I am going solar

Good point and I don't disagree.......but SCE charges me about 15% for over-generation at the end of the year to use their infrastructure.

Except that I have paid for my system up front. In other words, I have my own private electric company.

 

However much time it takes in your area, it will take far longer to become affordable in my area (near Seattle), and I'm not sure it will ever make economic sense here.

Our huge seasonal production difference means that adequate winter capacity creates huge summer overcapacity, which is wasted if off-grid. Being on-grid makes that summer capacity marketable. Also, our common long stretches of winter overcast would require very substantial storage. Together, these require far more capital investment than the much smaller and simpler on-grid annual-net-zero system I have now.

 

Hi USB,

We have a net meter and have 3 readings

1. Received
2. Delivered
3. Net = difference between the two.

Our meter started at all zeros.

Now it reads 99,100 and dropping. Hope this helps.

 

Yes, this is how I understand it works.
I'll have to wait 11 months to see how "negative tiers" work. I don't have A/C, so in the summer I'm going to over produce a lot. I may heat (somewhat inefficiently) with electricity in the winter instead of NG to try and balance out to net zero. I'm partially solar thermal so I use very little heat as well. A lot depends on how much charging I'll do with the Leaf at home vs at work. One charge per day with the PIP at home is very little.

Mike

 

What you have in Washington that we don't have in Southern California, to any extent, is hydroelectric power. You have to go with whatever system works best in your specific area. You just have to hope that the west coast drought doesn't extend into your area. Now here is an idea........we'll send you the over capacity of solar generated electric, if you send us some of that hydroelectric power. WIN/WIN

 

[slightly reordered]

I guess you missed our drought news. A drought emergency was declared in some parts of this state on March 13. That was expanded in April, and expanded again to cover the entire state on May 15.

PriusChat: The drought... | Page 2 | PriusChat
Seattle Times: Inslee declares statewide drought emergency | The Seattle Times
New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/16/us/washington-governor-declares-drought-emergency.html
NOAA Drought Info: Climate Prediction Center - United States Drought Information
USGS streamflow: USGS WaterWatch -- Streamflow conditions

We have been shipping seasonal hydroelectric power direct from the Columbia River to the Sylmar station (near Los Angeles), in exchange for whatever could be sent back at other times, since 1970:
Pacific DC Intertie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We will have less hydropower than normal to ship to you this summer. I hope you are already looking for other options.

 

Well, yes, I have gone solar. This will mean that SCE will probably be raising their rates, which makes solar in SoCal even more viable. When my system was turned on 6 months ago, I figured my payback, breakeven would be about 8 years at current rates. If rates go up, my breakeven will be even sooner.

 

With our poorer solar climate, interference from neighboring trees, more expensive topology (microinverters instead of string inverter) and US-made panels, incentive expiration in mid-2020, and low first tier energy price, I'm projecting payback at 10.5 years from now. That is for the whole DIY system, installed in three phases from May 2013 to June 2015. Like you, expected rate increases will make it happen faster.

And with last month's expansion, I'll be freeing up several thousand kWh extra to be shipped to California this summer. It won't offset our own drought, but it moves in the right direction.

 

usb,
That is awesome!
Do you mind saying what your buy and sell rate is with your local power company?

Everyone would get on this band wagon if we could get Nation-Wide Net Metering.

 

This means that from your total usage of 121 kWh, more than half (63 kWh) was covered by your solar panels: 52%. Am I right? This percentage is more significant than the 26% indicating your covered usage divided by total production.

For me this percentage of usage covered by the solar panels for these 7 days was 54%: total usage 57 kWh, covered usage 31 kWh. This is almost the same percentage as your 52%.

But my percentage of covered usage (31 kWh) compared to total production (269 kWh) was only 12% (compared to your 26%). My PV system has an overcapacity per year of around 1500-2000 kWh (about 25% of the total annual production).

In my case I have exactly the same buying and selling rates, even up to 1000 kWh overproduction (this rate is 21 eurocent per kWh). For the last 500 to 1000 kWh I get about 6 eurocent per kWh, which is the market price without added taxes.

 

Here's my "electronics wall" with my Tesla-ready 32A Level 2 EVSE.

 

okay, so it's safe to presume you are not ordering a dual charger Tesla ... as that would require a 90amp, if not a 100amp breaker
Even so, it does raise another question in my mind.
SAE has rated the J1772 plug up to 70amps. "If" you had ordered the dual (20kw) charger option, would the Tesla's on board dual chargers automatically throttle back incoming wattage to 16kW's? ... as that's the max that the J1772 can accommodate. I looked around online and couldn't find anything specific regarding this, however it seems logical that this would be the case.
Right now, the most excess solar we have on a given day is around 20kw's, between 10am & 2:30pm averaged over short winter & long summer days. We have room for 4 more 225W panels. Once we get the model X, it looks like we'll need 'em, if we want to remain in a grid surplus situation. That's the goal ... to remain a grid contributer ... though the utility company hates it.
USB - be forwarned - it gets mighty depressing with typical cloudy / short winter months, once they roll around

Please come back & post your usag/generation during next december, & let us know what your impressions are. Should be interesting!
.

 

Yes, the Tesla will automatically throttle back as appropriate. You can also manually tell it to charge at a slower rate.
And USB, yes, cloudy months get a bit depressing, so prepare yourself for it

 

I don't think dual chargers work with J1772 connectors (the only references to dual discuss use with the Tesla High Power Wall Charger), but regardless, I could see zero benefit in spending another $2K for a faster charge that will finish at 3am instead of 6am.

However, I have the NEMA 14-50 plug that can pump out 40 amps, and can plug the Tesla in directly to that if time is critical. I would prefer to keep the mobile charging cord in the car and just use J1772 for charging overnight, when the speed difference between 32A and 40A is moot.

 

This is exactly what I tell people when talking about the high powered wall charger.
I see no advantage to the car completing its charge at 1am rather than 5am

We just use the NEMA 14-50 although typically down rated to 30A.