Methods to increase onsite consumption of solar generation

[laura12596]

Hi all!
What proportion of your solar generation do you consume onsite vs export to the grid? I am interested in what other people are you doing to increase your consumption at home and therefore get more financial benefit from the solar?
Cheers!

[NewBostonConst]

We have 100 percent payback net metering. So nothing. The only real useful option for everyone is batteries. Some have the ability to pump water during the day.

[SunEagle]

Hi all!
What proportion of your solar generation do you consume onsite vs export to the grid? I am interested in what other people are you doing to increase your consumption at home and therefore get more financial benefit from the solar?
Cheers!

I feel that if you increase your home power usage you end up spending more money in the long run. Sure it is nice to use up as much power as your system can generate but selling excess back to the POCO should still get you some money.

[Ampster]

My True Up was last month, so this is the time I store some energy on the grid. I had a larger credit than I could use at True Up so I am charging my EVs during the shoulder rate (part peak). My Non Bypassable Charges were higher than my Minimum Delivery Charges so reducing my NBCs by charging during the day is my goal. Previously I mostly charged at off peak. My normal peak loads are during summer heat. I have natural gas heating and stove. I have heat pump water heater and electric dryer.

[peakbagger]

I have full net metering with no yearly true up. The generation stay with the house although I do have the option once a year to sell my excess at some far lower rate. That said I am in a heating climate dominant area so my power use is in the winter when generation is low. I produce excess power over the course of the year to maintain a preferably 500 KWh minimum. I normally heat with a wood boiler but have a cold climate minisplit that I use to heat my house in "shoulder" season where its cold overnight but warms up with the sun during the day. I use it for this in the fall and then in the spring as long as I keep above my minimum reserve until I see the switch back to net production in the spring.

I also have an electric oven and range instead of the more popular propane or gas range.

Too bad no one has come up with home hydrogen system or home flow battery

[azdave]

We use what we reasonably need but do not look for ways to burn through the excess. When I retire, I may install A/C in the shop but for now, we just take the mandatory wholesale buyout once a year. That is usually enough to pay our minimum connection fee for 4-5 months.

SRPbillMarch2020.pdf - Google Chrome 4202020 74432 AM.bmp.jpg

[SunEagle]

I have full net metering with no yearly true up. The generation stay with the house although I do have the option once a year to sell my excess at some far lower rate. That said I am in a heating climate dominant area so my power use is in the winter when generation is low. I produce excess power over the course of the year to maintain a preferably 500 KWh minimum. I normally heat with a wood boiler but have a cold climate minisplit that I use to heat my house in "shoulder" season where its cold overnight but warms up with the sun during the day. I use it for this in the fall and then in the spring as long as I keep above my minimum reserve until I see the switch back to net production in the spring.

I also have an electric oven and range instead of the more popular propane or gas range.

Too bad no one has come up with home hydrogen system or home flow battery

I agree a safe home energy storage system would be real nice. If it wasn't for the high price of existing systems I would think more people would install them.

[solardreamer]

I have NEM but I rarely have net export as I have EV's. However, I do end up with some significant NEM credit if I don't use enough AC in the summer. To avoid that I use electric heaters in the winter to offload my central natural gas heater and it worked quite well to use up the extra NEM credit.

[Ampster]

I have NEM but I rarely have net export as I have EV's. However, I do end up with some significant NEM credit if I don't use enough AC in the summer. To avoid that I use electric heaters in the winter to offload my central natural gas heater and it worked quite well to use up the extra NEM credit.

I had the same situation last year. Because I charged my EVs at off peak and got credit I was a net consumer but had a NEM credit. I thought about a small electric heater in the bedroom to work down the credit in addition to what the EV was doing. I have Non Bypassable Charges which creates another challenge.

[J.P.M.]

Laura12596:

A question or two: Is the PV system owned, leased or a PPA ? Also, if you own it, did you purchase the PV system after you purchased the property, or did it come with the property ?

[Steeler.Fan]

There are a lot of ways to load shift to enhance self consumption for those without NEMs. First if you bought an EV you could charge it during the day as close to your peak production as possible. Solaredge's inverter with built in EV charger can monitor export of surplus power (with optional electric meter installed) and either turn on your EV charging or boost your EV charging to a higher power level. Myenergi makes Zappi, a similar smart EV charger that monitors export and can add turn on your EV charger when you have surplus solar energy.

You could also try to shift your loads (clothes dryer, washing machine, dishwasher) into your solar day, 9a-5p. You could install timers for these devices if you were not usually home at those times. You can use a crock pot to slow cook your dinner during the solar day. For those that have a pool and electric or heat pump pool heater, you can set them to run when you are likely to have excess solar, i.e. 9a-5p.

There are a number of companies that market solar diverters that monitor your export and "divert" surplus solar power to your hot water tank. Most can be programmed to use grid power to attain a certain temp by say 5 pm, in case there wasn't enough excess solar power to achieve your set temperature by the end of the solar day.

I bought an Ice Bear 20 (20 ton), which is essentially a 28 kWh ice battery. Unfortunately, the company (Ice Energy) went bankrupt and hasn't risen from the dead yet. Calmac is another company that markets ice batteries.