BartHenry
Solar Enthusiast
Grid tied in my area pays zero...plus they require a 1 million dollar insurance policy incase one of there guys gets fried.
Adding battery storage can greatly change the equation
but there is also such a thing as too much battery storage, imo
Why stop at 5 days?it is the features I need not the money it costs that matters most to me
I am at 60kwh with my teslas, I want 100 kwh. at this time my current battery will go 2 days, I prefer 5 days of backup time
Haven't you stated your charge / discharge percentage goals are more restrictive than most?? Smart, as that's the way Toyota did it from the get go to preserve its hybrids' batteries. Obviously requires a larger gross kwh to provide a working capacity number.200 kwh is 3 to 5 days of bad weather. Which should cover my normal usage. From what I have seen.
Ok so hear me out. If you grossly oversize the battery then it never fully charges from solar. So then it's just wasting money and calendar aging will slowly but surely eat into your investment.
If you grossly oversize pv you will always have excess so why not get some money for it?
And that way you don't have to have 200 kWh of battery storage.
I don't care what the utility pays for power. I'm not selling to them. I do care about what they charge for power. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/utility-rate-increases.70643/ I will be getting an extra 20% return per Kwh my system produces. For those on net metering, the rules are already changing, no payout at true up, any excess over bank you give away. It will change again, some piece of legislation will get slipped into some bill and the rules will change once again.Unless of course your utility pays literally zero for your export or makes you jump through endless hoops to interconnect.
Looking at it another way, you bought a pallet of panels for about .12 per watt after itc. If you factor in mounting, grid tie inverter, etc, I wouldn't be surprised at all if your cost of production is less than what the utility would pay your for that power
I go about 5 days now, but found I might need 6. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/5th-day-of-no-sun.71590/Why stop at 5 days?
Fair but now add another 130kwh of storage and the associated cost-is there a benefit there?Find uses for it. We have doubled our electric usage per day since installing solar except for when we normally would have had high loads. Right now I'm heating my house with excess solar power using a heat pump.
You might think that until the utility changes net metering agreements. Already happening here as Mid American has put up large wind all over the state plus large solar. They don't need the little guy generating anymore to meet renewable standards, they can generate their own. So they will lobby the statehouse to enact regulation of the little guy plus only pay a few cents for your grid input, then charge a much higher rate for what you input from grid. Net metering is dying and it will be a painful death for those who installed a system with net metering. They stand to profit immensely by lobbying the state to dump net metering.
I don't care what the utility pays for power. I'm not selling to them. I do care about what they charge for power. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/utility-rate-increases.70643/ I will be getting an extra 20% return per Kwh my system produces. For those on net metering, the rules are already changing, no payout at true up, any excess over bank you give away. It will change again, some piece of legislation will get slipped into some bill and the rules will change once again.
The purpose of batteries is not only to have power 24/7/365 but to also hedge against any changes in the rules which will not benefit the little guy. The rules will not be changed to favor the little guy.
For example I have 43kwh of batteries and enough solar to offset about 80% of my annual use.One also gets the tax credit for batteries, you might not get that after 2030. If you install grid tie, then decide you want solar power when grid is down, you will be changing your system and adding batteries. Why not build it with batteries from the start?
PossiblyHaven't you stated your charge / discharge percentage goals are more restrictive than most?? Smart, as that's the way Toyota did it from the get go to preserve its hybrids' batteries. Obviously requires a larger gross kwh to provide a working capacity number.
space = small house, small lotWhy stop at 5 days?
Fair but now add another 130kwh of storage and the associated cost-is there a benefit there?
Yes, they are changing but the sell back price for most is avoided cost. Most people here can probably add solar for .02 to .03 per kWh. If the choice is between selling excess back or just letting it go to waste, it makes sense to get some money for it. Any money is better than no money.
My utility pays .06 per kWh. 10 years from now it may be .01
Doesn't mean I can't enjoy many years of getting something for my excess production. If their buy price goes to zero I can just switch to a regular plan and stop selling . No?
Agree but it will take a while
For example I have 43kwh of batteries and enough solar to offset about 80% of my annual use.
I run 8.4Kw of array, 58Kwh of battery. I run off grid, since installing my system I've run about 3 days with grid turned on, but not used all those days. I think with another battery I could go 100% off grid. I'm a firm believer in having a large battery bank with a smaller array.Adding battery won't help me because I don't have enough production. Adding more pv without battery would mean some pv would go to waste. If I connect to the grid I can add pv above 100% offset and not need to add a ton of battery to capture all the production because frankly no one can afford enough battery to capture all their excess production if they have 100% offset. IMHO. And even if you could afford the 300kwh of battery it makes more financial sense to just grid tie, at least for now
I don't..
heating the house to 78F yesterday I still had excess I wasn't capturing. I could actually have used that today, partly cloudy and yield isn't great. More battery and I would have it to use today.
See the reason for more battery capacity?
I don't.
How much excess do you have? Let's say you had 5000kwh excess per year. You could sell that back to the grid for something, or buy more battery to store it? How much would the grid pay you net for 5mwh of export? Vs how much would a battery cost to capture that same 5mwh.
It's a simple math equation and I bet for most people it makes more financial sense to export excess to the grid, than it does to store it
You also have to factor in all of the additional costs. Just to be able to export. More expensive equipment, permitting, and agreements.I don't.
How much excess do you have? Let's say you had 5000kwh excess per year. You could sell that back to the grid for something, or buy more battery to store it? How much would the grid pay you net for 5mwh of export? Vs how much would a battery cost to capture that same 5mwh.
It's a simple math equation and I bet for most people it makes more financial sense to export excess to the grid, than it does to store it
I mean the batteries definitely help me in my scenario. I dump all my PV during peak hours only. It makes me want to double my battery capacity. Doesn't mean it will work for everyone, but this was my bill last month:
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I would bet its because SoCal Edison wants you to feel like you're saving money during Super Off Peak, but you're not lol.That's awesome!
Why the same price for Off and Super off peak?