Adios Pantalones said:
One of the issues that I see is that people with systems tied to the grid have the option to sell excess power to the grid, or "bank it" and draw out later, essentially using the grid as a battery system. However- most of my charges seem to be line usage, tax, bent knee fee, peanut shell discharge fee, etc. etc.- so if I stay on the grid and have a partial solution, then I save very little because my charges are not nearly proportional to my power use- so you have to go all out and go off the grid I think.
On top of that, NH's incentives are pretty poor I think.
Can anyone that knows this stuff comment?
Hi,
That does not seem to be the way it works here.
I don't have any options on what gets done to the PV electricity I generate. I guess it goes to my loads first, and then any excess goes back out the the grid.
When power goes back to the grid, it takes KWHs off my NET meter -- ie it runs the meter backwards.
At the end of the month, if I have used more power than I generated, I get a bill for the net power I used.
If I generated more power than I used, this gets rolled forward to be used for future month bills.
At the end of the year if I have generated more power than I have used for the full year, then they zero out the books -- They don't cut me a check for the excess if I generate more power than I use for the year. For most people who put in PV, there is little to no danger that they will generate more power over the year than they use and not get paid for the excess -- most people use way to much power for this to happen.
I sized my PV array (2150 watts) so that even if we do some more conserving and efficiency measures we may get down close to zero, but not below.
There are some fixed charges on my bill -- it looks to me like if I got power use down to zero my electric bill would only be about $5 a month. This does not seem like a bad deal to me given that being on the grid has tons of advantages. The whole net metering thing is definitely a losing proposition for the utilities unless they are getting reimbursed in some way -- they are basically paying you retail for the power you generate.
My last months total bill was $20 for 160 KWH for the month including fixed and power use dependent fees. That compares to our bills a couple years ago that were pushing $100 before we did the conservation and PV programs.
Off-grid systems are appealing in living an independent life sort of way. But, they cost quite a bit more to put in, there are fewer rebates available, and the cost of battery replacement just about offsets any saving in power bills. That last one is what swayed me toward a grid-tie system --I can put in a grid-tie system and cut my power bill each month, or I can put in a off-grid system and see all my savings go toward battery pack replacement.
We are in SW Montana and use Northwestern Energy -- I'm sure things vary around the country.
The real story on the economics side is that conservation and efficiency really pay well, and grid-tie PV pays a bit if you can get good rebates.
We cut our electricity use from 1000 KWH a month to 500 KWH a month for a little over $1000 for things like CFLs, power strips, and a new fridge.
The PV array saves us about 300 KWH a month, and cost $6000 (with me doing the install). So, for Montana, no doubt what really pays -- PV is fun, but conservation and efficiency are what really save the money.
There is a good site for looking up rebates on this page:
http://www.builditsolar.com/References/energyincentivesrs.htm
Its the DSIRE Database link.
They have state by state rundowns on rebates available.
The top link has some info on the federal rebate program.
Our local utility has an information package on putting in grid-tie PV -- yours may as well?
Our PV system:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/PV/EnphasePV/Main.htm
Gary
