Charging costs in SoCal with Solar????

[johnmodels]

Hi All
It's a pleasure being here!
I live in Orange County, Ca and the night costs are $.14/kw. I have solar (27 panels = 6.35 KW system). Usually my bills are around $50-125 a month which is about 25% of what they would normally be. As many have discussed the more you use the more you pay. I usually tip into the second or third tier which is about $.24/kw. My model s is slated for delivery in about 2 months os I am just trying to wrap my head around what is going to happen once I have it. I can assume there are many of you in my similar situation. Do you recommend getting a separate meter? And what does that do exactly? What techniques do you use to minimize charging costs with solar? I appreciate your time!

John

 

[spatterso911]

Once the timed charging is pushed out in updates, it will make sense to switch to a TOU-D rate where $0.12/kW at night. I am still on the standard plan, 14 kW system (58 panels) and I'm compiling data on my first month of ownership and electricity use. I plan on moving to a TOU-D plan, though.

 

[johnmodels]

I just got off the phone with SDG&E which told me about the TOU-D plan. I was thinking of putting in a timer on the outlet to control the charge times. Here the lowest rate is $.14/KW. Kinda a rip off! You have a huge solar system!!! I think the best I can do when I get the TOU=D setup started is to change all the timer power usage things (i.e.. pool pump, Tesla) to late night only and hope there are some credits rolling over from the days charge.

 

[R3dstang66]

Hi All
It's a pleasure being here!
I live in Orange County, Ca and the night costs are $.14/kw. I have solar (27 panels = 6.35 KW system). Usually my bills are around $50-125 a month which is about 25% of what they would normally be. As many have discussed the more you use the more you pay. I usually tip into the second or third tier which is about $.24/kw. My model s is slated for delivery in about 2 months os I am just trying to wrap my head around what is going to happen once I have it. I can assume there are many of you in my similar situation. Do you recommend getting a separate meter? And what does that do exactly? What techniques do you use to minimize charging costs with solar? I appreciate your time!

John

I have solar from SC and also got my MS in Dec. My experience is depending on how many miles you drive, you might be ok. I'm driving 150 miles for my daily commute. My usuage went up big time and pushed me to higher tier regardless of having solar. So for my situation, a separate meter was best for me.

 

[qphan79]

I am also in Orange County and have southern califronia Edison. I am supposed to take delivery of my model s within the next 2 weeks but now just realizing that my electricity bills will be sky high with the tesla. My excuse for not preparing sooner is being preoccupied with my newborn son . Anyway, I am having solar city come in to do an evaluation of installing solar panels. I also called Verengo but they won't meet with me until April because I just recently moved into my home in November. Would you guys recommend still getting the 2nd meter? I already have a subpanel in my garage and I'm hoping it will be an easy addition for a nema 14-50 outlet. But adding a 2nd meter would mean I wouldn't benefit from solar panels?? Btw, my commute is about 110 miles roundtrip....so I'm looking at almost 1000kwh from the tesla alone. Starting to wonder if I'm way over my head with buying the Tesla now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[jeffhre]

R3dstang66,
Hi. Long commute, even for this area. Are you able to charge at work?

 

[blues]

I have a 90 mile daily commute, and generate ~30kWH a day from my solar system. It is taking about 30-40 kWH to recharge my Tesla each night, so recharging the Tesla is wiping away all my generation now, and I'm getting pushed back into the higher tiers again. I did a bunch of calculations based on my energy consumption/generation last year and have found that getting the second meter would be the most savings in my electricity bill, but I'm going to switch to the single meter TOU plan with SCE which should still better than staying on the regular rate schedule especially now that you can schedule charging to start at midnight for the super off peak rate. I won't know for sure how accurate my calculations are until I get my first TOU bill next month, though. From what I understand, getting a second meter installed is a pain because you need to get city permits, etc so it's a lot more involved, so I'm going to try the simple solution first and see how it goes. Also, I picked the TOU plan because I'm a net generator during the peak hours (10 AM - 6PM). If you're a net consumer of electricity during peak hours, than you might be better off going through all the hassle of getting the second meter installed.

 

[ElSupreme]

I have a 90 mile daily commute, and generate ~30kWH a day from my solar system. It is taking about 30-40 kWH to recharge my Tesla each night, so recharging the Tesla is wiping away all my generation now, and I'm getting pushed back into the higher tiers again. I did a bunch of calculations based on my energy consumption/generation last year and have found that getting the second meter would be the most savings in my electricity bill, but I'm going to switch to the single meter TOU plan with SCE which should still better than staying on the regular rate schedule especially now that you can schedule charging to start at midnight for the super off peak rate. I won't know for sure how accurate my calculations are until I get my first TOU bill next month, though. From what I understand, getting a second meter installed is a pain because you need to get city permits, etc so it's a lot more involved, so I'm going to try the simple solution first and see how it goes. Also, I picked the TOU plan because I'm a net generator during the peak hours (10 AM - 6PM). If you're a net consumer of electricity during peak hours, than you might be better off going through all the hassle of getting the second meter installed.

I think going ToU on a single meter should work out fine for most people. Your solar covers your expensive periods, and offsets your normal power use. Your car charges over night when you are (in theory) getting the absolute best rates you can.

The other solution is to double your solar setup!

 

[blues]

I think going ToU on a single meter should work out fine for most people. Your solar covers your expensive periods, and offsets your normal power use. Your car charges over night when you are (in theory) getting the absolute best rates you can.

The other solution is to double your solar setup!

I agree, for most people with solar the TOU plan will work, but if you are a net consumer of electricity during the peak period, you can start paying 70 cents/kwH which is more than double the highest tier on the regular rate plan, so just make sure you don't use a lot of electricity during those times before you switch.

 

[spatterso911]

I average about 60 miles/day. Timed charging at 1AM. My system is a 58 panel, 14 kW Solar City system. I switched to TOU-D-T (SCE - single meter time-of-use rate) rates this month, and my next bill is estimated to be -$110.00 :love:

 

[Pantera Dude]

As SCE customers you may or may not be aware that when you change your plan you are locked in for a year without the possibility of changing until that year is up. At least that's how I understand it.

 

[aaron0k]

As SCE customers you may or may not be aware that when you change your plan you are locked in for a year without the possibility of changing until that year is up. At least that's how I understand it.

I believe they will allow you to switch between TOU plans within the 12 months, e.g. TOU-D to TOU-D-TEV.

My understanding is you cannot have a PV system and have a two meter plan (TOU-EV1).

 

[blues]

My understanding is you cannot have a PV system and have a two meter plan (TOU-EV1).

You can have a PV system and a two meter plan. However, the PV system can only be connected to one meter.

 

[Pantera Dude]

I believe they will allow you to switch between TOU plans within the 12 months, e.g. TOU-D to TOU-D-TEV.

My understanding is you cannot have a PV system and have a two meter plan (TOU-EV1).

What is the difference between the TOU plans?