What a week we had for solar production this week!
Take a look at my Solarguard report for the last week:
Almost 164kWh for 7 days, that's my best so far.
Looking forward to longer sunnier days coming up.
I'll keep in touch!
-paul
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Another record!
It's hard to believe that just over a month has gone by and the SolarCity system set a new record for me. Yesterday it produced 25.78kWh! I am so excited about what's coming in the future. Also, I received my SCE bill for last month, down to $34, what a great relief. All of my power was Tier 1 usage as well.
I really need to bite the bullet and switch to TOU metering, but I was hoping to have a better idea of what time I used the most power.
Off to ponder more.. Looking forward to more record days!
I really need to bite the bullet and switch to TOU metering, but I was hoping to have a better idea of what time I used the most power.
Off to ponder more.. Looking forward to more record days!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Record Day!
Yesterday our system set a new record. We produced 21.01kWh of power. What a great day. It's the first time we've surpassed 20kWh as well. Looking forward to a lot more of these types of days especially as the days get longer.
Google.org (the philanthropic arm of Google) has released some interesting news. They're trying to organize the data from smart meters into something which can be easily read and understood by consumers hoping to lead to a more information-driven usage of power.
Check out the Google.org site here about PowerMeter. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Google.org (the philanthropic arm of Google) has released some interesting news. They're trying to organize the data from smart meters into something which can be easily read and understood by consumers hoping to lead to a more information-driven usage of power.
Check out the Google.org site here about PowerMeter. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Latest Update
Hi Folks,
Here's my latest update. In December my SolarCity system generated 373.60kWh. SCE finally got around to converting me to Net-Metering, so I'm good to go there. Still trying to decide which TOU I want to go with. January numbers are in too, I generated 447.63kWh, can't wait to see what my summer production will be. I've noticed that as time moves on our production is going up, I've set some daily records (over 19kWh/day) over the past few days, so exciting!
I found that SolarCity has a new SolarGuard 2.0 System which shows both production and consumption over a specific time period. This would be so helpful to try to understand my production/use prior to making that decision. Read the press release here.
I've reached out to the SolarCity folks to see how/when that system might be available for existing customers.
All for now!
Friday, January 16, 2009
TOU-D-1 vs. TOU-D-2 -- Looking for clarity..
Hi Folks-- This time, I'm writing in the hopes that someone in the community would be able to shine some light on an area where I'm a bit confused.
I'm working towards getting onto the net-metering arrangement, and while I'm going down that road, I figure that to get the biggest bang for my buck, I should be switching to a TOU (time of use) plan too. I've received the information from SCE, and they've got two different TOU schedules (1 and 2).
It seems that the differences are the rates for kWh's and the meter charges. The actual costs for the kWh are lower for D-2, but the meter charges are a bit more.
From my non-methodical observation unless we're really running a ton of stuff, during the sunlight hours, my meter is running backwards, that tells me that I'm creating a surplus of energy which could be better utilized if I went TOU.
The issue I'm having now is which TOU plan do I want to go with? I'm leaning towards the D-2 since it's less expensive kWh wise. I guess it's a risk/reward game. I see that once I change to TOU I can opt out, but then I need to wait 12 months before making another choice.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks!
I'm working towards getting onto the net-metering arrangement, and while I'm going down that road, I figure that to get the biggest bang for my buck, I should be switching to a TOU (time of use) plan too. I've received the information from SCE, and they've got two different TOU schedules (1 and 2).
It seems that the differences are the rates for kWh's and the meter charges. The actual costs for the kWh are lower for D-2, but the meter charges are a bit more.
From my non-methodical observation unless we're really running a ton of stuff, during the sunlight hours, my meter is running backwards, that tells me that I'm creating a surplus of energy which could be better utilized if I went TOU.
The issue I'm having now is which TOU plan do I want to go with? I'm leaning towards the D-2 since it's less expensive kWh wise. I guess it's a risk/reward game. I see that once I change to TOU I can opt out, but then I need to wait 12 months before making another choice.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Glad to be back!
