Goodbye SDG&E, Ground Mount Installation Contract Signed Today

[sensij]

Yeah, what a difference 18 months makes. Here is what was projected when the rate reform decision was approved in July 2015
Projected.JPG


Looks like Tier 1 may be tracking a bit less than the plan, while the >130% tiers are way over. At some point there was supposed to be a Super User Surcharge developed for those over 400% of baseline, so maybe if that comes, it will generate some relief in the 130%-400% bracket.

[J.P.M.]

The rate increase happened in a couple steps. I got an email from SDG&E a few days ago with this graphic: Rate change.JPG



Using their choice of dates, for schedule DR, baseline Winter/Summer, >130% of baseline Winter/Summer
8/1/16 - 0.17589 / 0.19174, 0.36273 / 0.39542 (AL 2917-E)
1/1/17 - 0.18867 / 0.20452, 0.38909 / 0.42178 (AL 3028-E)
3/1/17 - 0.19252 / 0.20837, 0.39701 / 0.42970 (AL 3034-E)

Something around a 9% increase, no matter how you slice it. Don't forget that baselines were also decreased on July 1, 2016, just before the rate increases they are indicating, although they've been untouched since then. Coastal baseline, for example, went from 9.6 / 10.1 summer/winter to 9.0 / 9.2 summer / winter at that time.

When I looked this A.M.(03/02/2017) the 03/01/17 schedule DR tariff had not been listed with current and effective tariffs in the Electric Tariff Book. Another surprise from SDG & E I guess.

I stand corrected. Guess I'll need to practice what I preach and trust less and verify more.

J.P.M.

[J.P.M.]

Yeah, what a difference 18 months makes. Here is what was projected when the rate reform decision was approved in July 2015
Projected.JPG


Looks like Tier 1 may be tracking a bit less than the plan, while the >130% tiers are way over. At some point there was supposed to be a Super User Surcharge developed for those over 400% of baseline, so maybe if that comes, it will generate some relief in the 130%-400% bracket.

Except for the super tier, I'm not sure I ever believed much of that anyway.

[J.P.M.]

Good morning, J.P.M.

LOL, more solar ignorant than most -- maybe partly true, but I tend to believe not. But doesn't really matter.

Yep, it is indeed a good price and took some good negotiating work on my part, which from other posts by you I believe you would encourage that.

I was surprised by the performance guarantee being offered -- it was on a separate handout when the proposal was initially given to me in December 2016 (at a higher price). After negotiating the new price, the draft contract presented to me did not explicitly call out the production guarantee. I discussed this with the company, and made clear that unless this was in the contract I was signing, it didn't exist. It was added to the contract.

The stated production numbers are perhaps optimistic, but it's not really my problem at this point. The numbers do line up with PVwatts, and based on many reports that often people exceed PVwatts values, the actual productiom likely will be close if not at that value. But again, not my issue.

Having priced out this equipment for a self install, there's still a profit to be made for the installer.

I did my due diligence -- checking other ground mount installs by this company (which has done hundreds of ground mounts in north San Diego county). I am fully confident that the install will not be shoddy as a result of the contracted price.

I'm certainly not a solar expert, but I am far from a babe in the woods.

Now, the only valid naive criticism might be the sizing of this system -- my annual use has been in the 10K to 10.5K kWh, but this is with rarely running the A/C, and setting the thermostat to between 81 and 83 degrees when we do -- just take the edge off, and then open windows again after the sun goes down and outside temp is equal to inside temp.Needless to say, this leads to an unhappy wife when I get home from work. Just using the $ paid on last years bills, payback is 5.5 years.But, I'm confident that I now have the headroom to run the A/C more often and at a lower thermostat setting. There was no way for me to estimate how much more kWh I needed, but if I way over did it, then my next vehicle may be an EV or hybrid.

I've got the 15 minute data from SDGE, and be doing spreadsheets over the next couple of weeks to decide if I want to take the TOU rate plan now, or wait until it's forced on me. I suspect TOU is a plus for solar (until they move the peak periods which as you and others have noted likely will occur over time).

So in summary, perhaps I've left some $ on the table by my system size, but the system size also contributed to being able to get the price to 2.83 per watt as there are lots of fixed costs of my install that are helped by the low incremental costs of the panels and optimizer (panels are likely ($0.50 per watt or lower, and the optimizer for the 72 cell panel is $60 or lower).

