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SCE bill with solar - help me understand

Big B Hova

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I assumed a fucked up solar lease with my new to me house.

Sunrun solar payment in "year 6 of 20" $165 month.

Sce bill has 2 different amounts

$180 and change charge from sce that is part of net metering plan that is squared up once a year. From what I understand this is the power delivery charge?

And $74 to clean power alliance who apparently I buy power from according to sce. From what I understand this is the power I bought the solar didn't cover last month.

I'm no solar expert but it looks like my system put out 143 kwh and according to my sunpower contract it has a power generation guarantee that when I divide it by 12 months it should be putting out aprox 3 times that amount.

Anyone know how to decipher this shit?
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mjc

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Yes you made 143 and used 1046. How many panels are up there‽ do you havecsite to look at your panel status?
 

Gonefishin5555

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So pay $76 now and $180 added to the annual bill that is paid later PLUS $165 to the solar company? I'd default on those crooks and tell them to come get their shit the fuck off my roof. Would they really sue you after ripping you off that bad? The system doesn't even work but I really don't know.
 

Done-it-again

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Solar now going on 5yrs or so and still can’t really figure out the sce bill. I stopped looking at it.
 

Ace in the Hole

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find a tree and give it a hug😂

In well over a decade in solar/renewables...I've had one customer ever who did it because he was a treehugger...I remember his full name, and the project..he was a pain the ass. The rest were either financial/anti-gov reasons. Random but factual.
 

TPC

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Every solar system in our neighborhood is in expensive dispute of some sort except one where the neighbor installed it himself.
Next door neighbor is a lineman and was toe to toe with the solar company rep last night. F-ups too numerous to list. Unless you saw it you'd not believe it. Fists about to fly.
Most the disputes are about money and broken promises and few have shoddy incorrect installation of several sorts in addition. Read that: In addition.

The dispute involves several different parties: The selling company, the separate mfg company, the separate installation company, the separate finance company, and Edison.

It's going to be the next timeshare liquidation scandal.
 

Sleek-Jet

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In well over a decade in solar/renewables...I've had one customer ever who did it because he was a treehugger...I remember his full name, and the project..he was a pain the ass. The rest were either financial/anti-gov reasons. Random but factual.

I can vouch for that. I've had a few crunchy residents put up panels, but almost all are trying to avoid paying a power bill to me or seeking energy independence.
 

Sleek-Jet

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Do you all have two meters on your solar units?

Looking at the bill, it shows a "net" generation. Guessing that is the amount of energy sent back to the grid. If so, the system is producing more than that but you are using the energy before it makes it to the meter.
 

azsunfun

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I can vouch for that. I've had a few crunchy residents put up panels, but almost all are trying to avoid paying a power bill to me or seeking energy independence.
agree with both of you, these home owners were looking for free power 10 years to soon with generacs new battery system i would now consider ground mounted solor
( for cleaning panels) in his case bought the home with existing lease.
 

OldSchoolBoats

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Bought my 3kw solar system in cash and my 12 month net used to be about $600 - $700. It doubled last year due to TOU and looks like it is trending the same way this year too or even higher as we are only on month 7 :mad::mad:

I guess paying an average of $150/month for electricity isn't that bad though. We have over 3k square feet, 2 A/C units and kids that leave every freaking light on ALL...THE....TIME.

After the tax credit, my system only cost $5k out of pocket. I wanted to add on to it, but after talking to Andy about it, they don't make the panels anymore so none of the new stuff is compatible with my system. I would basically have to start over from scratch and it doesn't pencil out.


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Ace in the Hole

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I assumed a fucked up solar lease with my new to me house.

Sunrun solar payment in "year 6 of 20" $165 month.

Sce bill has 2 different amounts

$180 and change charge from sce that is part of net metering plan that is squared up once a year. From what I understand this is the power delivery charge?

And $74 to clean power alliance who apparently I buy power from according to sce. From what I understand this is the power I bought the solar didn't cover last month.

I'm no solar expert but it looks like my system put out 143 kwh and according to my sunpower contract it has a power generation guarantee that when I divide it by 12 months it should be putting out aprox 3 times that amount.

Anyone know how to decipher this shit?


You exported 143 kWh that you didn't use immediately as it was generated. You imported 1046kWh. To really know what's going on you need to know what the system actually produced during that time which is not listed. Since you have Sunpower you should have an app that you can go into and get this data. Do that and paste the screenshot for the same time period.
 

Big B Hova

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You exported 143 kWh that you didn't use immediately as it was generated. You imported 1046kWh. To really know what's going on you need to know what the system actually produced during that time which is not listed. Since you have Sunpower you should have an app that you can go into and get this data. Do that and paste the screenshot for the same time period.
I need to call sunpower as the app doesn't recognize me as a customer.


Quick question...
With a pool pump what is the best time to run so it is using solar energy as much as possible? Right now it's running noon - 6pm
 

Ace in the Hole

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I need to call sunpower as the app doesn't recognize me as a customer.


Quick question...
With a pool pump what is the best time to run so it is using solar energy as much as possible? Right now it's running noon - 6pm

Once you get that info from Sunpower and can get into the app post up and that will show the rest of the story. Set the pool pump back a couple hours...you are likely pulling grid power for it at the tail end of its run time.
 

Done-it-again

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I need to call sunpower as the app doesn't recognize me as a customer.


Quick question...
With a pool pump what is the best time to run so it is using solar energy as much as possible? Right now it's running noon - 6pm

I believe the issue is that your system is not producing the power unless you only have 6-8 panels. So i would run it at night when power is cheaper, perhaps change it out for a dual speed pump.
 

Done-it-again

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I like your bill better

So far 2 months in I owe at the end of the year. Haven't had this issue yet, but its been a hot/humid summer and I have been cranking down the AC to 72 and night. But if I have 100-300 bill at the end of the year that's ok. Haven't owed yet, but trying to make it 0 (nothing back, nothing owed)
 

MCnParker

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We had @BasilHayden install solar at our house almost 5 years ago now and we purchased them with loan that his company helped us secure, he could definitely give you some pointers. The one thing I see in the bill that he had us do is change our rate type to the following : TOU-D-T , your rate shows as : Domestic (SCE).

I do not know if this would help you with Sunpower in the middle, but it helped us get more $$ for the peak hours of production. Hopefully he will chime in, however you might want to start calling SCE and see what rate plans you can get that would help. You appear to be on a standard plan...PM me if you want to discuss in more detail.
 

Big B Hova

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I believe the issue is that your system is not producing the power unless you only have 6-8 panels. So i would run it at night when power is cheaper, perhaps change it out for a dual speed pump.
14 panels. I do know the panels are pretty dirty. I need to buy a telescopic pole to make a cleaning tool for them. I will post up the screen shot once I get access
 

Big B Hova

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So far 2 months in I owe at the end of the year. Haven't had this issue yet, but its been a hot/humid summer and I have been cranking down the AC to 72 and night. But if I have 100-300 bill at the end of the year that's ok. Haven't owed yet, but trying to make it 0 (nothing back, nothing owed)
I'm just curious why I have to buy power from clean power alliance? The delivery charges for sce is more than the power charge from clean alliance
 

Done-it-again

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14 panels. I do know the panels are pretty dirty. I need to buy a telescopic pole to make a cleaning tool for them. I will post up the screen shot once I get access

Clean them and see what they produce. How old is the system? Micro inverters? Need to find the watts per panel and see if they are all working. I have as suspicion they are not.
 

OldSchoolBoats

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14 panels. I do know the panels are pretty dirty. I need to buy a telescopic pole to make a cleaning tool for them. I will post up the screen shot once I get access

I have a panel cleaning company come out every 6 months. Also had them install chicken wire around the panels as pigeons were making nests underneath them.

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RCDave

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I'm just curious why I have to buy power from clean power alliance? The delivery charges for sce is more than the power charge from clean alliance
You dont have to. Its all an effort to increase your rates without you knowing. A few years ago, paperwork came to each ventura co home. Unless you opt out of clean power alliance BS, you have to pay higher rates.....
 

Done-it-again

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I'm just curious why I have to buy power from clean power alliance? The delivery charges for sce is more than the power charge from clean alliance

Cant help on that, not sure. Its probably due to the lease agreement when the system was contacted. The leasing company got all the credits and you need to buy the power from them, Edison is still going to charge you a connection fee.
 

azsunfun

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14 panels. I do know the panels are pretty dirty. I need to buy a telescopic pole to make a cleaning tool for them. I will post up the screen shot once I get access
not sure on this but i believe 1/10th of dust reduces output by .5%
 

Ace in the Hole

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I believe the issue is that your system is not producing the power unless you only have 6-8 panels. So i would run it at night when power is cheaper, perhaps change it out for a dual speed pump.

He is in all likelihood producing more than 143 kWh, he is consuming it as its produced which won't have it listed on the export meter. Once he has the app data for the actual system he can see what it's truly producing and compare. If its truly on 143 the system has issues.
 

CLdrinker

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Solar is easy to figure out.

Anything sold by knocking on your door is a no.

Just get a job with SCE and get a discount that way.
If you can’t beat them join them lol.
 

TCHB

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At SCE their was always complaints about billing. The more complaints the more complicated they made it. Kind of like medical billing.
 

Done-it-again

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He is in all likelihood producing more than 143 kWh, he is consuming it as its produced which won't have it listed on the export meter. Once he has the app data for the actual system he can see what it's truly producing and compare. If its truly on 143 the system has issues.

I see, i said before I stopped looking cause its hard to understand. I though it was what you produced listed on the bill so I just looked what my solar produced in August and it was 1.0mwh.
 

Ace in the Hole

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I see, i said before I stopped looking cause its hard to understand. I though it was what you produced listed on the bill so I just looked what my solar produced in August and it was 1.0mwh.

IDK for sure in CA..but if you do it on your house in TX what shows on the bill will differ based on how the system was setup and where the tie in takes place which makes it confusing for people to compare. If you guys wind up doing a system on the place you are building touch base with me and I'll give you the number of the installer I'd go with and prevent you from paying out any sales comms etc.
 

RVRKID

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I’ve been damn happy with my lease and they came out and put the bird protection around it for free. My bill during summer months were around $450 and no pool and never below 72. With solar this is what I show and my air is at 69 every night. Payment to Tesla was around $220 last month, which is my most expensive month.
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Ziggy

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IDK for sure in CA..but if you do it on your house in TX what shows on the bill will differ based on how the system was setup and where the tie in takes place which makes it confusing for people to compare. If you guys wind up doing a system on the place you are building touch base with me and I'll give you the number of the installer I'd go with and prevent you from paying out any sales comms etc.
How many are going fully off-grid?
I'd personally want to be rid of any association with the power companies if feasible.
 

Done-it-again

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How many are going fully off-grid?
I'd personally want to be rid of any association with the power companies if feasible.

you still will pay a connection fee to the power company.
 

Ace in the Hole

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How many are going fully off-grid?
I'd personally want to be rid of any association with the power companies if feasible.

Unless you previously had the property off grid..its not going to happen. There was a court case years ago that settled that in FL

In very few areas battery systems will pencil out...SoCal, Hawaii, and Alaska (parts) as a good investment. That's about as independent as you will get.

If a utility has a great net metering agreement (which is getting rarer by the day..I used to tell people back in like 2010-2013 that do it now or you will regret it) as in 1:1 the utility will short you in some way.

Even if you were able to store or use net metering to have a net zero..you will still pay some level of cost to the utility. I DO NOT recommend batteries in 95% of cases unless your net metering policy is crap..It's all a math problem in the end...it either pencils or it won't.

I have done stand alone systems...its a different ball game.
 

Echo Lodge

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Andy says once solar users lose the ability to sell back their overproduction, it will be time to get batteries. I still have 15 years of my 20 year net metering agreement to go with SCE. Unless the big 3 figure out away to legislate my agreement away, I should be good.
 

Echo Lodge

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If a utility has a great net metering agreement (which is getting rarer by the day..I used to tell people back in like 2010-2013 that do it now or you will regret it) as in 1:1 the utility will short you in some way.

Even if you were able to store or use net metering to have a net zero..you will still pay some level of cost to the utility. I DO NOT recommend batteries in 95% of cases unless your net metering policy is crap..It's all a math problem in the end...it either pencils or it won't.

Exactly why I pulled the trigger with Palomar Solar when I did. Andy was able to get my system installed before NET 1.0 was over. I pay 10 bucks a month to be connected to the grid but my overproduction pays that. So no SCE bills since my system was installed.
 

Big B Hova

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Here is the month of June. July and August the monitor was unplugged so no data apparently.

I did find out I can opt out of clean power alliance. In that process now.
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Big B Hova

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So... in theory I should try to use most energy during the middle of the day when solar panels are generating the most energy?

Example. Run the a/c and pool pump early?
 

Ace in the Hole

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So... in theory I should try to use most energy during the middle of the day when solar panels are generating the most energy?

Example. Run the a/c and pool pump early?

If you are exporting excess...yes. in theory.
 

Roaddawg

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We had @BasilHayden install solar at our house almost 5 years ago now and we purchased them with loan that his company helped us secure, he could definitely give you some pointers. The one thing I see in the bill that he had us do is change our rate type to the following : TOU-D-T , your rate shows as : Domestic (SCE).

I do not know if this would help you with Sunpower in the middle, but it helped us get more $$ for the peak hours of production. Hopefully he will chime in, however you might want to start calling SCE and see what rate plans you can get that would help. You appear to be on a standard plan...PM me if you want to discuss in more detail.

The TOU-D-T is not an option anymore. As far as I understand if you have that plan now SCE is going to make you change it by the end of the year. If you look at the fine print on the back of page 4 of your bill it says you will be automatically transitioned to a designated TOU rate plan in December.
 
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