Sorry folks that's I've been so quiet for so long. Things got crazy around the holidays and I didn't have much time to update my blog.
I've got a few interesting things to share with you.
I've received my first SCE bill. It was about $100 less than the previous month. I'm going to show some interesting pictures which tell the story pretty well. First picture here is the generation from my system over the course of the month that my Edison billing period (11/12-12/12). During this time, I generated 385.75kWh for the period, see below:
Here's a clip from my bill which shows historical utilization, it's the lowest it's been in the past two years:
I still utilized 446kWh which put me a little of the way into Tier 3, see below:
It'll be interesting to see how next month goes, I promise I'll have it updated a lot quicker than I did for this month. :) We had lots of clouds over the holidays and had some low production, but it's been cool too so I haven't have to run the AC or the whole house fans. The last piece of the puzzle I'm still waiting for is SCE to change the meter to get me to a net-metering plan. Not sure how much longer that's going to take.
I'll keep you posted!
I have to say that i'm impressed with the system so far, it hasn't gotten old for me to go and watch the meter spin backwards. It's really enjoyable, and it makes me feel like I'm doing the right thing, not just for my wallet but also for the environment.
That said, I heard from my sales person that they're doing the $0/down $0/installation lease again (that's the deal I signed up for last summer). I've already covered my investment with the savings of my bills. If you're interested in getting more information, I'd suggest giving my sales person a call:
Mike Schmel - 714-331-6873 or mschmel@solarcity.com
Let him know that Paul over at socal-solar.blogspot.com sent you. :)
Until next time,
-paul
I've got a few interesting things to share with you.
I've received my first SCE bill. It was about $100 less than the previous month. I'm going to show some interesting pictures which tell the story pretty well. First picture here is the generation from my system over the course of the month that my Edison billing period (11/12-12/12). During this time, I generated 385.75kWh for the period, see below:
Here's a clip from my bill which shows historical utilization, it's the lowest it's been in the past two years:
I still utilized 446kWh which put me a little of the way into Tier 3, see below:
It'll be interesting to see how next month goes, I promise I'll have it updated a lot quicker than I did for this month. :) We had lots of clouds over the holidays and had some low production, but it's been cool too so I haven't have to run the AC or the whole house fans. The last piece of the puzzle I'm still waiting for is SCE to change the meter to get me to a net-metering plan. Not sure how much longer that's going to take.
I'll keep you posted!
I have to say that i'm impressed with the system so far, it hasn't gotten old for me to go and watch the meter spin backwards. It's really enjoyable, and it makes me feel like I'm doing the right thing, not just for my wallet but also for the environment.
That said, I heard from my sales person that they're doing the $0/down $0/installation lease again (that's the deal I signed up for last summer). I've already covered my investment with the savings of my bills. If you're interested in getting more information, I'd suggest giving my sales person a call:
Mike Schmel - 714-331-6873 or mschmel@solarcity.com
Let him know that Paul over at socal-solar.blogspot.com sent you. :)
Until next time,
-paul
Friday, November 21, 2008
It's ALIVE!!!!
Well, I know it's been a long time and coming, but things have been crazy busy for me at the office so I haven't had much free-time to update all of you on my progress.
They turned the system on a little over a week ago, and things are running pretty well so far. Having a issue with their SolarGuard monitoring system communicating (wirelessly) with the inverter, but the system itself is running great. I suspect it may be due to the excess of electrical and wireless devices I have around the house causing interference.
From last Sunday to this afternoon I've generated just under 100kWh of electricity. Basically durning the day while the sun is shining, my meter is running backwards, what a great thing. So far, the highest production I've witnessed is around 2600W's, from the system size and the 70% rules from DC to AC I suspect that it could get up to about 2800 but I haven't seen it yet.
Once the SolarGuard is functioning properly I'll try to put some graphs up to show the production levels, so far so good! I'll update again soon!
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