I honestly and sincerely hope that it all works out for you. It's just that the feeling I got when reading what you bought and how you spoke of it was one of "if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is (too good to be true)". Especially for a ground mount.

One other minor point: I kind of doubt there are hundreds of ground mounts from all vendors combined in north county much less done by just one vendor. Who told you that ?

On T.O.U. If you have not already figured this out, the T.O.U. schedule for solar, DR-SES is different than T.O.U. for non solar, DR-TOU in that the DR-TOU has a tier rate in it. So far, the DR-SES does not. That may or may not be something to consider if your install is delayed.

Good luck.

[CharlieEscCA]

One other minor point: I kind of doubt there are hundreds of ground mounts from all vendors combined in north county much less done by just one vendor. Who told you that ?

The CSI database shows 71 ground mounts by my chosen solar company and from understanding stopped being updated after June 2016. My typing "hundreds" was likely too strong, but as we sit here in March 2017, I'm comfortable that they installer is either very near or over 100 ground mount installs.

On T.O.U. If you have not already figured this out, the T.O.U. schedule for solar, DR-SES is different than T.O.U. for non solar, DR-TOU in that the DR-TOU has a tier rate in it. So far, the DR-SES does not. That may or may not be something to consider if your install is delayed.

I looked at the DR-SES tariff last night. I'll have to put together a couple of spreadsheets that have my history on time of day usage as well as the PVWatts production csv that shows estimated production by time period, and see if I can make an educated guess on which tariff is better.

But, unless I'm missing something, my current conclusion is that as long as my annual production is greater than my annual use, staying away from TOU tariff would be best (no risk of getting winter off peak $ credit while I draw on this credit at summer peak rates).

On the other hand,if you are not at 100% solar production of your use. then depending on when you generate excess vs when you consume from the grid will determine whether TOU is beneficial for your situation.

[CharlieEscCA]

One other minor point: I kind of doubt there are hundreds of ground mounts from all vendors combined in north county ...

CSI database sorted by type of install -- ground mounts (all installers) by selected cities:

Bonsall - 24
Escondido - 97
Fallbrook - 103
Pala - 4
Pauma Valley - 6
Poway - 70
Ramona - 69
Rancho Santa Fe - 76
San Marcos - 15
Vista - 33
Valley Center - 98

[J.P.M.]

CSI database sorted by type of install -- ground mounts (all installers) by selected cities:

Bonsall - 24
Escondido - 97
Fallbrook - 103
Pala - 4
Pauma Valley - 6
Poway - 70
Ramona - 69
Rancho Santa Fe - 76
San Marcos - 15
Vista - 33
Valley Center - 98

I again stand corrected. Adding to your nose count, looks like for all of SDG & E's service territory, for residential classification, of the 88,000 + jobs through 06/2016, there are something like 954 ground mounts, and 164 of something called "mixed", which I'd guess to be ground and other location(s). Sullivan (78), Baker (76) and Cosmic (65) seem to be the top 3 for number of residential ground mount applications over the entire SDG & E service territory, including southern Orange co. FWIW, I couldn't find a co. w/ 71 ground mounts.

Add: Perhaps not surprisingly, according to the database, about 102 of those 950 or so ground mounts were self installed (DIY).

[steveholtam]

I also have Q.PLUS panels and the same SolarEdge SE7600 invertor with optimizers, and they are kicking butt so far. Only been four months but I've exceeded max output (0% loss per PV Watts) by 17%, 29% and 8% for Nov-Jan. Took the wettest month in history to knock it down to 88% for February. Great panels!

[CharlieEscCA]

I also have Q.PLUS panels and the same SolarEdge SE7600 invertor with optimizers, and they are kicking butt so far. Only been four months but I've exceeded max output (0% loss per PV Watts) by 17%, 29% and 8% for Nov-Jan. Took the wettest month in history to knock it down to 88% for February. Great panels!

Wow, great to hear!

Getting more excited every day now -- installation scheduled to start April 10th. Meeting today at my house to discuss exact array location, plan trenching path, determine invertor location (detached garage with greater trench distance or main house).

[CharlieEscCA]

How many of those are residential vs. commercial ?

Commercial: Bonsall 2, Escondido 5, Fallbrook 8, Pauma Valley 3, Poway 4, Ramona 5, San Marcos 1, Valley Center 9

Not very many.