KWh/ Mile? Justifying 19 cent KWh electric rate

Thanks for doing the math! Luckily, as I have solar, so once I start charging at home when my chargepoint credit is done, I will likely be paying <$0.189/kWh as I make a surplus of electricity currently. May also switch to EV-A rate which would allow me to charge at $0.12/kWh at night and make solar at the higher peak/partial peak rates...

 

Yeah ... EV-A might end up being a nice deal for you if arbitrage of TOU is available and you are not killed in the summer.

If you continue on straight net metering, how much did your PV array cost you per lifetime kWh ? Or is it a lease ?
I'm putting in an array that will cost about 2-2.5 cents a kWh lifetime including some sweat equity -- a killer deal. It will work out to about 25 cents a "gallon" if I was running a Prius in HV.

No matter how you slice it, PV is awesome.

 

I bought my system. Solar is so inexpensive now that leasing isn't really a good deal unless you can't afford upfront cost. Based on my production so far (only installed solar end of last May), I estimate that my system will start paying back ~6 years after installation with the rebates that I will be getting. At 10 years, cost for the electricity generated would be ~$0.115/kWh based on system cost. Of course, electricity rates keep going up... Now is the time for solar!

 

I can't follow your numbers. How much did the system cost after rebates, and what is its lifetime estimated production ?

 

Not sure what the estimated lifetime production is... I estimated 4100 kWh production first year and cost after rebates was about $4750 for my system.

 

My system is going to cost $16K after federal tax credit for a 7.5 kw system. The risk you take is if the regulators allow changes to the rate structure that penalizes solar. NEM2 in effect in California now made solar more costly. Nevada basically killed solar in their state by allowing the rate the power company buys back power from you at the wholesale rate. All the solar companies pulled out of Nevada when the market tanked after that. I hear Arizona went the same way. Warren Buffet's company owns Nevada Energy. He seems like such a humanitarian, but is not above screwing over solar power customers and the public good in Nevada and contributing to air pollution and global warming by burning fossil fuels in his power plants over clean solar.

 

Wow, that's a lot of power! My system is rated at 2.4 kW. I made >2600 kWh in 7 months. Not sure how the NEM has changed but I got my system before NEM2 was implemented and am in the original NEM.

 

Wow! that is a good price.
Almost identical to my kwh per year.

But you do have to take into account the PG&E $10 per month connection fee.
At 4100 kwh per year that is $120/4100 = almost 3 cents per kwh

Mike

 

Are you sure about that $10 fee? According to this All Categories - MIKE KLEEMAN there's a $.023/kwh fee off of the power you sell them, plus a $145 one time connection fee.

 

I see you have a 2.4 kW system and your 4100 k'wh annual makes sense.
That should be good for about 123,000 lifetime kWh so your per kWh charge is
475000/123000 = 3.7 cents

Driving on electricity is costing you about one penny a mile even before you play arbitrage games.
Do you still want to drive in HV mode on the highway ?

 

Is that connection fee charged to all customers or is it an additional fee only PV grid-tied owners pay ?

 

It's paid by new PV customers. My solar contractor is actually paying it for me.

 

Talked with PG&E and there is the ~$10 fee per month which can be taken off if you use more power than you produce at your true up statement date. However, if you have more credits than usage, you do not get it back except at $0.03-0.04/kWh... I'm currently in that situation!

Did some calculations in excel based on my first six months of solar generation and if I switch to EV-A, I will come out ahead and have no extra costs to charge the car and even have a small surplus at the end of the year. That's assuming 6.3 kWh charging per day over night.

 

If I need to save the electric for city driving and can't recharge, it probably makes sense to use HV mode on the highway.

 

Or add a couple more panels to your array ;-)

 

So which is it:
You have excess kWh to 'spend'
Or you have to save kWh for city miles ?

One way or another, it sounds like you would only be in the first tier of pricing if you buy PG&E to supplement your PV output. I presume that is less than 19 cents a kWh ?

Addendum: Looks like tier 1 is about 16 cents a kWh. So go a little net positive on your bill, and save the $10 a month PV tariff ;-)
Now you definitely want to use EV on the highway since the first ~ 200 miles a month is free

 

Doubtful. This is a monthly minimum fee.
I slightly oversized my system based on the future expectation of a full EV.
So I got a Leaf, but it came with 2 years of free charging (at dealers and various places)
I am getting a refund at the end of my annual true up period...second one coming in 3 months.
But my 2 years of free charging end in 5 months so I'll be charging at home more.

Eventually I plan on generating only 80-85% of what I consume, or a bit less (depending on how much I drive) so that I don't have to pay that $10 for connecting and can instead pay for about 60 kwh/month. This is better than having too many panels and getting 2 or 3 cents/kwh back from PG&E (on average over 20 or 30 years)

Mike

 

Right.

https://www.pge.com/includes/docs/pdfs/myhome/saveenergymoney/solarenergy/billing-callouts-trueup.pdf

But everyone connected to the grid pays this minimum fee, not just solar customers.

They sure made this complicated, didn't they. Worse than my cell phone bill.

 

I'm just a casual bystander but my read of the bill is that all customers pay at least $10 in delivery charges a month, either through consumption or a supplemental charge to reach that minimum.

 

Yes, but for non-solar users it is a "delivery" fee. This is a fraction of the per kwh price to cover the cost of the grid and the line losses between the generating stations and your home. It is a bit of a ripoff. First it was just $5 two years ago and they raised this as solar got cheaper...strange how the minimum doubled in just a short time. Second, there are no line losses for my power sent back to the grid since it just goes to my neighbors. Third, I provide my peak power back to the grid during peak summer around 2-4 pm (my system faces west) when they need it the most...yet my over-production gets valued at 2-3 cents/kwh.
But I'm happy with it all anyway...$10/mon to get access to the grid as my battery.

Mike