Solar costs in SF Bay Area

[foo1bar]

See the system in my signature.

What signature?
I don't think I've turned off signatures - but I don't see any for anyone's posts.

[sensij]

What signature?
I don't think I've turned off signatures - but I don't see any for anyone's posts.

I think default might be to hide signatures. Check your settings... I can screen shot the right menu if that helps.

[tkripala]

I am in the Los Altos/Sunnyvale/Cupertino area and have spoken to 4 installers, Two for Sunpower and two for LG's. On a cost/W, the LG panels with either Enphase micro-inverters or SolarEdge DC Optimizers come in between $3.38 - $3.50/W. I've not had much luck trying to get below that in this area. I'm leaning towards the SolarEdge with the SE7600 inverter. I like that this inverter has support for the Tesla Powerwall in case I decide to add a battery-backup in the future.

UPDATE (6/24/17)

I finally decided on the DC Optimizers with the SolarEdge SE7600 Inverter paired with LG 320W panels. Price came in at $3.20/W for a 7kW system before any tax credits. Installation planned in about 3 weeks during the second half of July.

Question for solar owners here in my area. The city switched over to SVCE as the electircity supplier recently and per their FAQ, their net energy metering (NEM) is billed on a monthly basis with credits rollign over month-to-month. Every April, SVCE pays NEM customers for surplus generation in excess of $100, with credits valued at the full retail value of generation up to a total of $5000. Given this, should I stay with SVCE or switch back to PGE?

[CharlieEscCA]

UPDATE (6/24/17)
Question for solar owners here in my area. The city switched over to SVCE as the electircity supplier recently and per their FAQ, their net energy metering (NEM) is billed on a monthly basis with credits rollign over month-to-month. Every April, SVCE pays NEM customers for surplus generation in excess of $100, with credits valued at the full retail value of generation

I'm not sure what your question is because you really didn't post one.

But, wow, what a deal, full retail for surplus (up to $5,000 per year). https://www.svcleanenergy.org/solar I would be digging that!

[CharlieEscCA]

However, these rates are cheap compared to SDGE.

https://www.svcleanenergy.org/files/...ationRates.pdf

However, per the last page, you still have to add in distribution / transmission / etc -- so maybe the rates are not as "wow" as I initially thought.

[tkripala]

However, these rates are cheap compared to SDGE.

https://www.svcleanenergy.org/files/...ationRates.pdf

However, per the last page, you still have to add in distribution / transmission / etc -- so maybe the rates are not as "wow" as I initially thought.

Yes, the overall costs are higher once you factor in PGE charges. Here is a snippet from my current PGE bill (I'm on their EV time of Use rate plan) ...

PGE Distribution Charges:

Peak : 281.646 kWh @$0.45389 = $127.84
Part Peak: 157.7184 kWh @$0.24986 = $39.41
Off-Peak: 557.2998 kWh @$0.12225 = $68.13
Generation credit = $-113.76
Power charge indifference adjustment (??) = $29.09
Local taxes and fees = $5.85

SVCE Generation Charges

Peak : 281.646 kWh @$0.19884 = $56
Part Peak: 157.7184 kWh @$0.0804 = $12.68
Off-Peak: 557.2998 kWh @$0.0256 = $14.27
Local Tax and Energy Surcharge = $3.19

Total Electricity Charges= $156.56 (PGE) + $86.14 (SVCE) = $242.70

[solardreamer]

Yes, the overall costs are higher once you factor in PGE charges. Here is a snippet from my current PGE bill (I'm on their EV time of Use rate plan) ...

