AdSense Solar Power Products

For the past month (March 2013) we've been producing about 130kWh per day.  I switched from time-of-day rates to flat so that there will not be a repeat of last summer, when night-time AC usage exceeded my off-peak co-generation surplus.  That meant that I had to pay roughly 60 dollars per month extra for those off-peak kWh even though I was making and banking more on-peak than I used.  With flat rates I'll always be able to use from my surplus.  The winter rates are used to settle up at the last meter reading of the year so that means there's almost no monetary difference between on-peak, off-peak, or flat rate surplus when it comes to getting paid.

I think some of you need to see a current bill... this is from APS.com for the monthly billing cycle that ended on 3/20/2013.

Charges for electricity services

Cost of net electricity

Customer account charge $1.83

Delivery service charge $0.00

Environmental benefits surcharge $0.00

System benefits charge $0.00

Power supply adjustment* $0.00

Metering* $2.61

Meter reading* $1.80

Billing* $2.03

Generation of electricity* $0.00

Federal transmission and ancillary services* $0.00

Federal transmission cost adjustment* $0.00

LFCR adjustor $0.02

Cost of electricity you used $8.29

Taxes and fees

Regulatory assessment $0.02

State sales tax $0.56

County sales tax $0.06

City sales tax $0.25

Franchise fee $0.17

Cost of electricity with taxes and fees $9.35

Total charges for electricity services $9.35

Short cool days.  Now we're seeing production of 68-70 kWh per day.  I need to wash the panels, but when I inspected them last month after some rain they were not too dirty.  I think we may see only from 0-5% improvement, but I'll let you know.  It may be statistically insignificant.

Hot Summer Days

Well it has been a while.  Hot weather is offsetting the production we gain from longer days.  The highest production day was 168kWh with steady wind cooling the panels.  The stifling hot days had production down below 140kWh.  Today, July 4th, we produced only 50kWh with intermittent rain and heavy clouds all day.

The June bill was for 33 days and totaled 20.05.  This is pretty consistent and after 3 months I am paying about 65 cents per day for fixed charges like having a meter and having it read (electronically).  I'm happy with that and the bank of surplus kWh is approaching 7000 -- more than my two largest months of usage last year when the AC units needed service and the house was less insulated.  Repairs and service on the two big AC units and the small window unit, along with adding R14 of new foam on the roof, should lead to reduced consumption for this July and August.

Some of you may think my house looks WEIRD with 99 solar panels... Here's the view from the street.

Portal View Available