S. Saving With Solar

Just over a year ago we went solar.  SolarCity came and installed our system for free. Now that we have had panels for a year, I think it’s time for an update.  I compared our electric costs for the past two years (one year without solar, one year with), and amazingly, we have already saved at least $1200.

A good deal, right?

How do the savings work?

Here’s a snapshot of yesterday’s production and usage:

The orange is our usage (can you tell when I did laundry?) and the green is our production.  As you can see, we are producing more energy than we use, and it is only April.  Production will be soaring in the summer months.

Last year we bought back about 67% of our electricity from SolarCity for a reduced rate.  The remaining electricity we bought from our regular supplier, National Grid.  The extra energy we produced in the summer gave us credit towards our National Grid electric bill in the winter months.  With >100% production in the summer months and our saved credits, we only had to pay a National Grid bill four months last year.

Why don’t we have free electricity, you ask?

If we bought and owned our own solar panels, then we could produce our electricity for free.  However, we couldn’t buy solar panels outright.  Instead, SolarCity owns them and installed them for free.  We just provide the roof  (but it’s a big roof!)  In return, we agreed to buy our electricity from SolarCity for the next 20 years, albeit at a reduced, fixed rate.

If the 20 years doesn’t scare you off, it’s really a win-win:  you save money and the earth.  And that makes me feel good about my kids’ futures.

I love saving with solar!

Blogging my way from A to Z as part of the 2016 April A to Z Challenge.  Come blog through the alphabet with me.