PGE Distribution Charges:

Peak : 281.646 kWh @$0.45389 = $127.84
Part Peak: 157.7184 kWh @$0.24986 = $39.41
Off-Peak: 557.2998 kWh @$0.12225 = $68.13
Generation credit = $-113.76
Power charge indifference adjustment (??) = $29.09
Local taxes and fees = $5.85

SVCE Generation Charges

Peak : 281.646 kWh @$0.19884 = $56
Part Peak: 157.7184 kWh @$0.0804 = $12.68
Off-Peak: 557.2998 kWh @$0.0256 = $14.27
Local Tax and Energy Surcharge = $3.19

Total Electricity Charges= $156.56 (PGE) + $86.14 (SVCE) = $242.70

Based on the above you used about 1,000 Kwh for the month. Is this typical consumption? If so, it seems low for a 7Kw system.

[J.P.M.]

UPDATE (6/24/17)

I finally decided on the DC Optimizers with the SolarEdge SE7600 Inverter paired with LG 320W panels. Price came in at $3.20/W for a 7kW system before any tax credits. Installation planned in about 3 weeks during the second half of July.

Question for solar owners here in my area. The city switched over to SVCE as the electircity supplier recently and per their FAQ, their net energy metering (NEM) is billed on a monthly basis with credits rollign over month-to-month. Every April, SVCE pays NEM customers for surplus generation in excess of $100, with credits valued at the full retail value of generation up to a total of $5000. Given this, should I stay with SVCE or switch back to PGE?

Looks like that sort of depends on what PG & E charges for generation vs. what SVCE charges for generation. The SVCE charge is for generation only. You'll still get billed for transmission and distribution etc. from PG & E in addition to the SCVE generation charge. The overgeneration credit from SCVE looks like it might be greater than PGE's rate , but probably not enough to make oversizing an array a money making or even a breakeven proposition.

[J.P.M.]

Based on the above you used about 1,000 Kwh for the month. Is this typical consumption? If so, it seems low for a 7Kw system.

That would depend on what the annual array output vs. the annual usage might be.

[tkripala]

Based on the above you used about 1,000 Kwh for the month. Is this typical consumption? If so, it seems low for a 7Kw system.

This is lower than typical for the summer. Based on my annual consumption, the 7kW system is a bit above what was calculated. When I started the process,I wasn't sure what size system I needed but after some digging and getting quotes from a number of installers, the system size came in a bit under this which also took into account partial tree shading of the array that would occur during the fall and winter months. I bumped up the number a bit as I expect our consumption to increase over the years.

[solardreamer]

This is lower than typical for the summer. Based on my annual consumption, the 7kW system is a bit above what was calculated. When I started the process,I wasn't sure what size system I needed but after some digging and getting quotes from a number of installers, the system size came in a bit under this which also took into account partial tree shading of the array that would occur during the fall and winter months. I bumped up the number a bit as I expect our consumption to increase over the years.

Just FYI, looking back, all installer estimates for me were high. Most were much higher than what I actually needed to cover all PG&E charges that can be eliminated by NEM. I was targeting to only cover about 80% of consumption and ended up only covering 75% consumption but I still ended up with several $100's of NEM credit at true-up. I believe TOU/NEM plan was a key factor for the over estimate.

[J.P.M.]

Just FYI, looking back, all installer estimates for me were high. Most were much higher than what I actually needed to cover all PG&E charges that can be eliminated by NEM. I was targeting to only cover about 80% of consumption and ended up only covering 75% consumption but I still ended up with several $100's of NEM credit at true-up. I believe TOU/NEM plan was a key factor for the over estimate.

Especially if you generate more during peak pricing periods than you consume during peak pricing periods. Knowing the degree to which that scenario may exist before purchase is one of the benefits of treating an array as a revenue generator separate from the bill paid for usage. power generation and the revenue it produces to offset an electric bill are pretty much idependant of times and rates of usage. (Theoretical, but unlikely) Max. array size reduction to meet a specified average annual load will occur when all generation occurs during peak times and all use occurs during off or super-off peak times. However, sizing an array that way alone has some additional risk above the normal and mostly weather variability related risk due the certain nature but uncertain way of how POCO's are now and will continue to shift peak times around.