NEM 2.0 and California

[ButchDeal]

Running without net metering is going to cut system effectiveness by an order of
magnitude. Batteries just make it much more expensive, with very limited benefit.
Bruce Roe

Well in CA there is a storage incentive which will help offset some of that. and if he has time of use billing then it can also help offset the costs with time shifting. In other locations without TOU and without the storage incentive there is little savings (except maybe HI ).

[ButchDeal]

So with a 10 year life + installation one could figure roughly $900/year - roughly what I'm paying for power at the moment. Seems to me the whole power storage technology is about where solar was when I paid about $5/watt for just the panels. Not worth it unless you have no other way. Maybe we need another 2008 style financial crash and bailout to get power storage into the practical realm.

What equipment do you already have?
CA has a storage incentive that can help pay for storage as well as solar. If you are going to time shift then you are going to want a lithium type battery.
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/sgip/
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/General.aspx?id=11430

Short of that you can configure many grid tie to never feed into the grid with just the added cost of a consumption meter.

[ButchDeal]

You could see if they will accept a grid-zero system. .

net metering is not required so the power company doesn't need to approve it. Just the AHJ

[pukawai]

What equipment do you already have?
CA has a storage incentive that can help pay for storage as well as solar. If you are going to time shift then you are going to want a lithium type battery.
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/sgip/
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/General.aspx?id=11430

Short of that you can configure many grid tie to never feed into the grid with just the added cost of a consumption meter.

Thanks for that link, interesting, but just reading it trying to figure out what's applicable and what isn't gives me a headache. When I designed this system, I assumed I would only be producing power 8 months out of the year. Being in a valley the mountains means the sun is only peeking over the horizon for a few hours a day during the winter months and then still hits a taller tree every now and then. Add in a few weeks when covered with snow, etc. and also that when I travel for work I'm often gone for 6-8 weeks and shut down everything. So what made net metering attractive was that I could generate enough KWH to cover my consumption for the whole year during just the summer months. A grid-zero system wouldn't help much for the same reason.
I have a Fronius Galvo grid tie inverter being fed by 10 265W Kyocera panels. Also have an old Xantrex 2.5kw inverter that I had on my boat, but it's only suitable for 12V systems and what's left of my battery bank is pretty much dead or almost there.

[ButchDeal]

Thanks for that link, interesting, but just reading it trying to figure out what's applicable and what isn't gives me a headache. When I designed this system, I assumed I would only be producing power 8 months out of the year. Being in a valley the mountains means the sun is only peeking over the horizon for a few hours a day during the winter months and then still hits a taller tree every now and then. Add in a few weeks when covered with snow, etc. and also that when I travel for work I'm often gone for 6-8 weeks and shut down everything. So what made net metering attractive was that I could generate enough KWH to cover my consumption for the whole year during just the summer months. A grid-zero system wouldn't help much for the same reason.
I have a Fronius Galvo grid tie inverter being fed by 10 265W Kyocera panels. Also have an old Xantrex 2.5kw inverter that I had on my boat, but it's only suitable for 12V systems and what's left of my battery bank is pretty much dead or almost there.

The Fronius can do grid zero but can't easily do batteries. You could easily add batteries to the SolarEdge by upgrading to the StorEdge or the enphase (though you would have to use their expensive battery). With Fronius you would have an expensive AC coupled option or convert to something else and sell the Fronius inverter.

You have possibly three options for grid zero:
use the Fronius as a grid zero (no feed in ) inverter, you would need a consumption meter for it and change the settings.
You could possibly use your Xantrex, depending on the model as an AC coupled system with some 12V lithium batteries.
or you could sell the Fronius, buy a charge controller and use the Xantrex as a DC coupled with lithium batteries.

The last two would need batteries and you would be more useful if you are on TOU billing (cheaper at late night)