• Jack-it Night: April 2024 RS Meeting Hey Guest: Wed. April 3rd is the next Rising Sun meeting, and you won't want to miss it. We're doing our annual offroad recovery equipment demonstration and trail skills training aka "Jack It Night." Meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. (early) Click here for all the details.

Home Solar

nakman

Club Secretary
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
14,548
Location
north side

Jenny Cruiser

Hard Core 4+
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
1,168
Location
North of Hell
I think micro inverters are the way to go. I want to do it all myself, if possible, in conjunction with geothermal. It's going to be a while though.
 

60wag

Rising Sun Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
2,469
I want to have my EV be my home battery backup. Is this home solar or vanlife? :)
 

nakman

Club Secretary
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
14,548
Location
north side
The saga of Xcel energy continues. After they missed their appointment of last Friday, I enlisted Project Solar for an update, as they are the liaison here. Finally got this response from them today:


Hey Tim,

We finally got ahold of them and this is the message they shared:

"The Company is experiencing a temporary shortage of solar net meters due to supply chain issues with meter vendors outside of the Company’s control. However, Public Service is anticipating a shipment of new meters to be delivered during the week of December 6, 2021 and is taking action to reprogram existing meters to function as net meters until the new shipment arrives. Due to this shortage, there may be solar meter install delays beyond the internal timeframe of 20-business days from the meter request date. The Company apologizes for any inconvenience a potential delay may cause its mutual customers."



So I shut off my solar switch.. no doubt I will be paying double for a good portion of November, but at least I can avoid it for December’s bill. And I have 0 confidence I will have a new meter before the end of the year. We should start a pool….
 

rover67

Rising Sun Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2007
Messages
9,291
Location
Boulder, Co
Sounds like it's starting to be as bad as my experience with Xcel. Sorry Tim :(
 

nakman

Club Secretary
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
14,548
Location
north side
Sounds like it's starting to be as bad as my experience with Xcel. Sorry Tim :(
I kinda knew this last part of the process was going to be the worst... based on my own small survey of anyone I have ever run across who has ever purchased solar- 100% negative reviews on Xcel energy. What I was prepared to fight though was my last payment to Project Solar- I still owe them $2k for the install.. but per the contract they don't get paid until I have an approved system and permission to operate, so we wait. They must hate installs in this area... even if they're net30 with the install company they still have to carry that for some amount of time.. they were done 6 weeks ago.
 

Old Man Greybeard

Rock Stacker
Joined
Nov 17, 2021
Messages
43
Location
Firestone, CO
Jumping in here with our $0.02

We got solar in Sept. We went through Sunrun (Costco) and got a really good system for not horribly expensive. I mean, it wasn't free but it's paid off and we get the 25yr monitoring, warranty, etc that comes with a lease to own because we paid the amount to be financed up front.

To finance would have been more than double the system. Plus, we gave them the tax benefit so they can deal with all that crap. Their people know the process so for them it's just paperwork and for us it was almost $10k off the price tag up front.

We built our system to cover 103% of our current monthly average because we have a huge mechanical/storage room that we hope to turn into a 4th br + half bath - room for growth if you will.

Anyhow, we just got our first bill under full solar - $29. The usage for Sept (Oct bill) was $191. There will always be a fee to connect to the grid, you can't get out of that ever. That plus taxes, etc should be the same $29 for the next 25yrs, and longer.

I need to grab my budget numbers and see what we paid month to month the 2 previous years and compare that to $29 to really see what we're saving.

I believe our ROI is 14/15yrs...ish.

The real fun (funner, if you will - it's a word, trust me on this 😂) part will be next June - Sept to see where our "feed the grid" credits roll in to cover those heavy ac months.

Edit: we have United Power in Firestone

Sad story, I guess...the final step was getting the 2 new meters installed: 1 for existing panel and 1 for the Sunrun added panel...anyhow, United Power needed to do that...it took United Power 5 days to get them in whereas we heard horror stories about excel being 1-2 months out for the 5 minute install
 
Last edited:

Romer

RS Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 22, 2005
Messages
10,007
Location
Centennial, Colorado
Sarah's system finished install today and they said it could take up to 6 weeks to get the Net Meter installed and the system. It cant be operational until Xcel does their job

My install starts next week and could go into the following week based on the battery system I am doing and then I guess I will have to wait

At least the last payment is tied to being operational

You are not alone @nakman in waiting. We are right behind you :)
 

DanS

Rising Sun Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Messages
1,437
Location
Dumont
I just paid for a pretty big solar system. 12K inverter, 18.5KWh of Lithium battery storage. I'm pretty glad that all I have to worry about is the electrical inspector, and never have to deal with Xcel or any other utility.

It'll be a while before it gets here, and I'm installing it myself, but when it's all said and done (likely next summer before I get to build the carport/solar array to generate WAY too much energy) I'll have more power than I can shake a stick at, AND charge a couple electric vehicles.

