Starting out the new year with some great positive news, at least for me. I have two PV solar systems...one on my house installed in late 2014, and one on the rental, installed in the middle of 2018. This year's generation results are very nice:
My house: initial investment in 2014 was $14,000 after the solar tax credit.
This past year (2019) it generated 4,346KWH of electricity. At the average cost of $0.28/KWH that PG&E charges, I saved $1,217 dollars. This equates to an 11.5% return this past year on my original investment. Or for those still stuck on not really understanding what that really means, an 8.7 year pay back before my investment pays for itself.
My rental: initial investment in 2018 was $6,000 after the solar tax credit.
This past year (2019) it generated 3,952KWH of electricity. At the average cost of $0.28/KWH that PG&E charges. I saved $1,107 dollars. This equates to an 18.5% return this past year on my investment. Or for those still stuck on not really understanding what that really means, a 5.4 year pay back before my investment pays for itself.
An analysis of all this shows that many things have changed in the very recent years. PG&E is in bankruptcy. Everything leading up to that caused the price of electricity they charge to skyrocket. Ten years ago, the retail price for residential was about $0.14/KWH. Mismanagement, political ploys, cost of earlier long-term renewable contracts, ongoing issues with the Diablo Canyon nuclear units, the decommissioning of the Humboldt Bay nuke, and all the changes in energy policy with coal, fossil fuels, etc. on a national level have contributed to this higher cost. Rates are expected to go up another 3.7% soon, and whatever happens to PG&E in the future will not likely bring rates down. Good news for me!!! Good news, that all this is forcing a rethinking, restructuring, etc. in the electricity markets not only in California, but throughout the nation and the world. Good news down the line for consumers and ratepayers; bad news for the corporate bottom line, where PG&E is currently guaranteed a 10.7% profit margin (they recently wanted to raise that to 16.5% so they could "entice" investors and pay their executives more). All this is going to change in the coming year. I still can hear one of the managers at the Humboldt nuke spouting off about those "damn solar subsidies!"
The second major point is that all the costs of solar, and all renewables, are continuing to decline to where today, they are the cheapest way to generate electricity. Cheaper that oil, coal, nuclear, and rapidly approaching natural gas. And if we look at the true price, it is more than just dollars and cents, but now includes CO2, emissions and all the other wastes from the various fuel chains. The major impediments remain..politics, big money from the fossil fuel industries, disinformation and lies, and of course the need for electricity storage. More on that later...big things happening on many fronts, and I am thrilled that Hydrogen (H2) is finally appearing more and more in the energy technology domain.
All of this is so complex and ongoing; but my main point right now is that I just saved a lot of money (tax-free), saved a bunch of emissions from going into the atmosphere, and have done my tiny little bit to support the solar industry and the imminent New Green Energy Deal! Beats having my money in a 1.5% savings account or CD, or depending on a (it was 3.8%, taxable) dividend from PG&E. And, no maintenance fees or costs, other than hosing down the panels a couple of times a year. But then again, the cost of water is going up!
Let the sun shine!!!!!!!!!
My house: initial investment in 2014 was $14,000 after the solar tax credit.
This past year (2019) it generated 4,346KWH of electricity. At the average cost of $0.28/KWH that PG&E charges, I saved $1,217 dollars. This equates to an 11.5% return this past year on my original investment. Or for those still stuck on not really understanding what that really means, an 8.7 year pay back before my investment pays for itself.
My rental: initial investment in 2018 was $6,000 after the solar tax credit.
This past year (2019) it generated 3,952KWH of electricity. At the average cost of $0.28/KWH that PG&E charges. I saved $1,107 dollars. This equates to an 18.5% return this past year on my investment. Or for those still stuck on not really understanding what that really means, a 5.4 year pay back before my investment pays for itself.
An analysis of all this shows that many things have changed in the very recent years. PG&E is in bankruptcy. Everything leading up to that caused the price of electricity they charge to skyrocket. Ten years ago, the retail price for residential was about $0.14/KWH. Mismanagement, political ploys, cost of earlier long-term renewable contracts, ongoing issues with the Diablo Canyon nuclear units, the decommissioning of the Humboldt Bay nuke, and all the changes in energy policy with coal, fossil fuels, etc. on a national level have contributed to this higher cost. Rates are expected to go up another 3.7% soon, and whatever happens to PG&E in the future will not likely bring rates down. Good news for me!!! Good news, that all this is forcing a rethinking, restructuring, etc. in the electricity markets not only in California, but throughout the nation and the world. Good news down the line for consumers and ratepayers; bad news for the corporate bottom line, where PG&E is currently guaranteed a 10.7% profit margin (they recently wanted to raise that to 16.5% so they could "entice" investors and pay their executives more). All this is going to change in the coming year. I still can hear one of the managers at the Humboldt nuke spouting off about those "damn solar subsidies!"
The second major point is that all the costs of solar, and all renewables, are continuing to decline to where today, they are the cheapest way to generate electricity. Cheaper that oil, coal, nuclear, and rapidly approaching natural gas. And if we look at the true price, it is more than just dollars and cents, but now includes CO2, emissions and all the other wastes from the various fuel chains. The major impediments remain..politics, big money from the fossil fuel industries, disinformation and lies, and of course the need for electricity storage. More on that later...big things happening on many fronts, and I am thrilled that Hydrogen (H2) is finally appearing more and more in the energy technology domain.
All of this is so complex and ongoing; but my main point right now is that I just saved a lot of money (tax-free), saved a bunch of emissions from going into the atmosphere, and have done my tiny little bit to support the solar industry and the imminent New Green Energy Deal! Beats having my money in a 1.5% savings account or CD, or depending on a (it was 3.8%, taxable) dividend from PG&E. And, no maintenance fees or costs, other than hosing down the panels a couple of times a year. But then again, the cost of water is going up!
Let the sun shine!!!!!!!!!
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