Solar update for 1st quarter

[Doug Winterburn]

After billing for first 3 months of 2012, here are the results:

kWh(solar) Elec$ (total/elect) Bank (on/off) January: 819 $32.04/$5.63 105/0 February: 945 $24.07/$3.11 278/0 March: 987 thru 3/27 $18.79/$0.08 525/0

The electricity charges are total including taxes and fees over just electricity charges. All electric charges so far was for off peak hours. The bank is total annual on peak kWh/off peak kWh. The taxes and fees include:

Basic service charge delivery service charge environmental service charge federal environmental service charge system benefits charge power supply adjustment metering meter reading billing federal transmission and ancillary services federal transmission cost adjustment system benefits adjustment regulatory assessment state sales tax county sales tax city sales tax franchise fee

For March, the cost of actual electricity was 8 cents and the taxes and fees was $18.71.

All in all, we are saving $25 - $30/month over the same months compared to the past two years. This includes the $93/month solar lease fee.

We have 525 kWh banked for the coming AC season.

All in all, happy campers!

[Larry Jaques]

Cool, Doug. What's your setup? Got battery backup so you stay online when the rest of the block is out?

-- "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[Doug Winterburn]

No, it's a grid tied system - SolarCity. The grid is our storage device, in fact when the grid goes down, so does our system. Wouldn't want to be pumping juice into the grid while the repair guys were trying to get things fixed! Might make their hair look like Guy Fieri. The inverter shuts off when the sun or the grid goes down.

However, any excess power we generate is banked in the grid for our use before we slurp power from the utility. Takes a special meter in addition to the solar meter to keep track of things.

However, I'm thinking of putting two 120W panels on the 5th wheel to keep the batteries charged.

[Larry Jaques]

A grid-tied relay could easily prevent that. Googling "guy fieri". Hmm, -nobody's- hair should look like Guy Fieri's.

I'm only paying $32-47/mo for electricity, so the $96/mo lease fee wouldn't be feasible for me.

Yeah, so I've heard.

Why so much? I'm guessing that you already did the math. Do you do a lot of wilderness camp^H^H^H^Hmobile living? Or do you just use a lot of electricity at night?

-- "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[Leon]

And just think, you probably would not have to have a solar supplement if you did not have to pay all those fees!!!. ;~) Looks like a telephone bill.

Good for you Doug! Keep us posted.

[Doug Winterburn]

I only use enough for lights to find my way to the crapper 4-5 times a night (oh the joys of BPH). SWMBO's (aka the OverLord) electrical footprint is somewhat larger.

240W is enough to fully recharge the 2 6V golf cart batteries after an evening/morning of 12V lighting and 120V inverter usage - that is if the sun shines. There's always the Honda 2000W generator in emergencies and to annoy any neighbors.

[Doug Winterburn]

Yup, almost $19/month even if we don't use any juice from the grid. We solved the phone bill taxes and fees with Vonage for a landline and TracFones for cell usage. May even drop the landline as we only use about $10 month apiece for TracFone and Vonage runs $17 or so a month.

Solar makes sense here in the AZ desert. Would probably make as much sense in Texas. It also helps that we head to cooler climes in the summer and should be banking a lot of juice. It will be interesting to see if we have a positive balance at years end and are able to get a check from the utility. We have already received a $400 referral from SolarCity :-)

[J. Clarke]

So have a transfer switch that disconnects from the grid when the grid goes down. I wouldn't pay a dime for a solar system that still had me completely dependent on the electric company.

[CW]

You do realize that with a phone system like that, during any kind of disaster situation you will be cut off with no communication, right? The Vonage is iffy. The cell phone is guaranteed useless.

[Pat Barber]

What size space are you heating/cooling ???

That's a very small KW usage for the average house.

[Doug Winterburn]

When we're on the road, cell will have to do. At home, I can walk the one block to the fire station or two blocks to the hospital or three blocks to the police dept. And then the emergency care center is behind my house.

Besides, there aren't many floods or earthquakes or hurricanes or whatever here in the AZ desert, just heat and dust.

[Doug Winterburn]

1850 sq ft. Heating and hot water is NG. We averaged about 1100 kWh/month for the two years before installing solar - about 500 kWh min and 1800 kWh max. We are somewhat more careful in turning of lights etc since. The 6kW system so far has produced:

Dec: 736kWh Jan: 818kWh Feb: 945kWh Mar: 1100kWh (projected since it's currently 986+ approx 40kWh for 4 more days)

The June number should be the max and I'm guessing 1200 - 1400 kWh

[Doug Winterburn]

Then you would require a battery system to buffer variable instaneous generation from a constant load. There is night and clouds etc that keep a non battery system from producing constant power. I don't think my gar^H^H^Hshop is big enough to hold the batteries, let alone my wallet big enough to buy them.

You would also have to get approval from the power utility, city and Solar equipment provider.

[Pat Barber]

Ok...that makes more sense to me now... 1100 kw is a pretty impressive output for solar.

NG for heating and hot water really saves the $$$

Water heater, dryer and heat pumps are the big ticket items for lots of KW's.

People are anal about the lights, but you could leave ALL the lights on

24X7 and still not burn many kw's.

Say 1000 watts a day for 30 days = 30,000 watts per month / 1000 = 30kw x .08 = $2.40 per month for the lights. (10 100w bulbs burning 24x7)

PS: Electrical Engineers may now jump in for corrections.

[Lew Hodgett]

---------------------------------- Don't forget the reefer(s).

They suck up mucho KWs.

Lew

[basilisk]

Don't know about where you are, but in AL even a phone line that has been had the service cancelled will still call 911.

basilisk

[chaniarts]

if you own the system, you don't get a check. you get a credit for future bills in the next year. i don't know what happens if you're leasing the system.

last year i generated 14200 kwh, which resulted in a $200 credit at the end of the year. my total charges for 2011 was $430 (including fees), about $1650 under what i estimate i would have paid without solar. i have a 2800 sqft house with 2 ac units, and run a couple of electric kilns a lot, so my typical usage is higher than yours.

so far this year i've generated 2890kwh, more than i've used so i've been generating more credits. since my bills haven't totaled 200 yet, my

1st 3 bills this year so far are $0.

you can upload your data and plot your generation at

to compare your generation with others. my system is

regards, charlie cave creek, az

[Larry Jaques]

Condolences.

Bigscreen + blow dryer?

Aha, you get up real early, too?

An EU model, or some really -loud- beeyatch?

-- "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[Doug Winterburn]

EU 59db

[Larry Jaques]

Those are -considerably- less annoying than most on the market. Ever heard a 3,600rpm model? Ye gods!

-- "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson