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I am going solar

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by usbseawolf2000, Feb 16, 2015.

  1. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    According to Consumer reports ;
    "Consumer Reports in its December 6, 2012 publication found that the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Ford C-Max Hybrid's tested fuel economy was 20% (8 MPG) short of Ford's EPA mileage claims. After many reports from owners and media of the Ford Fusion Hybrid getting less than the stated 47 MPG city/47 MPG highway/47 MPG combined, a class action lawsuit was brought against Ford on December 26, 2012. Consumer Reports reviewed several other vehicle makes and models and found the Fusion Hybrid from Ford were the worst under-performers compared to EPA fuel efficiency ratings in real world usage compared to 16 others including hybrids. "
    I can say that my "whimpy " little Prius Plug-in gets an honest minimum MPG of 50. Much better then a Found On Road Dead FORD![/QUOTE]
    I do not like trolls and you can't add more fire to your quest.
    I owned a PiP for 3 years, as a matter of fact, my PiP was number 5 of the first seven introduced to NY State in 2012 and I drove out of the Dealer parking lot with 5 miles on it.
    I know the vehicle and what it can do and perform, I had been an advocate of Toyota Prius since my fist one in 2005.
    I got rid of it with 30K miles because it did not provide me what my want was, I was in need of essentially more electric range and comfort, the Fusion Energi is fulfilling my needs and I'm extremely happy with it.
    I do not give a sh**t about the arguments about the fuel economy of 2012, I drive electric 85% of the time.
    The $20.00 worth of gas that I put on the Energi is going stale after 6 months and still have an abundant quantity for one of those days......
    IF I want the super duper fuel economy of the Prius for longer trips, my wife is driving her 2011 and converted to PHEV a few years back.
    Keep enjoying your 24VDC solar system in the neck of the woods pal.
     
  2. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Not sure over in LI but for me, it cost more to drive on electricity than gas.

    If not for the free solar panels, I may not be charging my PiP due to cost ($2.10 electric vs. $1.65 gas). In a sense, government incentives are paying me to plug it in.
     
  3. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    I found a way to reduce my gas consumption further and save some money. I have stopped driving to work.

    I am now taking public transportation! I am taking advantage of the increase in TransitChek threshold.

    This also mean that I will have even more surplus electricity! I am thinking of getting ceramic electric heaters to offload the gas boiler. Heat pumps are pretty much useless now.
     
  4. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    In my case, my home electric productivity through the Solar system and my free charge at work ( 6 times a week) , make it for free.
     
  5. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    A couple of years back, we did an small home remodelling of our ground floor that seats on a concrete slab. I had installed an electric floor heating system and ceramic tiles in order to use some electric surplus and feel comfy.
    It works great in this cold days.
     
  6. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    I do not like trolls and you can't add more fire to your quest.
    I owned a PiP for 3 years, as a matter of fact, my PiP was number 5 of the first seven introduced to NY State in 2012 and I drove out of the Dealer parking lot with 5 miles on it.
    I know the vehicle and what it can do and perform, I had been an advocate of Toyota Prius since my fist one in 2005.
    I got rid of it with 30K miles because it did not provide me what my want was, I was in need of essentially more electric range and comfort, the Fusion Energi is fulfilling my needs and I'm extremely happy with it.
    I do not give a sh**t about the arguments about the fuel economy of 2012, I drive electric 85% of the time.
    The $20.00 worth of gas that I put on the Energi is going stale after 6 months and still have an abundant quantity for one of those days......
    IF I want the super duper fuel economy of the Prius for longer trips, my wife is driving her 2011 and converted to PHEV a few years back.
    Keep enjoying your 24VDC solar system in the neck of the woods pal.[/QUOTE]

    The fuel will be used after a year.... It will go into fuel refresh mode at that time from what I read on the fordcmaxenergiforums...


    iPad ?
     
  7. apt5020

    apt5020 Senior Member

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    What is the law on solar panel? I heard if you decide to buy. They can only go 120% of your electrical bill? In that consideration if someone bill average $75/month is pointless if they don't do AC or heater full blast. The guy trying to sell me say it was the law. He also say there certain roof that solar panel can't be install. I forgot what he told me.
     
  8. Bill Norton

    Bill Norton Senior Member

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    usb, You Da'Man ! "Surplus electricity" !! Our nation could have this problem, if we wanted it!
    You guys are SO inspirational !!!
    This is the summer of my Solar Install !

