I really love my solar panels. This month, I generated much more power than I used. You can see by the graph below that I only purchased electricity from the power company on two days during October. The rest of the month, I had negative days, selling kWh back to SRP. You can notice the biggest savings the week of the 6th – 11th, when I was in California.
However, on a sadder note, it appears Daryl is now beating me on daily output. His panels are positioned to gain more sunshine in the mornings and his roof is a bit steeper (which the southern sun hits more fully), so his system is soaking up a few more rays than mine. Additionally, the sun now drops behind my neighbor’s tree in the late afternoon, causing a reduction in my panel output. But I definitely have him beat on the graph above! His bigger house and electric car use a lot more electricity than me.
It looks like I am on track to generate ~98% of my overall annual usage, as predicted.
Not bad at all! I assume an unfortunate accident is going to happen to your neighbor’s tree…
I was going to ask you to join me on a clandestine midnight tree trimming, but I’m sure you’d decline, as that might put me back in the race.
So exciting. If we are ever homeowners again, we definitely want to go solar. Good for you!
Does this mean your cost for electricity is lower even when you factor in the cost for the solar panel installation?
I’m still behind on my initial investment, which I paid upfront. That will take ~8 year to recoup. But if I spread out that investment over 20 years, yes, I am quite a bit under. Solar is a no-brainer for folks living in Arizona.
So the break even point is about 8 years? That’s not bad at all. I think it would probably be a good idea here too. We don’t get quite as much sun but very close.
Depending on your roof orientation, you might do really well with solar in California. Your temperatures are moderate year round and that improves the effectiveness of the production. You should look into it. Call three companies and have them come out and give you bids.
People who go with a monthly lease plan rather than prepaid almost always see their total monthly outgo decrease. With the prepaid it takes a while to recoup your investment, but then I think the savings are better in the long run. It’s a pretty safe investment either way.