Bass Ackwards? I'm probably going to dump my Leaf because I'm getting Solar

I've run into a situation I didn't foresee. When I leased this car solar was always something I was considering but immediately when I got it the local utility offered to put me on a pilot program for a time-of-use meter they installed for free specifically for the EV at experimental rates. About 3 years ago I was paying $0.07/kWh to charge the car at super off-peak hours. It was a great deal and I held off on the solar because our electrical usage just really wasn't that high on the house. Fast forward to now and any experimentation the utility was curious about is long gone and the super-off-peak rate on the Time of Use EV meter is equal to the first tier rate of the house: about $0.17/kWh and only going up. Solar now makes sense and I'm going to be financing a system.

The orientation of my house makes best use of the sun with the panels on the front, but we have a large oak tree we planted when we moved in that shades that portion of the roof considerably, halving the roof real estate available for panels. The plan is to mount them on the backside of the roof at the moment and tilt them to the correct orientation but we can only fit so many panels in that way, creating just enough production to not cover the Leaf's usage.

Messing with the tree isn't an option. It provides much needed shade when it's warm to a lot of glazing, reducing our cooling load on the house considerably. And we love it.

It's bittersweet. I had been considering turning it in when my lease is up in March for something with more range and some freakin bluetooth audio streaming. At this point I think I may go back to a hybrid. I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts I may not have considered.

2013 "S" Type. 25k miles. Charged to 100% every night. Just got new Ecopia's on it a couple months ago...

Makes no sense to me. One doesn't appear to have anything to do with the other. Getting solar doesn't change the cost of electricity for your LEAF. Plus if you go TOU2 and do your charging in super-off peak, the savings will likely be more than the LEAF's usage.

PlutoISaPlanet said:

... and some freakin bluetooth audio streaming

Click to expand...

There are inexpensive bluetooth adapters available that plug into a 3.5mm audio jack. I assume your car has an aux-in jack?

There are many reasons you might want to dump your leaf. Getting solar is not one of them.

You might want to consider a ground based setup. Also, what does the tree being in the way have to do with your Leaf?

You may want to completely reconsider your logic points, they don't seem to relate or make much sense based on the facts stated. Also, you new rate is still so low compared to what many pay. You either want an EV or not, the rest of it is moot.

Yeah I don't get the logic either. 25k miles in 34 months means you're only putting about 750 miles per month on the car. Assuming your "fuel economy" is 4 miles/kWH, you use up 187.5 kWH every month, which at the new rate is less than $32/month in electricity if I did the math right. Hardly my idea of "expensive" especially since a 50 MPG hybrid will cost you $41.25/month in fuel if gas remains at $2.75/gal (currently the average price for regular in the San Diego area per GasBuddy.com), and who knows how long it will remain that low.

You have to put the panels in a less than perfect part of the roof because of your tree. Then you have to tilt them to make up for their placement. Pardon the pun but you have a so-so solar case.

Many of us are in the same boat, due to physical factors of location, direction and trees, and in my case a city with a complicated, rigid and expensive permitting process.

It is not a crime to keep using power from the utilities, though it is more expensive and gas is cheaper than last year. I like EV's so I will keep using them.

I would say to cut out some other expensive hemorrhage in your life and do the solar AND keep your use a total electric car. Review your budget to cut out the unnecessary and give yourself a win, win, win!