Three Years of Solar, No Sacrifices!

Yesterday marked our third "true-up" period with PG&E. That's three years of solar power, and it's time to pay PG&E for the last year of power consumption. We owe $68.00!! That's for the year, even less than the year before or before that. A long way from the $2600 per year we used to pay before solar! We don't do anything out of the ordinary except not use our clothes dryer or dishwasher during peak times in the summer. We do try to turn off lights that aren't needed. No real sacrificing to speak of, no maintenance of any kind, no having to think about it. Just clean, silent, pure power coming from our roof daily.

Last month we ordered our Nissan Leaf electric car and look forward to having our solar power system provide power for it next year. Normal driving patterns will require no sacrifice either with an electric car with 100 mile range. Solar power for the home and car isn't a far fetched concept or dream, it will soon be our reality. After rebates and incentives, both a residential solar power system and an electric car like the Nissan Leaf cost somewhere in the low $20,000 range each. Leasing can be an affordable option as well with both. These aren't technologies meant for the rich, they are well within the grasp of normal families.

The sun CAN power our transportation and living needs! We aim to keep proving it next year.

Driving with the Sun

Today we reserved a Nissan Leaf electric car for delivery by the end of the year, hopefully. Owning an electric car is one of the reasons we went solar in the first place. We hope to power our electric car like we do our electric boat, with the help of solar!

Solar power and electric vehicles(EV's) are truly a sustainable way to guarantee freedom of mobility without worrying about polluting, high fuel prices or high maintenance costs. Being green and self-sufficient is a good feeling--and that feeling will only get better when our solar system helps to provide up to 100 miles of clean driving pleasure in our Leaf.

Even if most of the EV charging is done at night during non-peak times, the solar system is still making an impact by keeping the electric consumption costs way down. Last year we only paid $159 for our power consumption. Adding an EV should cost no more than $2.75 for a full charge. If charged during daylight hours, it could be free with our PV array providing the charging power, assuming a sunny day.

Imagine, no need to send money to the middle east for dirty, depleting fossil fuel. No more gas stations, oil changes, tune ups, smog checks, oil leaks, no tailpipe! Solar power proves that the cost of freedom doesn't require wars over oil or unhealthy air from coal or oil--lives saved, a good feeling indeed.

Solar Power and the New Localized Economy

The era of cheap energy is coming to a close. Due to higher and higher fuel costs, it will no longer make sense to mine iron ore from South America and ship it to Japan in order to mill steel and then ship it to the U.S, versus using steel made in our country. Nor will it make sense to ship refrigerated food from China, or fruits and vegetables from other far flung parts of the world for our consumption. Oil prices, even if from domestic or Canadian sources, reflect world market costs and pressures, making the geographic location of the oil wells irrelevant.

The future will be more about a localized economy, not cheap products from China that used to be viable due to cheap fuel, nor electricity that is carried over a grid from hundreds or thousands of miles away, even if sourced from cheap coal--the reality of pollution from coal and huge container ships is that they harm our environment and our health, making them anything but cheap or efficient. A localized economy will mean new, alternative energy sources, locally grown food, a return to domestic manufacturing and jobs that left our shores.

Solar power is a great example in a new, localized economy. Clean, renewable power, sourced from domestic solar panels, will be located right where the power is needed most--on top of large factories and warehouses and on the roofs of our homes. We will have the option of driving electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles that will be charged from our local, homegrown power source. Solar power fits the model of the new way forward, just as manufacturing, farming and distribution on a localized level will be the most efficient approach in a world of expensive, dirty and dwindling non-renewable energy sources. Solar power is the right way for today and tomorrow, for us and for our children.

30% ITC Now For Homes!

The Federal Government has extended the 30% Investment Tax Credit and starting in 2009, homes will not be capped at $2,000. That means a $20,000 solar system, and this is on top of the California State rebate, will be eligible for a $6,000 Federal Tax Credit!

