This solar stuff can get complicated. Looking for some advice and guidance from others who may understand some nuances that I do not at the moment. I am evualating getting solar installed, and am having trouble understanding the pros/cons in the two estimates that I have received.
Current house:
Location - San Diego
Energy Provider - SDG&E
Plan - TOU2 (switching to TOU5)
Last 12 months of energy used - 14,939 kWh (I expect this to increase as I purchased a Tesla in February and a Pacifica Hybrid, so lots of car charging now happening)
Goals - Produce green energy, and to reduce my energy bill as much as possible. We use a lot of air conditioning, so my bill varies wildly, getting very high in the summer. I want to reduce that as much as possible while keeping it much more consistent throughout the year.
Bid 1 is from Tesla:
# of panels - 26
Panels - I'm not really sure. I have asked and was told "specific markets have 325 or 330 watt panels manufactured in Buffalo by Tesla using Panasonic technology". And they sent me brochures for Hanwha and Panasonic panels. WTF?
System size - 7.63 kWh
Est. annual energy produced - 11,744 kWh
Battery Storage - 2 Tesla powerwalls
Price per kWh - $3.90 (including the batteries in this calculation
Notes - they are pushing the powerwalls not so much as an energy backup solution (we almost never lose power here) but to be used to offset energy usage during the most expensive time of day (4pm - 9pm). 2 powerwalls store 27 kWh of power which should cover my usage during that time.
Bid 2 is local company that comes highly recommended from many friends:
# of panels - 29
Panels - LG Neon R
System size - not sure, they didn't give me the number and I didn't do the math to see what it is
Est. annual energy produced - 16,867 kWh
Battery Storage - none
Price per kWh - $2.28
Notes - they are telling me the batteries do no good for what I want to do because their design produces so much energy it offsets all of my usage.
My confusion comes in mainly with the whole time of use thing along with the utility buying back excess energy. Should I try to use as little energy as possible during the most expensive time of day (by offsetting with stored energy in the batteries), or should I not worry and just produce as much power as I can? Anyone understand these nuances a bit better than I do? From what I can, SDG&E will buy the extra energy produces much lower than what I pay them for the energy I use.
Which route is best to go to reduce my electric costs by as much as possible? I am a pretty big Tesla fanboy so I am attracted to the powerwalls, but does it make the most financial sense? I can't for the life of me figure out which one will offset my monthly electric bill to SDG&E.
Current house:
Location - San Diego
Energy Provider - SDG&E
Plan - TOU2 (switching to TOU5)
Last 12 months of energy used - 14,939 kWh (I expect this to increase as I purchased a Tesla in February and a Pacifica Hybrid, so lots of car charging now happening)
Goals - Produce green energy, and to reduce my energy bill as much as possible. We use a lot of air conditioning, so my bill varies wildly, getting very high in the summer. I want to reduce that as much as possible while keeping it much more consistent throughout the year.
Bid 1 is from Tesla:
# of panels - 26
Panels - I'm not really sure. I have asked and was told "specific markets have 325 or 330 watt panels manufactured in Buffalo by Tesla using Panasonic technology". And they sent me brochures for Hanwha and Panasonic panels. WTF?
System size - 7.63 kWh
Est. annual energy produced - 11,744 kWh
Battery Storage - 2 Tesla powerwalls
Price per kWh - $3.90 (including the batteries in this calculation
Notes - they are pushing the powerwalls not so much as an energy backup solution (we almost never lose power here) but to be used to offset energy usage during the most expensive time of day (4pm - 9pm). 2 powerwalls store 27 kWh of power which should cover my usage during that time.
Bid 2 is local company that comes highly recommended from many friends:
# of panels - 29
Panels - LG Neon R
System size - not sure, they didn't give me the number and I didn't do the math to see what it is
Est. annual energy produced - 16,867 kWh
Battery Storage - none
Price per kWh - $2.28
Notes - they are telling me the batteries do no good for what I want to do because their design produces so much energy it offsets all of my usage.
My confusion comes in mainly with the whole time of use thing along with the utility buying back excess energy. Should I try to use as little energy as possible during the most expensive time of day (by offsetting with stored energy in the batteries), or should I not worry and just produce as much power as I can? Anyone understand these nuances a bit better than I do? From what I can, SDG&E will buy the extra energy produces much lower than what I pay them for the energy I use.
Which route is best to go to reduce my electric costs by as much as possible? I am a pretty big Tesla fanboy so I am attracted to the powerwalls, but does it make the most financial sense? I can't for the life of me figure out which one will offset my monthly electric bill to SDG&E.
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