    I don't have a public trans option, but I have an 82 mile BEV.

    And I got a floor heat thermostat for Christmas because it was on my wish list. I plan on adding floor heat and tile to my small bathroom. It will only be a ~250 watt system but if it was from free energy....!
    It's sunny and 5° outside.... A man can only dream....
     
  9. Zythryn

    Zythryn Senior Member

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    Not sure about CA, but in Minnesota there is a 120% limit for the net metering agreement with the utility.
    There is no law, it is a limit imposed as a rule by the utility.

    In our case, we could get a separate inverter for anything over 120% (yes, we looked into this).
     
  10. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    In Long Island, NY we also have a 120% cap on loans and only 10% above the maximum allowed by the electrical provided entity, so Long Islanders can't install more that a 11KWH photovoltaic system for a residential usage.
    I didn't apply for any meaningful loan at time of purchase.
     
  11. macman408

    macman408 Electron Guidance Counselor

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    It depends on your utility, as others have mentioned. PG&E won't approve interconnection if your system is more than 110% of your previous year's usage, or your forecasted future usage. (So you're allowed to say "I'm buying an electric car and will increase my usage by 5 kWh/day," and then install a system sized to your current usage plus the forecast additional usage plus 10%.) Also, if your system is 5 kW or smaller, they don't care. If you don't have 12 months of usage data, they estimate it by multiplying the square footage of the building by 3.32 to get the annual kWh. Likewise, they multiply the AC rating of the solar system by 1664 to get the annual kWh, and compare against the 110% limit.

    You can always install a larger solar system, but the electric utility may not allow you to interconnect with them. If you wanted to go off the grid, that's probably what you'd have to do, since you need to produce as much as you use even on short winter days. And going off the grid is generally a very expensive proposition, so people usually only do it if there's no grid to begin with.
     
  12. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    In NJ, they won't let you go above your usage, so 100% is the max. In NY, 95% is the max.

    I didn't have 12 months of usage so I had to estimate by filling out spreadsheet with appliances that I have. Plugin car wasn't in there so I had to be creative to get close to my 6 month's usage x 2.

    So, why am I having so much surplus? The production has been 30% above the month by month estimates, except for Dec slightly below the estimate.

    I knew the estimates were conservative but not by that much. One of the reasons I got Canadian Solar panels was due to high efficiency at low irradiance. Will see when I have data for the next 6 months.
     
    Potorap likes this.
  13. devprius

    devprius /dev/geek

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    Our system was designed to cover about 60 to 70% of our annual usage and get us out of the upper tiers that PG&E charges when you go above the baseline. It's a 5 kW system (the maximum size the roof could handle). Despite this seemingly undersized system, due to net metering and the TOU rate schedule we switched to, we've basically zeroed out our utility bill. The only money we've had to pay to PG&E has been the minimum meter charges that everybody pays. We haven't had a generation surplus but we have had to walk away from monetary energy credits at the end of our 12-month true-up cycle (about $50 for the past two years).

    We plan to add a pure EV in the next couple of years. I estimate that our annual bill won't go up much at all at that point. We'll use up the energy credits we've been forced to walk away from, and the $10 a month minimum bill amount we now have to pay will get credited against actual excess electrical usage.
     
  14. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Want to give another update. March production far surpassed my regular electricity usage. I ran the heat pump to supplement the natural gas boiler. My gas usage this year (for 9 months since PV), has been 37% lower. This year is also warmer than the last but I am happy with the results.

    The 3 months ahead will be the peak production season!

    Solar.png
     
    fuzzy1 likes this.
  15. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    I had a great Solar energy production since March 20, I'm very happy
     
  16. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    How is your 2016 production compare to the last?
     
  17. inferno

    inferno Senior Member

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    You're not getting effected by the snowstorms? :)
     
  18. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    2015 production
    Jan= 514 MWh; Feb= 627 KWh; March= 864 KWh : 1,149 KWh

    2016 production is: total for the last three months: 2,400KWh, almost double
     
  19. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Got lucky this year. Only a few days of snow covering them.
    That is insane. Did you add more panels?

    Wondering the reason for such a huge swing.
     
  20. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    I cleaned the panels with a tool trying to minimize overall shading