Previously, only businesses could take advantage of a full 30% Federal ITC without the $2,000 cap that residences were subject to. So, if the California State rebate amounts to close to 20%, and the 30% Federal ITC is added onto that, that's close to a 50% solar system rebate for any California home that has good sun exposure! That $20,000 solar system now costs closer to $10,000!!

Suddenly the return on investment is years less than it used to be, ie; twelve years becomes closer to eight years. That's a big difference! If you were to get a home equity loan for a solar system, the monthly payments would be significantly less.

Thomas Edison once said, "I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."

First Year of Solar!

We just received our PG&E bill showing how much we owe for our one year "true-up" period. The previous year, we paid $2664 for our electric power, or $222 per month. Our first year with solar shows a total electric consumption bill of $186! That's just $15.50 per month! There is an $8.00 monthly connection/net metering/Climate Smart(the latter is optional) fee, but that's still just $23.50 per month. Oh yeah, and I hear there is an environmental reason to go solar as well.

PG&E just raised rates for the higher electric power tiers(those families paying over $150 per month) by 6% today. That means Solar power just got less expensive than yesterday.

I am happy to say that our Solar power system has delivered everything we had hoped for. Everything our Solar power installer promised was true, and now with Solar lease plans, there is no reason why every family shouldn't go Solar! Our only regret is not doing it years ago!

Electric Rates to Go Up 15%!

I knew PG&E was planning to raise our electric rates by 5% in October, but now it turns out that is just part one. Part two is another 10% increase in January! That is a significant increase by any standard, but an unfortunate byproduct of the dependence upon natural gas and oil to generate electricity for those without clean solar power.

A 15% rise in electric rates translates to $20 or more for many families per month. Conversely, a family with solar power will be nowhere near as affected by utility company rate increases because of their decision to own rather than rent the majority of their power needs.

As electric rates climb, solar power becomes more and more practical and provides a higher, faster, return on investment. Families who currently use enough electricity to qualify for the higher rate tiers-pretty much anybody paying $150 or more per month-are actually paying more per kilowatt hour for a good percentage of their power than if they had invested in solar power. These higher rate tiers will continue to increase while solar system owners will have locked in their electric power costs for decades to come. For my wife and I, it's good to know there's one monthly expense we have some control over longterm.

Living With Solar--PG&E Owes Me Money

It's been a couple of months since I last blogged. Summer is here and so are peak time power rates. This means that PG&E pays three times as much for the power generated on our roof. May's electric bill was -$33.00, June, -$44.00! Yes, that's minus 33 and 44 dollars and this will continue throughout the summer!

We had estimated that at the end of our first year "true up" period with PG&E, we would owe about $600.00, based upon using 1000Kwh per month. However, after changing to CFL bulbs and being more aware of conserving electricity due to going solar, we have reduced our power consumption to 700Kwh hours per month. Bottom line is we expect to pay around $200 or less to PG&E for the whole year's electric bill! $200 is a whole lot better than the $2664.00 we used to pay annually to rent our electricity instead of own it. Multiply that savings over 30 or more years that our solar system will be generating clean power, even if utility rates stayed the same, and this adds up to serious savings!

Natural gas prices have climbed from $1.10 to $1.61 per therm from January to June, this is where most people's electricity comes from, so PG&E will be raising electric rates in October. We've already seen natural gas bills rise, just like gasoline keeps doing almost daily.

Electric rate hikes will have very little impact on our bill for the next 30+ years. When we buy our first electric car in a couple of years, charged by our solar system, we won't have to worry about ridiculous gas prices as much either. (Our solar system already recharges our Duffy electric boat.)

Meanwhile, in my neighborhood, besides one neighbor who went solar during our community program, I keep seeing people put in expensive paver driveways, new grass, fancy front doors and copper rain gutters, all of which look great, but these are often the same folks whose first question about solar power is, "what is the ROI?" I think I can safely say a lot better than that new driveway!