Got my first electric bill.... share yours

[Macotak]

Be careful over sizing your solar system. If you generate more energy that you use it sits in the account for one year, after that the utility gets to buy out those unused credits at the wholesale rate. The wholesale rate is very low and there is no ROI on that excess capacity.

So true. We overproduce annually, so our addition of a 2nd EV means we reduce that .02/kw payback closer to net zero for the year. Solar systems degrade at about 1% per year so eventually we'll be paying retail rate (about .11/kw here in southern AZ) in a few years if we don't conserve a little. We blast the A/C in the summer way more than necessary now.

Sponsored

 

[Nklem]

FWIW, I'm engaged with Tesla at the moment and they are offering 10 years at 0.99% APR for financing. Way cheaper than my HELOC, so a no brainer.

They are quoting me $19k for an 8.2 kW system, and then an additional 19k for 2 powerwalls with ~27 kWh capacity and able to drive my full load for a few days depending on solar array production. I'm a bit agnostic about the powerwalls, as attractive as it may be to have the integrated system, for 1/4 the cost, I could buy a more than capable Cummings NG/LPV generator, and given my historical down time, not lose any sleep over the carbon impact of such a beast. I suppose I should investigate the inter-op of a generator and solar system, but hopefully that's pretty seamless as well.

Nice. I am in an area where Solar is about 15% efficient or less over a year. CA is great and has great incentives. Sun most of the time. So far I cannot get anything but a 15 year payback, so it's out for me. But I do buy my power from a Solar Farm, at a 15% discount from the Utility, so it's there indirectly. Also, free power for charging at work, makes the demand on the house much less. I love that CA has tons of Solar, frowns on fossil fueled power generation but has power shortfalls, and the State is now demanding all new construction be 100% electric (CA State Buildings have been that way for the last few years)........

 

[gpgrim]

Nice. I am in an area where Solar is about 15% efficient or less over a year. CA is great and has great incentives. Sun most of the time. So far I cannot get anything but a 15 year payback, so it's out for me. But I do buy my power from a Solar Farm, at a 15% discount from the Utility, so it's there indirectly. Also, free power for charging at work, makes the demand on the house much less. I love that CA has tons of Solar, frowns on fossil fueled power generation but has power shortfalls, and the State is now demanding all new construction be 100% electric (CA State Buildings have been that way for the last few years)........

Yes, that's the other rub. I don't actually source my juice from PG&E generators, but from Marin County Electric (MCE) a community choice aggregator, which has plans that are much more heavily wind and solar based than PG&E Because of the bureaucracy, the California Public Utility Commission, overseeing all this, PG&E and CCEs are guaranteed their cut as long as they are suitably lawyered up. The upshot is that I wind up paying more than I have to, just to ensure a higher fraction of solar and wind sourcing.

The real investment in home solar is to fix personal production/consumption costs as a hedge against the inevitable rate increases from this moribund, bureaucratic, and monopolistic industry. Without a motivation to deliver quality service, prices will only rise, and given the lawyers and the swath of destruction utilities have wreaked on CA, it won't be long before new charges will be added to offset new damage. As the "R" word starts entering my vocabulary on a more frequent basis, not having to worry about that aspect of the budget in 10 years does have some psychological appeal, especially in the more extreme micro-climate that my home is currently in.

 

[Infinite_Jester]

Sent this info to someone via DM but thought it might help inform the general discussion about Solar + Electric Car charging.

Time of Use plan with overnight discounts + solar panels to offset "peak" pricing can be a real money-saver.
I have power through Georgia Power that charges $0.01 per kWh overnight, $0.07 during most daylight hours, but $0.20 for peak times. Info can be found here:
https://www.georgiapower.com/reside...-plans/pricing-and-rate-plans/plug-in-ev.html

I also have solar. I had it installed a little over a year and a half ago (Creative Solar was the company). I got a group discount through Solarize Atlanta. Solar provides about half my electricity. My idea was to have solar power the house during "On Peak" hours and thereby lower my electric bill substantially.
It's a bit of a long story, but initially Georgia Power did this sorta sneaky thing where they billed a rate higher than my production rate (they charged me time-of-use rates if I used grid power during a cloudy day for instance, but when solar was sent back to the grid they paid 2.9 cents per kWh). Thus the savings the first year weren't great and I was a bit disappointed/steamed at them. However, the law changed this year and now I am billed more fairly (same rate applies if I use electricity vs send it back to the grid).

