Grid Ties or only LIES?

[Psycogeek]

Like everything the telemarketer tells you you will save money, be ritch beyond means, and there will never be a problem.

Tie to the grid, and the power company will balance all your load, and you will win the power lottery. you will have a net balance of 0 in the whole year.

they pay you in the summer, when the sun is out (and use for people is high) and you pay them a mere pitiance in the winter.

We have all heard it, it takes 20 YEARS about to pay for a whole solar grid tie system, it had BETTER pay for itself :-)

In california they have about a 50% energy refund, so like the windmills before it, it was the ONLY reason that people made good money off of them.

so here its a good idea , 10 years to pay it back :-)

Have YOU tied to the grid?

how much more INITIAL costs was it?

how much endless paperwork?

How many maintance problems?

and most importantally, How Much Do THEY pay vrses how much YOU had to pay them?

For remote and off grid locations, this stuff is great, batteries are a nessisity

but from my calculations on battery cost, maintance, and (the bad part) replacement costs , batteries can add 100% to the 20 year payback figures.

so grid tie is a great way to have the power to use and abuse, and sell back what you didnt need, but is it just another LIE?

[jomoco]

Hey there Psycho,

I've done a little research on grid tie systems here in CA, and found that state law requires that they credit you the same amount they charge you. However, at the point you start putting more onto the grid than you use, they drop you down to what they pay their wholesale suppliers, which is roughly 5 cents per kilowatt hour.

So in effect state law requires that if they charge you 15 cents PKH, they must credit you 15 cents PKH until you exceed your average monthly usage, at which point they start crediting you at their wholesale cost.

You must have an inverter that matches their sinewave exactly, and your whole system must meet their standards and specs, and be approved by a representative of the power company whose grid you tie into. It is a tedious process which requires alot of paper work, safety systems, inspections etc. The important point is,it can and has been done. While there are state laws that make it possible here in CA, this may not be the case in other states or countries, though I suspect it's possible, atleast in the U.S.

I know this doesn't answer all your questions, but I hope it helps a little.

jomoco

[Psycogeek]

Just imagine all the time you just saved me, relaying the exact same research that i would have had to do, Why Thank you :-)

i have to pay top doller for the %^&*#( power (now its a rant)

2/3rds of the power used here (business and home) is on the high end of the payment schedule, although i suspect it is also true for most of our neighbors.

the "baseline" is enough to run 1 computer, and a solar fan :-)

and i think it is not relative to house SIZE (stupid vaulted ceilings)

5c a KW, why are they charging ME 21c for it, is this Macys&E :-)

it was as high as 35c, but at that time we reduced 20% from the previous year, so during the EndRon scandal, we were actually paying less.