 Should I put solar (photovoltaic) arrays on my house and produce my ownelectricity? We are asked this question on a daily basis and it's one I take quite seriously. So much so that I put solar cells on my house and documented the entire experience. I found that I could appreciate the value of my home, produce enough power so as to reduce my SDG&E electric bill to zero (or close to it) and do my part in moving America away from polluting fossil fuels. And I did this even though my monthly electric bill is about $60-65 per month. So read on to learn whether solar cells are right for your home and how you can most effectively shop for this alternative source of electricity. |
Videos
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video counts for a million words. In our efforts to spare you untold words, the UCAN staff helped me create two videos that, combined, take less than 10 minutes to watch. You'll see my actual experience in interviewing contractors, choosing one and having the PV installation completed on my modest condo overlooking Mission Valley. Of course, you'll also get a healthy doses of my humor. Viewer beware.
Solar Installation Bids
After a LOT of research about San Diego solar installers, I chose to interview six local solar companies. Five of the companies submitted bids and they all agreed to allow me to share the bids with the public: Carlson-Real Goods, Stellar Solar, Borrego Solar, Home Energy Systems and CleanTech. Some of them agreed to even be in the videos!
They are all reputable and knowledgeable installers and I'd be comfortable recommending any of them. Carlson and CleanTech came up with the lowest bids and both were very qualified and competent. It was a tough call, but the best price was my final (although not only) consideration. Sure enough, Carlson-Real Goods delivered as promised. The installation was done in less than two days, their installers were extremely professional and they did a great job at a fair price. I'd encourage you to get bids from any or all of the installers --- and review the bids we've posted here so that you can see what to expect. Oh, and don't be shy about mentioning that you found their information at the UCAN web site --- they'll know that you've done your homework and will treat you as an informed and savvy customer.
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SOLAR PANELS
I LIVE INLAKELAND FLORIDA IV BEN THINKING OF GOING SOLAR FOR THE ELECTRICITY, SINCE OUR E BILL LATS MONTH WAS 300.00. IS THERE A GOOD SOLAR COMPANY IN FLORIDA ,THAT I COULD GET TO COME OUT FOR AN ESTIMATE???. THANKS JON.G.
Looks close to Breakeven to me
Appears you spent about $15,000 to save $60 per month,
so a simplistic analysis say it takes 20 years to recover the cost.
(15k/60=250 months) Used solar panels would probably be worth $0 in 2028.
Another way to look at it owuld be if you kept the 15K in a CD at 5%,
you would generate $62.50 per month, which would cover your monthly SDGE bill.
(not to mention that you would still have the 15K principal in the bank !)
One must also consider the environmental impact of manufacturing solar panel is significant.
It takes a lot of energy to make the panels (some studies say it takes 2-3 years
to recover energy used to make them). Then you have to the impact of mining raw materials and
chemicals used in manufacturing them, and they do not last forever, so you have disposal issues.
Clean energy technologies may be better than fossil fuels, but they still have
a long way to go to be really clean, not to mention economic.
Re: Looks close to Breakeven to me
Assuming there were no electric rate hikes... SDG&E rates go up a couple times faster than inflation. So breakeven this year is positive next year, on balance. It takes about 11 years for rates to double. Also keep in mind that these systems long outlive their 25-year warranties, so there's a big long-term benefit.
Net Metering vs. TOU
Micheal,
We changed to TOU metering and our monthly statement went up from $5.60 a month (we've been producing more than we use ever month since installation in March 2008) to $20 a month. The fees are the $3.91 for the meter and the delivery charges for TOU off-peak and semi-peak. We still produce a surplus of watts a month but we are not getting credit for the delivery charges of on-peak generation but are being charged off-peak and semi-peak delivery charges. I called SDGE metering departments and they insured me that after one year they will charge me only the $.50 a day delivery charge plus the $3.91 a month meter charge but I don't believe them. Do you have any information on the TOU fees?
Also, has the 90 day trial period for TOU metering being approved? I read the UCAN article on comparing TOU and net metering.
Thanks
Solar energy as a project work
Hi Michael.I had gone through your article its very nice that you have put up your abilities for your great work.I am student of engineering college(Final year) in India and I got a project work so I decided to choose this solar energy as my project. So can you give me some topics or hints so that I can have any idea about and start working on that.
photovotaics and the government
Any insights on the following questions??
1) Are either the Federal Gov or State going to increase the rebate or tax credit incentive for installing this system?
2) We were told by an installer that SDGE would continue to charge us about $15/month, even if we produced extra energy during the month. For several months, I tried to contact SDGE, but never was able to reach a person. Is it true that homeowners continue to be charged on a monthly basis, and for what is this charge?
3) What are the chances that SDGE will be required to pay for energy received from homeowners, as opposed to stealing it? Or even actually providing a credit for helping to reduce residential use (after all, they tell us every month to cut back)?
PV and the Gov't
Thanks for your questions EG. We don't know what the Federal gov't is going to do. The tax incentives end at the end of 2008 and needs to be renewed this year in order to continue. There's a big political push in DC to extend the incentives, but given the election year distractions, it isn't clear that Congress will act (or that Bush won't veto) any comprehensive energy bill.
As for SDG&E, net metering tariffs prohibit SDG&E from imposing a $15 monthly charge. So the info that you got from the installer is perplexing, if not down right wrong. Check out the net metering tariff at SDG&E's web site for more details:
http://www.sdge.com/tm2/pdf/NEM.pdf
As to your last question...........I don't envision the state regulators will be approving a tariff that compels SDG&E to pay for the excess energy generated by residential PV anytime in the next two-three years. It is possible that such a tariff will materialize but probably not until SDG&E has deployed real-time meters (which shouldn't be complete until around 2012). So it may well happen, but not in the near future.
Bid question
Michael-- First of all, thank you very much for sharing your experiences and knowledge regarding your recent PV system purchase. I have one question... on the News 8 story, you mentioned your system ended up costing about $12,000, but the Carlson quote shows about $17,000. They didn't subtract the $2,000 for the Federal Tax rebate, so that would put the total at about $15,000. How did you save the other $3K? Thanks again-- I had been thinking about "going solar" for a while, but your story has given me an incentive to take action.
The rest of the savings...............
Hi Alex -
Thanks for your inquiry. My wife and I both have home offices. That allows us to take an additional tax credit (for commercial installations) and also take advantage of accelerated depreciation of the installation. It is one of the reasons that people who have home offices should look at PV installations very seriously. The economics improve dramatically for commercial customers.
Thanks!
Thanks very much for all your help, Michael.