual, otherwise my 'dollar banking' balance just goes down.