San Diego Leaf Fanatics!

[cbiwww]

does anyone know if it's 10pm or 12am, to start charging your leaf. for best rate ?

If you have the 2nd meter with SDG&E and are part of the EV project, super-off-peak rates run from 12am-5am 7 days a week. Peak rates run between 12pm-8pm and regular off-peak rates are all other times. Summer/winter switchover happens May 1st and Nov 1st.

Any other solar generators out there frustrated to find out that only your first meter can be tied to your solar generation, and you have to pay monthly for what you use on the second meter to charge your Leaf?

Still waiting to find out how much SDGE will have to pay me for over-generation - my true-up was in April, so I still have an 827kwh credit to eventually get paid something for. Hopefully I'll get more or equal to what I have to pay to charge the Leaf on the second meter (~$.08/kwh super-off-peak - the middle of the three arbitrary EV Project rates, I guess).

But that's probably wishful thinking (even though we're mostly generating during peak, when it is most valuable).

 

[DaveEV]

If your PV system covers more than your household use - you're probably better off sticking with a single TOU meter depending on how much you end up charging at home.

 

[cbiwww]

Yes, I'm just waiting to see what the payment for over-generation is (we're supposed to find out soon) before deciding whether to dump the second meter.

I think that would cancel my special EV Project discounted rates - do you happen to know what the super-off-peak rate is on a regular TOU meter? (With everything on one meter, I doubt I'd over-generate.)

 

[DaveEV]

If you went whole-house TOU you'd get the DR-SES (home solar TOU) rate - it's definitely more expensive. But with the amount of on-peak generation you have it will still probably be cheaper overall.

Here's the total rates for DR-SES: http://www.sdge.com/documents/customer/totalrates/5-1-2011/schedule_dr-ses.pdf

Hmm - I wonder if if you go whole-house EV-TOU-2 when you are net metered? The super-off-peak rates are lower and you might get credited for on-peak summer generation better on weekends/holidays.

It's difficult to determine benefits as you need to know when on-peak/super-off-peak are and I can never find that information on the site when I'm looking for it

Edit: Found it:
http://www.sdge.com/nem/nemSolarRates.shtml
http://www.sdge.com/environment/cleantransportation/evRates.shtml

DR-SES:
Summer on-peak: 11am-6pm Mon-Fri: $0.268
Summer semi-peak: 6am-11am, 6pm-10pm Mon-Fri: $0.191
Summer off-peak: 10pm-6am Mon-Fri, weekends and holidays: $0.176
Winter semi-peak: 6am-6pm Mon-Fri: $0.185
Winter off-peak: 6pm-6am Mon-Fri, weekends and holidays: $0.177

EV-TOU:
Summer on-peak: 12pm-8pm daily: $0.289
Summer super-off-peak: 12am-5pm daily: $0.167
Summer off-peak: Everything else: $0.137
Winter on-peak: 12pm-8pm daily: $0.178
Winter super-off-peak: Everything else: $0.170
Winter off-peak: 12am-5pm daily: $0.140

 

[TonyWilliams]

does anyone know if it's 10pm or 12am, to start charging your leaf. for best rate ?

If you're on the tiered rates specifically for EV's from SDG&E, it's 12 midnight to 5am.

 

[cbiwww]

drees, that's great info - thanks so much!

 

[TonyWilliams]

EV-TOU:
Summer on-peak: 12pm-8pm daily: $0.289
Summer super-off-peak: 12am-5pm daily: $0.167
Summer off-peak: Everything else: $0.137
Winter on-peak: 12pm-8pm daily: $0.178
Winter super-off-peak: Everything else: $0.170
Winter off-peak: 12am-5pm daily: $0.140

Aren't there three versions of this rate schedule, an X, Y and Z. I have the 7.7 cent super-off-peak, 12am-5am.

 

[papatonyinsd]

We're starting to look into solar panels for our own home in San Diego - When we had our electrical system massively re-done in our 1918 house, we made sure to prepare for PV AND EV. The huge, additional, rectangular addition that the prior owner installed has a nice, flat, unshaded roof with exactly the proper angle for angled racks of PV panels… Possibly more than we would ever need. I measured about 23 by 23 feet of useable space. We've got 300 days of sunshine average in San Diego per year.

So, what's the best way to go, and who with? What is the current, 2011 status in San Diego (in terms of current laws, benefits, drawbacks), so that we can start making plans? Is there better PV technology on the horizon? I don't want to ask a PV salesperson, because they will want to sell me whatever they have in stock.

We're already using the Blink EVSE, and are very pleased with the rates we're getting from SDG&E. We're in no hurry - we just want to do it right when the day comes.

 

[TonyWilliams]

We're starting to look into solar panels for our own home in San Diego... So, what's the best way to go, and who with? What is the current, 2011 status in San Diego (in terms of current laws, benefits, drawbacks), so that we can start making plans? Is there better PV technology on the horizon?

I spent two years of getting quotes, planning, etc. San Diego is not as good as inland areas for solar, because of status/fog, Gray May and June Gloom.

If you start small, you can always add, which is what I ended up with. With Enphase micro-inverters, I can remove or add individual panels at any time.

The tax benefits won't go on forever, I think, so I think you should "get in the game" sooner, than later.

 

[cbiwww]

papatony, we did a 4kw system on our 1920 house four years ago and have loved every minute of it. As the other Tony said, I think the rebates and tax credits are going down, so you might want to think sooner rather than later.

I've heard that the cost of the collectors has gone down, and starting this year we get compensated for any over-generation (don't know exactly how much yet).

Sorry if this sounds like a sales pitch, but by far our lowest bid was Real Goods Solar (http://www.realgoodssolar.com/local/southern-california/), and since then two friends have shopped around and found the same result. (If you ever end up using them, tell them Craig Bentley sent you and I'll split the referral fee with you!)

 

[mossyleaf]

I'm looking into solar right now. They are pitching their PPA (lease) I just doubt I will be in the house more than a few years 5-7. Any thoughts?

 

[TonyWilliams]

I'm looking into solar right now. They are pitching their PPA (lease) I just doubt I will be in the house more than a few years 5-7. Any thoughts?

Your current house should sell for a premium with solar, so that is a plus with a purchase or lease (are those transferable?).

But, I'm confident you can get better tax breaks and lower overall cost with a purchase. And, you *can* take the expensive parts with you to your next house (it's pretty easy to unbolt/unplug panels, and the big inverter).

The purchase decision truly rests on what that money is worth to you. The same money in 30% "guaranteed" Greek bonds might be smarter for some, and then lease or finance the panels.

 

[DaveEV]

EV-TOU:

Aren't there three versions of this rate schedule, an X, Y and Z. I have the 7.7 cent super-off-peak, 12am-5am.

I'm quoting the original EV-TOU rates, not the EV Project rates. The X rate is similar to the EV-TOU rate.

I'm pretty sure you can't go whole house EV Project rates - but maybe you can. If your PV system generates significantly more than what your house uses you can pretty much rule out going with a 2nd meter if you're looking for the lowest cost unless you can guarantee that you'll get the Y or Z rate and will almost always charge super-off-peak.

 

[OilFreedom]

We're starting to look into solar panels for our own home in San Diego ... So, what's the best way to go, and who with?

Hi papatonyinsd. Good for you! Here is a topic you may find helpful: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=4280. :mrgreen:

 

[OilFreedom]

I'm looking into solar right now. They are pitching their PPA (lease) I just doubt I will be in the house more than a few years 5-7. Any thoughts?

Very nice! Do the math carefully as you consider the options... Many of the PV lease / power buy-back programs are very attractive up-front (and produce nice clean electrons); however, more of the economic value goes to the company doing the deal rather than to the homeowner.

 

[EV2E]

I do not want to sound like a sales person but I put in a 3.29 Kwh system through a lease with Solar City. I opted for a one time payment up front and a twenty year lease. It will pay for my costs in 5 to 6 years. They did everything and all I had to do was write the check!

 

[papatonyinsd]

I'm deeply grateful to eberybody who is responding. This is EXACTLY the sort of feedback that I was hoping for!

 

[lonndoggie]

Encinitas Leaf Fanatics!

There are so many of us on MNL, I sort of assumed that anyone in Encinitas with a LEAF would be on MNL. So when a new red LEAF pulls up in the parking lot by Henry's Market and parks near us, and we start walking towards each other saying things like "Hey, nice car!", my first question was "So...who are you on MyNissanLeaf.com?"

To my shock, neither he or she had heard of it!

But I'm pretty sure they'll be joining us soon. As we talked, they'd bring up lessons learned, all of which had been discussed here. One example: They'd gone down to Balboa Park, expecting to be able to get a charge there--of course, they didn't have a Blink card, so couldn't.

And while I've spotted several LEAFs in Encinitas over the last few weeks, ours was the first they'd seen. I'm sure they'll be spotting more soon.

 

[DaveEV]

But I'm pretty sure they'll be joining us soon. As we talked, they'd bring up lessons learned, all of which had been discussed here. One example: They'd gone down to Balboa Park, expecting to be able to get a charge there--of course, they didn't have a Blink card, so couldn't.

The more the merrier! Hopefully they left with a full charge - should be able to make that trip without any range worries as long as they aren't doing 75+.

As an update to my earlier post in this thread, we took the 82 mile trip from Encinitas to Chula Vista in the LEAF. Full write up in the So, owners what range are you getting? thread, but cliff notes are: Highway at 60-62 mph, 2 hours of trickle and made it back with 13 miles and 2 bars remaining. Would have been very close without the trickle - likely would have kept the return trip at 55 mph to make it with some room.

 

[mossyleaf]

I do not want to sound like a sales person but I put in a 3.29 Kwh system through a lease with Solar City. I opted for a one time payment up front and a twenty year lease. It will pay for my costs in 5 to 6 years. They did everything and all I had to do was write the check!

So the question I have is what happens after the 20 yearsY Do they own the equipment, is there a balloon?