So I was staring at the panels today and thought it was worth a minute to reflect. YTD numbers through 8 months...
3300kWh consumed, as indicated on the net meter on the side of the house- this was 0 the day before Christmas.
5600kWh produced, as indicated by the Enlighten app.
So you could add those up to say my total consumption has been about 9000 kWh ytd. Prior to getting solar, our annual usage was 7000kWh for an entire year- so I'm tracking to about double that. They actually sent me a video explaining that my bill has gone up about $55/month, and that I should consider upgrading my refrigerator.
Our power bill (electric & gas) is around $85/month now. Before, with the "average monthly payment" program it was $114/month. The difference in usage is that we added an electric car, hot tub, and our AC is set in the 73-75 range, compared to 75-78 in years previous. I am hopeful once AC season ends our power bill will go down a little more, but it still feels like a moving target what we'll actually be charged from Xcel. I have referred 2 people to Project Solar so far, still waiting on my referral check. I've also been asked by numerous people how I like solar, and was it worth it, etc. My big points that are routinely buried in this thread still apply...
1. Super glad I paid cash for the system rather than amortizing it out for 20 years. Just cleaner that way.
2. Definitely bump up your usage for a while before actually applying for a solar permit. As I've stated previously, I totally screwed myself by being frugal with electricity usage, as I could only get approval on 5.4kWh of panels. And Xcel energy actually has no idea how much power your system produces, they will tell you this. So they limit you on the front end, but that's it- I guess unless your meter nets out a negative.
3. And definitely look at the max input of your inverters, as they will become a limiter. in my case with 250w inverters and 320w panels, I clip every single day it's sunny... I estimate I am missing out on about 10% of what I could be producing, had I got better inverters. Kind of a guess, you just have to draw in the rest of the bell curve and decide how much got lopped off... here's yesterday for example:
And I think my last point is to not get too hung up on the numbers. I have faith that my bill's lower than it would have been without solar, I'm good with the slightly higher mortgage payment as a result of the refi that bought the system (and the hot tub) and life's too short to argue with Xcel Energy all the time. somewhere in our monthly budget there's $50 of gas we're not buying, and I seem to stand with the fridge door open for longer now, and kinda don't care so much about what lights are left on. Other than that, life is still about the same.