PG&E really doesn't want anyone to keep reef tanks.
- Thread starter sfsuphysics
- Start date
roostertech
Guest
Hmm $10 grid fee last month for me
roostertech
Guest
Own
roostertech
Guest
Yeah the panels are not leased.
RandyC
Supporting Member
You should try getting an estimate from SunPower. They have the most efficient panels and the least decline in performance after 20 years. I have a 6.9 kW (AC) system myself. I've generated a little over 11,000 kWh for the past 12 months.
Coral reefer
Past President
@sfsuphysics how my kWh is
Your array again?
Your array again?
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
My array is a relatively "small" 3.26kW system, 16 Sunpower panels I believe. Next year is my "pay up" period (yearly billing cycle) and my electric bill for the year will be something like $750, which isn't horrible all this considering (a little over $60 a month), however it does hurt when I see the Dec/Jan/Feb usage. I think I would like to add another 8 panels, just to have some carry over usage into the crap months, of course I'm not running much in the way of lighting on my tank now, so that could very easily change.
As to the lease vs own debate, leasing is definitely cheaper initially, but you need to read the fine print as far as how much your power rate will be. Owning is a whole other mess too, depending upon what type of rebates are available it can be useful... or it may not be useful. But at 40cent per kWh if you go over a 200% of your baseline, remember your panels are taking it off the top, so your pay back period on your purchase is going to be different than... most every other state who doesn't gouge their customers with rates that high.
As to the lease vs own debate, leasing is definitely cheaper initially, but you need to read the fine print as far as how much your power rate will be. Owning is a whole other mess too, depending upon what type of rebates are available it can be useful... or it may not be useful. But at 40cent per kWh if you go over a 200% of your baseline, remember your panels are taking it off the top, so your pay back period on your purchase is going to be different than... most every other state who doesn't gouge their customers with rates that high.
Coral reefer
Past President
So you think you could get close to 5kw worth on your roof? Good to know. I wanna get mine done soon
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Could I, yes, will I... dunno. There are certain rules in SF that are different than other cities, like there needs to be a 3 foot of space (for firefighters) and there's also a setback rule too, forget the actual amount. But like most SF roofs there are a number of vent pipes sticking up, so it's something to work around, I could put an array over the stairway up, which would darken it quite a bit. Then you need to worry about shadowing of other fixtures, those vent pipes, your neighbors house, etc. Then wiring it up, I got an inverter that had a higher capacity than what I needed (I think 6kW) basically I wanted some headroom in case I did want to expand, or you could do microinverters which are super sexy and a lot easier, but if you have a really large array the price tends to add up on them.
My system was sold to me at about $23k, but between the federal tax credit, the state rebate, and SF's rebate it knocked it down to a little more than $3k which was a no brainer for me.
My system was sold to me at about $23k, but between the federal tax credit, the state rebate, and SF's rebate it knocked it down to a little more than $3k which was a no brainer for me.
Yes, SunPower have the most efficient panels. Although, make some price calculations to see if they are really worth it - if you have the space it might be more cost effective to add more panels than buying a smaller number of the SunPower panels for same total output.
In my case, the roof could take at most 14 panels, and even those on different sides, so I wanted to go with SunPower for maximizing the output. Then SunPower said that their panels cannot work with micro inverters and they themselves said that can't do the job, they require at least 4 panels facing the same direction and 3 panels on the same roof facade. In the end I went with a set of higher efficiency LG panels (LG315 if I remember correctly) + micro inverters through a smaller solar installer. I'm happy so far, my PG&E bill dropped from $150 to around $20 in the summer and $40 in the winter. I'm down in low side of tier 2 now.
RandyC
Supporting Member
Yeah. As always, your mileage may vary based on your needs. I'm happy with what I have and what they installed (24 panels) along with the monitoring tools they provide. I currently have a surplus feeding back to the grid so I'm only paying the connection feed.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
IIRC , Sunpower panels don't work with any inverter... except Sunpower inverters, if I remember correctly it's simply because the polarity of the panels is reversed or something. Not sure if that means you can simply flip the wires though. As for the microinverters.
https://us.sunpower.com/residential-solar-energy-system-equinox/
They have their own microinverter setup, the problem with Sunpower is that you need to go through specific dealers to get their products, and not sure how many of the dealers will sell you the products themselves as opposed to doing the install themselves which will raise the total cost 4-5x.
https://us.sunpower.com/residential-solar-energy-system-equinox/
They have their own microinverter setup, the problem with Sunpower is that you need to go through specific dealers to get their products, and not sure how many of the dealers will sell you the products themselves as opposed to doing the install themselves which will raise the total cost 4-5x.
sfsuphysics
Supporting Member
Oh absolutely makes fiscal sense to not go there. Heck the only reason I went with it is because of an insane rebate by San Francisco to the tune of $11k (flat rate regardless of system size), and it basically made my system $1/watt installed by pros. However one downside is my electricity bill actually went up significantly as apparently my meter was running slower than normal so when they slapped a digital one on, it screwed with my extra cheap rates! 