EVTOU2 or SOLAR

[5StarAdvisor]

Does it make since to buy solar when time if use energy rates are reasonably priced?

I use a little more than 1000kWh/m (mostly charging the Tesla) and I’m paying an average cost of $0.25/kWh.

So far my tax situation isn’t bad, I aggressively write off lots of expenses so I’m not really sure that I’d get any tax breaks. If I financed the cost assuming zero metering I would want to come out of pocket more than 24k. I wouldn’t ever pay cash because my TMV is to great.

If I do justify a system does zero metering a good idea if I’m not totally convinced that my next car will be an EV?

Ah, the other challenge my roof has somewhat limited southern exposure. How many panels would I need?

 

[5StarAdvisor]

 

[gaswalla]

Solar plus Tou5 will make you happy

 

[markb1]

Definitely look into EV-TOU5. It greatly reduces your super off-peak rate to $0.093/kWh, but it adds a flat fee $16/month. You should use the "Compare Pricing Plans" tool in your sdge.com account to see what it will probably save (or cost) you.

 

[Dave EV]

Solar + EV-TOU5 here. Do it.

 

[cwied]

One other quick comment: if by "zero metering" you mean offsetting your full usage on a kWh basis, that would only make sense if you assign a value to having a zero net energy footprint. From a purely financial standpoint, you should probably aim to offset your dollar usage instead. Because most net energy contracts credit you with the rate at the time you're generating, a lot of the solar will be credited at a higher rate than the rate at which you are consuming, which will often be during the off-peak (especially with EV charging). Powerwalls can also amplify this effect. For me, about an 85% kWh offset equates to a full dollar offset after mandatory charges.

 

[liuping]

Solar + EV-TOU5 + Powerwalls = Awesome

EV-TOU5 has very high rates from 4-9pm, but with Powerwalls you use 0 kWh during that time, and all solar can go to the grid from credit at the higher rate.

 

[5StarAdvisor]

Solar + EV-TOU5 + Powerwalls = Awesome

EV-TOU5 has very high rates from 4-9pm, but with Powerwalls you use 0 kWh during that time, and all solar can go to the grid from credit at the higher rate.

0.24 isn’t that high especially if from 12-6am you use 75-80% of the juice at a rate of 0.09. Isn’t the cost to buy solar panels around .21/kWh

 

[5StarAdvisor]

Definitely look into EV-TOU5. It greatly reduces your super off-peak rate to $0.093/kWh, but it adds a flat fee $16/month. You should use the "Compare Pricing Plans" tool in your sdge.com account to see what it will probably save (or cost) you.

Thanks for the tip. I did not know about EVTOU5. At these rates I estimated that my AVG cost of electricity will come to around 0.17/kWh.

Can I finance an 1100 kWh /m solar system for less than the $176/m I can buy it from the grid?

 

[Dave EV]

Can I finance an 1100 kWh /m solar system for less than the $176/m I can buy it from the grid?

A general rule of thumb assuming no significant shading is that 1 kW DC of solar generates around 1500 kWh / year in Southern California. 1100 kWh/mo = 13,200 kWh / year which would require around 8.8 kW DC of solar. I would ballpark around $19k after tax credits for a system that large (assumes cost is around $3/watt = $27k). From there it just depends on what kind of loan you can get.

 

[Frankman60]

I used the SDG&E compare plans function in my account and it says that my annual bill would be half of what it is now under EV-TOU2, if I switched to EV-TOU5. Does the calculator include the $16 per month fixed fee in the annual calculation? If the calculator is accurate, it seems that I should switch to EV-TOU5. Other than the $16 fixed charge, the only other significant difference seems to be the much lower Super Off Peak rate. Am I understanding this correctly?

I have a 7.8 kWh PV system and that supplies 60 percent of our annual electricity usage, with an EV and two plug in hybrid cars in the household. I have two Powerwalls on order.

 

[gilscales]

On my SCE TOU-D-B plan My energy costs went down considerably even before I got the model 3, we use a lot of super off-peak juice now
Time-Of-Use-Residential-Rate-Plans
.012 to .013 super off peak rates are great and before we were really getting slammed with the 0.37 top tier

 

[Dave EV]

Other than the $16 fixed charge, the only other significant difference seems to be the much lower Super Off Peak rate. Am I understanding this correctly?

Yes, you are. I believe the SDG&E tool is correct. If it's not, I think you can switch back with no penalty.

Pretty easy to calculate, though. If you pull about 170 kWh / month from the grid during super-off-peak, EV-TOU5 is cheaper, assuming that you are a net consumer of electricity.

 

[Frankman60]

Thanks gilscales and Dave EV. It seems that the SDGE comparison tool just recalculates my usage over the past year using the different rate plans. I’m thinking that the savings would even be more if I can now shift some consumption to Super Off Peak from other periods. For example, I always run my dishwasher after dinner around 9 PM. If I set it to run at 12:00 AM there would be even greater savings with the 9 cent per kWh rate.

 

[Dave EV]

I’m thinking that the savings would even be more if I can now shift some consumption to Super Off Peak from other periods. For example, I always run my dishwasher after dinner around 9 PM. If I set it to run at 12:00 AM there would be even greater savings with the 9 cent per kWh rate.

Absolutely - the more you can shift loads to super-off-peak, the more money you can save.

 

[rebirth24]

Sorry to bring back a seemingly DEAD thread, but I was wondering what the thoughts are on EV-TOU-2 vs. EV-TOU-5 when you HAVE Solar? I mean I work from home so I can charge during "Generation Hours" and I am wondering if it is worth paying the extra $16 and charging during Super Off Peak ($.09/kwH) or just charging in the middle of the day when I am at my peak generation and sticking with TOU-2 (No fee)?

Side Question - I believe as Solar users we have a minimum $10 a month charge. Does anyone know if the the $16 for TOU-5 counts towards that minimum charge?

 

[Frankman60]

If you log into your SDG&E account there is a tool that will calculate your electricity bill using the different rate plans using historical usage data. So as long as you plan to continue your historical usage into the future, it should be accurate. I have solar and the tool calculated significant savings switching from EV-TOU2 to EV-TOU5.

 

[Dave EV]

If you log into your SDG&E account there is a tool that will calculate your electricity bill using the different rate plans using historical usage data. So as long as you plan to continue your historical usage into the future, it should be accurate. I have solar and the tool calculated significant savings switching from EV-TOU2 to EV-TOU5.

Yep, same here, EV-TOU5 is far better for me than EV-TOU2 and the online calculator works well. If your solar doesn't cover all your electricity usage, EV-TOU5 is likely to be significantly better than EV-TOU2. If your solar system does offset all your energy usage, then the decision can be harder to make.