RE: Solos Solar Array production stats – October
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You have significant energy consumption but also benefit from lower energy prices (both gasoline and electric). In my case, I didn’t do much driving in October (194 kWh), and all my energy needs were met at home without any imports on a monthly basis. However, in September, when I needed to travel to HiveFest, my total driving energy consumption was 568 kWh, of which 233 kWh was charged at home.
From November to February, I can’t meet my energy needs entirely on my own. However, I have an arrangement with the grid operator that allows me to use a 'virtual' power bank, where I can retrieve the energy I previously exported to the grid, subject to a 20% fee.
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Nice that you get some of your power production back from the grid provider. The 20% tariff seems a bit high, but I suppose better than nothing at all. Everyone wants their piece of the pie. Here in Florida, we're lucky to get full price back for our production to the grid. They do however limit it I think to 120% of what your "normal" annual usage rates from them are. Not sure I'll hit that cap with the vehicle charging, but maybe when my driving slows down next month.
Here's exactly how it works in my case. Since I installed my PV system a long time ago, the 'old rules' still apply to me. These rules included benefits for early adopters, where the grid acts as a large virtual battery with 80% efficiency (hence the 20% fee). New installations can no longer choose this model. Instead, they must sell their surplus energy at wholesale prices, which are typically very low during peak production periods.
For example, if I have a productive month like September and export 400 kWh to the grid, I can later use that energy (minus the 20% fee, so 320 kWh), and I have up to a year to use it before it expires. This was a great offer because it allows us to build up enough energy to cover weaker months (November to February).
Of course, in the real world, this isn't entirely sustainable, as you can't easily find real energy storage with these characteristics. However, context matters. The energy mix in my country was quite poor at the time, so the grid needed green energy desperately. By offering these perks to early adopters, the grid operators were able to secure that green energy through user investments.
@gtg That is really interesting you can store your power for later through your utility provider. I have never heard of anything like that before. Yeah there is about a 12% loss when converting solar to the batteries and then using it later with lithium ion batteries... even worse with lead acid.. so I can see why the fee is high.
My utility provider will pay pennies on the dollar, and has a weird clause where If I do not produce a "steady" I will get penalized. So its not really worth it to me to deal with my utility company exporting power.