Periodically my panels get dusty because my backyard consists of 80% dirt, and with my dogs kicking up a storm, a lot of that dirt ends up on my panels. With that said, about every other month i find myself on a ladder with a mop soaked in windshield washer fluid cleaning away the dirt, because It is important that my panels generate on a consistent basis the maximum amount of kilowatts possible.
After the hard work, this is the result.
MY SOLAR INITIATIVE
So last year around May I decided to go solar due drastic changes in energy consumption at home which caused my electrical bill with EDISON to go up to a staggering rate when compared to my previous usage. My light bill with Edison went from an average of $65-$80 to an extravagant $160+ and gradually worked up to $300+ by the third month.
Month 2
Month 3
It was then I decided to go solar, so one day on a routine visit to my local Home Depot Center I was approached by a Solar City representative, and having that i was now in the market for solar panels, I made an appointment for an evaluation.
Soon I found myself signing a 30 year contract
for the purchase of panels with Solar City.
A month later my solar panels were finally installed, it was now all on Edison, as I had to wait for the approval of the corporate energy monster, to simply just send me a tag that they approve of the panels.
The tag that allowed my to turn the solar panels on
Finally after a two month long wait Edison issued their tag for approval of the panels to be turned on.
I still don't understand why they take so long just to say “okay you're good to go, hit the switch”. All my permit fees were paid and approved by the city prior to installation and all documents were submitted to Edison, I guess they had to milk the last two months of energy billing out of me.
Steem POWER ON!
All was great! My panels were installed, Edison bill dropped to under $2 per month service fee (as I am still on the grid), which I'm okay with. Being connected to the grid has its benefits just in case of a cloudy week, and the panels don't get a full production I could still get energy from Edison as back up.
I thought about one day getting a pair of Elon Musk's Powerwall by Tesla to store energy but then I saw this controversial information on the Powerwall, now Im not sure
By December 2015 my monthly expenses towards energy consumption was only for the payment of the panels which was approximately $100 a month.
THE BURSTING BUBBLE
Then In May 2016 I got a letter from Edison indicating a future bill approaching in late August in the amount of what was then$1825, for energy charges. Keep in mind they were billing me on a monthly basis about $1 and some change. I was upset(mostly at myself) I made several calls to Edison for an explanation as to why they billed me this way.
After several calls to Edison and Solar City, I was explained that the whole time I was over consuming the energy my panels were producing threefold. It was then I got frustrated with the way (in my perspective) Edison meticulously sets up their billing to try keep the consumer unalarmed of the potential charges that can be incurred. Why not bill me on a monthly basis if I was over consuming the energy my panels were producing, where was the courtesy call or letter notifying me of the over consumption/under producing of my panels in comparison to the energy being used up?.
THE HOW
My panels only produce an estimated amount of 381 kW per month, and apparently I was consuming well over 1200 per month, so approximately 800 kW of energy was being provided by the corporate monster and they were meticulously placing that energy charge on the fourth page of every monthly bill, which indicated an amount due of $1 and some change. Now, they weren't asking for me to pay the 800+ kW of energy just yet, because as they explained they did not know if my energy consumption would take a drastic turn and offset the previous consumption by the end of the year.
After all this mess and misunderstanding I called both Edison and Solar City to make arrangements to square everything away, but Edison wanted there current bill paid in full which is $2384. I tried to negotiate but all they offered was a 10 month payment plan ($200 per month)
At that moment I felt like going Katt Williams... <a href="
them god damn lights!"Once I pay off the panels (which i plan on doing in the next 5 years as opposed to the 30 year contract to avoid interest charges) and maintain a normal energy use in the household, my bill will be back to $1 and some change.
Ill be happy then.
Please follow:
Sounds like the company have some work to do. I hope to have panels some day. They are getting cheaper all the time and it should be viable now. I expect the rules and regulations are very different here in the UK. I know there are all sorts of schemes where you can buy panels, rent them, or rent out your roof space. Will have to look at the options to see what works for me.
Enjoy your solar power
Thanks. There are options, I was given an option to lease the panels for 20 years or purchase over 30 years. My advise on anyone looking to get panels is to first figure out how much energy you plan to consum on a monthly basis and then get enough panels to clearly cover that production in excess just in case more energy is used, for example during Christmas season.
Great post, thank you. I feel with you and your battle with The company.
May I assume that you will come out as a net winer?
By the way, what is the source of such a rise in consumption? If I may ask? :)
And how is your life as a Solar Ambasador? Too bad this affiliate program is available to US citizens only...
I'm sure there is a solar provider in your country, and yes, once i pay off my panels ill be on the winning side so long as i don't over consume my solar energy. As far as the source, I was running multiple air conditioners 24/7 and high wattage lights, it was basically a cold lit up christmas all year long.
Thanks for the answer. Good luck with your power bills :)
nice post...the future is clean! This #steemit post and the Solar Coin has given me a 360 degree blockchain view of solar. http://www.atelier.net/en/trends/articles/solarcoin-blockchain-service-of-renewable-energies_442008
Thank you @steem.xyz, we are in the beginning stages of a solar future. There are companies like SolarWindow Technologies, Inc. that are ahead of the game in solar, once they become easily available to the open market it will be the next best thing for those who want to go green.
up voted and followed Sounds like a very frustrating ordeal
Thanks for the upvote and follow @otisbrown, and yes it was quite frustrating. But the storm is calming now so I'm guessing it only gets better after this.
resteeming
welcome to steemit... ^^
Thanks @abullar
Great post man! Welcome!
Are you using LED lights? If your lighting bills are very big, it might be worth upgrading to LEDs, which produce much less heat and more light, reducing your overall power consumption.
I still need to replace two more HID WHICH ARE ABOUT 100w each with LED. But that will be getting changed soon.
In Finland most houses are nowadays equipped with hourly meters and it's possible to access your detailed consumption patterns through the energy company's online service. I wonder what it would take for all energy providers to do the same?
I believe that in due time every company will eventually adapt to that method.
Thanks for sharing all the details of your ordeal. Very useful to read someone else's experience.