Solar Year 4--This Time PG&E Owes Us!

Our annual "True-Up" period with PG&E just occured, and for the first time in four years since going solar, we ended up being -$8.54 for electricity usage for the entire year! Not bad for people who used to pay $2664.00 per year just for our electric power. This milestone occurred even while charging our Nissan Leaf EV every night since late April!

So, in addition to our lights, electric appliances, computers, printers, LCD TV's, home theater projection system with multi-channel sound, battery chargers, garage door opener, electric barbecue, and electric boat, we have driven 6,000 miles in our EV for FREE! That's a savings of $1000.00 in gasoline, compared to the internal combustion engine car we traded in for the Leaf, in a little over 5 months of EV ownership!

The combination of solar power and electric vehicle commuting saves us around $400 per month. The PV array has cost us nothing in maintenance, and we expect the EV to have very low maintenance costs compared to ICE cars.

The best part of all is that these savings come while lowering our carbon footprint substantially at our home and on the road. Just being more aware of how we use power and how we drive has literally paid dividends and will continue to do so for many years to come.

EV + PV = the Way Forward!

On April 26 we took delivery of a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle! This is one of the main reasons we went solar in 2007--our hope was for electric cars and solar power to be a symbiotic relationship.

Our hopes have come true! The Leaf EV serves as my wife's commuter car, taking her 27 miles round trip daily, as well as weekend use and daily errands. The Leaf has now been driven over 2000 miles and charged every night at midnight via the car's timer. We could charge during the day using solar power, since my wife's job is part time, but with PG&E paying us 33 cents per Kwh at peak time for solar production in the spring and summer months and off-peak power cost of 11 cents per Kwh, we charge at night, typically requiring just a couple of hours.

We have received our PG&E electric statement for May and June, with the costs being $-34.30 and $-36.03, respectively. It is clear that driving an EV daily has not had much impact on our electric costs at this time of year. In the winter months, I expect to pay around $20 per month to charge our Leaf. When all the months electric costs are combined, I expect the cost of driving the Leaf to be around $100 or so for the year. Compare this to the over $2500 per year it used to cost in gas for my wife to drive her previous car!

Over eight years, the life of the Leaf battery warranty, we will have saved $20,000 in gas costs, if prices remain where they are currently(unlikely). The question mark will be what the cost of a new battery pack will be in eight years for the Leaf? I would expect costs to be lower than today and capacity to be higher. I further expect maintenance on the Leaf to be lower than an internal combustion engine car.

I've heard every reason why solar power and electric cars supposedly don't make sense-- meanwhile our PV array and EV are doing exactly what I'd hoped for, cleanly and quietly! Just say no to the status quo!!