Should I go Solar? That was a question I asked myself many times before I finally decided to do it. Perhaps you, too, are asking that question. I’d like to document my findings since I made that decision to try to help you with your decision. Bear in mind, I am not an expert and this reflects only my findings so far.
After a long delay because of the shutdowns for Covid, my panels were finally installed and went live at the end of December. There are two options when going solar. You can go totally solar by installing batteries to store power during non-solar producing time. Or, you can opt as I did to co-partner with the power company.
Co-Partnering with SRP
In my case, my power company is SRP. I opted for the interface with them to be able to draw power from them when my panels were not producing the power I needed AND to sell to them any extra power I had when they were producing.
This sounded like a good solution for me. But, let me tell you how that has worked out so far. First, the solar panels only produce when there is good sunlight. On cloudy or windy days the production is less. On a fully sunny day, you will see a steady bell curve of the polar production. Starting at sunrise, the bell curve will grow to a peak at midday and then diminish gradually until sunset. On cloudy or windy days, the bell curve will be jaggy rather than smooth, and total daily production will be less.
Second, comes how SRP interfaces and interprets my usage based upon my solar production. The first thing I noticed was that my monthly service charge increased. Have you noticed this service charge on your monthly bill? When I inquired about it, I was told it was a fee that SRP charges to cover the cost of maintaining and reading our electric meters. I never knew I had to pay separately for that. Did you? I would have assumed that that was a cost of business for SRP. In the case now of me using SRP power only part of the time, I have a second meter that measures how much solar energy I am putting into the power grid. Hence, my Monthly Service Charge increased to cover the second meter.
Power Grid Usage when you go Solar
Next, my bill is now broken up in pieces by the time-of-day usage. SRP has peak hours and non-peak hours. With this solar billing plan, the cost per Kwh is more for any power I take from SRP during the peak hours. Now in winter, those peak hours are 5-9 AM and 5-9 PM. They advise not to run the washing machine, dryer, or dishwasher during those periods. Also, minimize other electrical usage on other things.
Let’s look at what we are doing during those times. First, it may be a are a busy time for showers (electric hot water heater), electric razors, hairdryers, curling irons, etc. Then comes the coffee maker, toaster, and other cooking for breakfast. Do you turn on the radio or TV for morning news? Do you throw in a load of clothes into the washing machine?
Peak vs Non-Peak Kw Usage
On the flip side, in the evening between 5-9 PM, we are cooking dinner and usually run the dishwasher. We turn on the TV for news and evening entertainment. Maybe the kids are watching cartoons. It again is a busy time of the day. Perhaps, if you work, you will want to start a load of clothes to wash. By 9 PM, it’s nearing bedtime, so you want that wash finished before 9 PM.
I think you are seeing the pattern here of higher usage during peak hours when the solar isn’t producing. How convenient for the power company to charge more for this power.
Selling power overage
The last item on the power bill is the amount you will be paid for that extra power that you gave to them. Conveniently, for the power company, the amount they pay you is LESS than either rate they charge you for peak or non-peak power.
Conclusion about when you go Solar
At this point, I am still evaluating my choice. My SRP bill hasn’t decreased that much and I now have a loan payment to make for the solar panels. The panels are producing enough power every day for my usage and I am selling extra to SRP. But we have had some cloudy days in these first months, where I have had to buy power for heating – day and night.
I am waiting to see how the peak hours will change with the summer season. We should be increasing our solar production. The daylight hours will be longer, but how will my usage of air conditioning affect the whole situation? Only time will tell. However, I am wondering if SRP’s billing is really aimed at discouraging this process. Seems like they are not losing any income from me and my outgo for power has now increased because of the cost of the panels.
As a final note here. You will see many advertisements about getting the panels for FREE. That all depends upon your income tax situation. What really happens is you get a rebate for going solar, but only as an offset to what you owe in taxes. I am on retirement income and I could not deduct anything.
Do it Yourself??
If after reading all this, there are still any do-it-yourselfers here that think they want to tackle this whole process themselves, here is some information to do that.
