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re: Am considering adding solar to home
Posted on 1/24/18 at 8:52 pm to AUTimbo
Posted on 1/24/18 at 8:52 pm to AUTimbo
Waste of money.
It’s too inefficient, too expensive still, and ugly AF.
Also...electric distributors are starting to go to a fixed cost recovery billing model which will shift your bill from mostly usage-based to a model based on construction and maintenance costs.
Think about it...even if you can cut your usage by 75% - which you can’t in the south - the cost to maintain the lines to your house are the same for the distributor. They’re not going to let this become epidemic.
It’s too inefficient, too expensive still, and ugly AF.
Also...electric distributors are starting to go to a fixed cost recovery billing model which will shift your bill from mostly usage-based to a model based on construction and maintenance costs.
Think about it...even if you can cut your usage by 75% - which you can’t in the south - the cost to maintain the lines to your house are the same for the distributor. They’re not going to let this become epidemic.
This post was edited on 1/24/18 at 8:58 pm
1
Posted on 1/24/18 at 9:12 pm to Eli Goldfinger
The utility companies are mandated by state and federal laws to produce a certain amount of electricity via renewable resources. The percentage varies state to state or even municipality to municipality. Since the panels are feeding into the grid, it is technically “produced” by the utility company.
This way, they are able to meet their mandate. The money they’re losing is negligible because they’d receive heavy fines for not meeting the mandate if they don’t.
Long story short: the utility companies don’t give 2 shits about solar because it isn’t hurting their bottom line.... only in California or the Northeast are they even seeing a dent. Utility companies also have A LOT of overhead so your costs aren’t going down anytime in the near future. They’ve actually never gone down for the past 20 or so years so I doubt they’re going to change that any time soon...
This way, they are able to meet their mandate. The money they’re losing is negligible because they’d receive heavy fines for not meeting the mandate if they don’t.
Long story short: the utility companies don’t give 2 shits about solar because it isn’t hurting their bottom line.... only in California or the Northeast are they even seeing a dent. Utility companies also have A LOT of overhead so your costs aren’t going down anytime in the near future. They’ve actually never gone down for the past 20 or so years so I doubt they’re going to change that any time soon...
This post was edited on 1/24/18 at 9:15 pm
Posted on 1/24/18 at 9:27 pm to TDcline
Not all utilities pay for unused kwh.
Don’t think for a minute that the electric industry doesn’t GAF about this issue. Solar and usage technology are the major topics of every electric conference in the country for the last 5 years.
Don’t think for a minute that the electric industry doesn’t GAF about this issue. Solar and usage technology are the major topics of every electric conference in the country for the last 5 years.
Posted on 1/24/18 at 10:00 pm to AUTimbo
If I could, I would buy and have it on poles. not on my house
Posted on 1/24/18 at 10:02 pm to AUTimbo
8kW system
Posted on 1/24/18 at 11:23 pm to TDcline
[quote]Long story short: the utility companies don’t give 2 shits about solar because it isn’t hurting their bottom line.... only in California or the Northeast are they even seeing a dent. Utility companies also have A LOT of overhead so your costs aren’t going down anytime in the near future. They’ve actually never gone down for the past 20 or so years so I doubt they’re going to change that any time soon...
The utilities more than give a shite about the impact of solar on their business, and are lobbying to change net billing and add surcharges in almost every state.
LINK
"But the decline has also coincided with a concerted and well-funded lobbying campaign by traditional utilities, which have been working in state capitals across the country to reverse incentives for homeowners to install solar panels.
Utilities argue that rules allowing private solar customers to sell excess power back to the grid at the retail price — a practice known as net metering — can be unfair to homeowners who do not want or cannot afford their own solar installations."
LINK
"Almost every state is now reviewing its solar energy policies, and some, like Hawaii, Nevada, and Arizona have already started to phase out net metering."
"David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a renewable energy advocacy group, believes that the new lobby campaign by utility companies could continue to hurt the growth of solar, especially in the US."
LINK
"An additional 30 states are considering proposals by utilities to increase fixed charges for all residential customers. Those fees would be charged to every household before the meter even starts running and are in addition to per-kilowatt-hour charges"
The utilities more than give a shite about the impact of solar on their business, and are lobbying to change net billing and add surcharges in almost every state.
LINK
"But the decline has also coincided with a concerted and well-funded lobbying campaign by traditional utilities, which have been working in state capitals across the country to reverse incentives for homeowners to install solar panels.
Utilities argue that rules allowing private solar customers to sell excess power back to the grid at the retail price — a practice known as net metering — can be unfair to homeowners who do not want or cannot afford their own solar installations."
LINK
"Almost every state is now reviewing its solar energy policies, and some, like Hawaii, Nevada, and Arizona have already started to phase out net metering."
"David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a renewable energy advocacy group, believes that the new lobby campaign by utility companies could continue to hurt the growth of solar, especially in the US."
LINK
"An additional 30 states are considering proposals by utilities to increase fixed charges for all residential customers. Those fees would be charged to every household before the meter even starts running and are in addition to per-kilowatt-hour charges"
This post was edited on 1/24/18 at 11:25 pm
Posted on 1/25/18 at 1:29 am to EA6B
I’ll check those links out tomorrow. It all really depends on the location though. When I was still in the solar game (got out around 2014) utility companies weren’t giving us any trouble at all.
That could change as they get closer to meeting those quotas.
That could change as they get closer to meeting those quotas.
Posted on 1/25/18 at 4:56 am to AUTimbo
No problem but Don is going to make sure you buy American panels
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