I have 35 x 400 watts of panels for 14 kW in total. Last month produced about 1200 kWh vs consumption of 913 kWh. That consumption included enough to power my PHEV an average of 15 miles per day. Since you are new to this I will warn you not to make any decisions based upon a single month in the shoulder seasons. If you rely on central A/C then you can count on importing electricity from July through September. If you run a heat pump you can count on importing electricity from November through February. Enjoy the surplus while you have it.
Excess Solar Production - Considering an EV
- Thread starter 99Saturn
- Start date
4WD
$50 site donor 2025
I would get past July/August and go from there …
For 3-5K, Leaf all day.
I won't have a full year of data until January 2026. My net metering anniversary is December 2025 though so come December 2025 any excess will get paid out and lost. I get to change the date so will likely push it out, but only get to do that once.
Again, my questions are coming from so I can think this thru over the next 6-18 months, have time to search for a vehicle if I want to go that route, etc.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
I'm actually really pleased to see those numbers. Solar tends to "eat its own lunch"; that is, solar cannibalizes its value because the installs are all most productive at the same time. This is why the wholesale rate tanks during these periods, reflected in the price paid to you. It's like the opposite of peaking, and is the same reason overnight rates were historically lower, to account for the lower value of surplus power.
How much do you pay per month for the panels? Is it a lease to own arrangement? I think the problem you'll find with an EV is that you have to be home during the middle of the day for the scenario you are envisioning to make sense, is that the case?
If you aren't home during the day, then a better arrangement may be buying some home storage, but of course that's an additional cost. California's new NEM 3 arrangement rewards people who bought storage, who can then discharge into the grid during the duck curve morning/evening peaks, where electricity is more valuable. Now, that will of course be a more difficult to pencil situation in New York, with lower solar insolation, made worse by the fact the system is a lease.
Agree, not everyone is in love with roof mounted solar. I'm sure insurance and roof warranty will have some astrics / exclusions. Proceed with extreme caution.
I would also bet, most people who resell won't even get 40 cents on the dollar ROI for their set ups. Ones I have seen in my neighborhood, they are selling/taking leans on the house for the ~$30k+ set-up... Unlikely in a sale new buyer will go for this, they will demand it is paid off.
Do you get penalized on your homeowners insurance?
I have (mostly) the same opinion prior to purchase. No leaks but 100% had the same apprehension before buying the home. Although the install was years ago so plenty of time to correct initial install issues if there were any.
Not in any evident way. Hard to know given how the premium is packaged. I have a good relationship with my agent (I know many will balk at that) but he did not flag a penalty for solar when I spoke with him before purchase.
Monthly payment is completely dictated by how many kWh produced. Right now the rate is $0.17XX per kWh. Rate increases 2.9% every year.
Basically at the end of the lease: (1) panels can be removed free of charge, (2) I can re-up with a new system installed, (3) I can purchase the system at the then current "market value", (4) I can extend the contract in five year increments.
Basically I get credit for whatever I produce. So if in a month the panels produce 1000 kWh, it doesn't matter if I consume 500 of those kWh overnight charging for example. The "math" just looks at what is produced by the panels for a given time period and consumed by the homeowner and nets out.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
So you pay more for the panels ($0.17/kWh) than you net from the panels? ($0.04/kWh)?
OK, but your lease fee is variable also based on what the panels produce? If so, this is a new one to me. I'm used to seeing a fixed monthly fee to lease the panels, and then a variable netting agreement that benefits you and sometimes the lease company. This is of course predicated on there being favourable terms to be had from the Utility.
Correct (those are approximate), but hence where the question is coming from, re - using extra energy. Again I still have a lot of unknowns in what my annual usage will be but if you look at March numbers, I was +800 kWh. If I end up in a situation where on average I am +500 kWh a month, it's around $800 I spend for nothing (or $800 extra on my utility bill I suppose).
Correct I guess. The fee to lease the panels is $0, but I pay the solar company for the energy produced. Presumably the solar company has worked out a favorable rate on what they pay or get paid for my solar, and there is a spread that benefits to solar company.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
So what do you pay for regular electricity that you import from the grid? Because it sounds like this agreement screws you hard and I'm not seeing an upside?
Around $0.21 or $0.22 the last time I totaled it.
No idea what the prior owners were thinking (they may not have been thinking) or if they ever did the math. Then again the starting rate was $0.13 a kWh 10 years ago, no idea what they were paying then from the local electric. They also had an EV, so they may have been getting the panels for the EV charging.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Would you have to pay to get it removed? Or are you locked-in to this disaster?
Have to buy out the system to get it removed, based on the fair market value as determined by an “independent appraiser”. The fair market value today is basically equal to the kWh rate multiplied by what the system will produce over the rest of the term of the lease. Basically there is no reason to buyout the lease and even if I did I would need to leave it up so I could reap the benefit of “free” energy, really the energy I prepaid for.
So I’m locked in but at least I signed up eyes wide open
.