Dan
 

Romer

RS Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 22, 2005
Messages
10,007
Location
Centennial, Colorado
My system is being installed today. They did tell me it can take weeks after its done to be operational waiting for a Net meter and Xcel approval. Think that is what Tim is going through
 

rover67

Rising Sun Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2007
Messages
9,291
Location
Boulder, Co
looks like the rules just changed according to an email from xcel, no more production meters if I am reading it correctly (for systems under 10kw)
 

DaveInDenver

Rising Sun Ham Guru
Joined
Jun 8, 2006
Messages
12,942
Location
Grand Junction
looks like the rules just changed according to an email from xcel, no more production meters if I am reading it correctly (for systems under 10kw)
Not surprising, enrollment in the small scale rewards program (under 25 kW sizes are targeted a total of 12 MW for the program) has been sold out for a while.

Xcel doesn't need any more residential roof generators, they need medium (>25 kW up to 500 kW, 24 MW in the program) and large scale (>500 kW, 26 MW available) uptake at this point.

But I do wonder if they mean revenue grade production meters here. There's been a push the past few years to improve the accuracy of meters. A non-revenue grade might be 2% while revenue grade is considered 0.5% accurate or better.
 
Last edited:

nakman

Club Secretary
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
14,548
Location
north side
Oh sweet, I'm on the priority list!

Hey Tim!

Just an update we called your utility they are estimating for the meter to be set by end of the month depending on if the Dec. 6 shipment goes through.

The good news is that since you were supposed to have the meter set clear back in Oct. that you are on the priority list so you should be one of the first on the list for the meter to be set!

So if I'm reading between the lines correctly these meters are on a shipping container? So subject to all the same port issues as your Beanie Babies and Tickle me Elmos... gonna guess it won't be December 6th. But hey, who had January in the pool? you could be a winner... also if you're keeping track at home I committed to this in May, so going on 7 months now. Was quoted an operational system by August.
 

Romer

RS Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 22, 2005
Messages
10,007
Location
Centennial, Colorado
Oh sweet, I'm on the priority list!



So if I'm reading between the lines correctly these meters are on a shipping container? So subject to all the same port issues as your Beanie Babies and Tickle me Elmos... gonna guess it won't be December 6th. But hey, who had January in the pool? you could be a winner... also if you're keeping track at home I committed to this in May, so going on 7 months now. Was quoted an operational system by August.

I gave them $20 and a tickle me Elmo doll and they moved me ahead of you on the list :)
 

nakman

Club Secretary
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
14,548
Location
north side
:rant:
 

Jenny Cruiser

Hard Core 4+
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
1,168
Location
North of Hell
I just paid for a pretty big solar system. 12K inverter, 18.5KWh of Lithium battery storage. I'm pretty glad that all I have to worry about is the electrical inspector, and never have to deal with Xcel or any other utility.

It'll be a while before it gets here, and I'm installing it myself, but when it's all said and done (likely next summer before I get to build the carport/solar array to generate WAY too much energy) I'll have more power than I can shake a stick at, AND charge a couple electric vehicles.

Dan
Yowza. What are you running with a system that size?
 

DanS

Rising Sun Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Messages
1,437
Location
Dumont
Yowza. What are you running with a system that size?
Everything. ;)

Off grid, so 1 watt too small would be a big deal. The well pump will pull almost all of that to start, and I would like to at least run the welder without having to start a generator. Plus, I'm gone a lot. So I wanted battery storage for at least 4 days before having to load shed, just in case.

Dan
 

Romer

RS Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 22, 2005
Messages
10,007
Location
Centennial, Colorado
My solar system is installed and works, but its off until Xcel can connect it via a Net Meter. I will find out next week about how long that will bee. If the power goes out, I can turn it on and feed off the batteries until Power is restored. I just need to flip the main breaker to disconnect us from the Grid

It was cool when they tested the system and they switched off the power and after a second or two glitch the hole house was on Battery power. The only thing I can't run off of battery is the Oven, Dryer and AC in the summer

It is a 9.9kW system. 27 370 watt panels, and two 16Kw LG batteries for a total of 32kW backup power. A lot of people do one battery and cut down more what can run off of battery, I wanted to be able to live off grid in the event of a long term power outage

what is also cool is I can set the discharge level anywhere from 0-100% and it can feed off the batteries at night while on the grid until it hits that adjustable level. This allows me to send some power back to Xcel and rely on batteries at night instead of the grid

I have been very pleased with Namaste. Sarah has had two house done by them, my cousin did his and now I have had mine and they were great to work with. I would ask for Anna Perry if you want to talk to them

Now just waiting on Xcel for a Net Meter

20211206_152742.jpg
Basement Solar.jpg
 

nakman

Club Secretary
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Aug 23, 2005
Messages
14,548
Location
north side
that is so awesome, Ken... I'm going to be jealous of the batteries, if this was our forever house I'd be thinking hard about doing it sooner. Hopefully they ordered enough meters on this last shipment for yours also, and you don't have to wait on the next shipping container... we're going to bump into CNY pretty soon here also, shipping-wise. :sad:
 
Top