In April my bill was $14 and in May it was $27 which is what I was expecting to start with. I am curious to see what June-August look like.

 

[PicassoPC]

In Southern California, our TOU rates are pretty straight forward

 

[kirkus02]

In Southern California, our TOU rates are pretty straight forward

I just called SCE this week to change over to the TOU plan. They mentioned they would need to send someone for an 'infrastructure check'. Any idea of what they're checking?

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

I just called SCE this week to change over to the TOU plan. They mentioned they would need to send someone for an 'infrastructure check'. Any idea of what they're checking?

Probably checking to see what meter you have. When I switched to TOU they had to change the meter on my house.

 

[bairdc3]

Been driving the car for 2338 miles and so far Free99. Work for the State of CA and they have a couple of Free chargers at work. When I do have to charge @home, SMUD rates are OFF-Peak midnight to noon Summer 0.1277 and Winter 0.1082. Then you can layer in a EV Rate discount of .015 making it .1127(summer) and 0.0932.

 

[PicassoPC]

I just called SCE this week to change over to the TOU plan. They mentioned they would need to send someone for an 'infrastructure check'. Any idea of what they're checking?

To confirm appropriate charge equipment and meter is installed and/or connected to the panel correctly. They wouldn't let me switch to the EV TOU rates until the electrician installed a 40amp outlet for the Wallbox - at least this is what the service rep told me.

 

[Mach e Mark]

Did you pay cash or finance the Array? If so, what term for the financing? Are you able to get all of the Tax Credits back into your hands? I am not doubting you in any way, just looking for some more information. Thanks!

I retired in 2019 so I have some 401K dough to spend. I withdrew from the 401K to pay for the solar. My 401K withdrawl triggered a tax liability for me and I used that liability to claim my tax credit.

 

[IMDIDOC]

How many times do people ask "How much does it cost to charge it?" I didn't have a good answer for charging at home. My supplier charges 14.6 cents per kWh. I installed a meter to determine the cost. There are loses incurred by the supply box and the charger within the vehicle. This meter is connected to the NEMA 14-50, so it should be as close as it gets.

I was at 17% when I connected to the MME and let it run to 100%. It took 9 hours 23 minutes and used 85.05kWh. Total bill $12.44. Range said 322 miles, but the weather here is perfect and I never travel uphill Lol.

Of course your mileage may vary.

 

[ronnie9ball]

How many times do people ask "How much does it cost to charge it?" I didn't have a good answer for charging at home. My supplier charges 14.6 cents per kWh. I installed a meter to determine the cost. There are loses incurred by the supply box and the charger within the vehicle. This meter is connected to the NEMA 14-50, so it should be as close as it gets.

I was at 17% when I connected to the MME and let it run to 100%. It took 9 hours 23 minutes and used 85.05kWh. Total bill $12.44. Range said 322 miles, but the weather here is perfect and I never travel uphill Lol.

Of course your mileage may vary.

Did you DIY? If so, what components/software did you use? That is pretty cool!

 

[jsteach]

I'm in so cal using SCE with a TOU-B plan which allow me .13 kwh overnight. I'm using a charpoint charger which calculates charging very accurately. 1865 miles for 80.00 using 608 kwh. I had solar installed a few months ago, hoping this becomes zero!!

 

[IMDIDOC]

Did you DIY? If so, what components/software did you use? That is pretty cool!

Did you DIY? If so, what components/software did you use? That is pretty cool!

Here is the link to the meter on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRZAFAF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My electrician friend hooked it up. It's a little confusing that only one hot wire is needed through the induction coil, but it works. I had to pigtail some additional wire to reach the box where the NEMA socket is located. To use a standard wall box, I purchased a blank cover and cut it to fit. There is a small reset button too. So far this month 164.8kW. My rate is 14.6 cents. So about $24.60. I figure it's about half what an ICE vehicle uses in gas for the same miles.

 

[txaggies07]

In Southern California, our TOU rates are pretty straight forward

Dang that is crazy high. No wonder y’all like solar out there. I pay flat 8c/kwh right now.