Solar with Sunrun

[barkley]

THIS is why with I went with a PPA instead of leasing the system or buying it.
With a PPA I paid nothing for the system. I am obligated to pay for all the power the system generates whether I use it or not, at rates specified in my agreement, all below the utilities rates. Surplus is sold to my utility, for less than I paid for it, but it still adds up.


Bottom line, I figure I save $25 to $30 a month on average. My December utility bill was $195 and my Solar generation bill was $35. My neighbor with the same floor plan and all electric paid $275 last month, and my neighbor with a slightly smaller house (about 200 square feet) but with natural gas heating paid $400 for electricity and natural gas combined last month. We have a lot of electric only subdivisions here because our electric rates are so much better than natural gas.

I'm guessing you are under SMUD vs PG&E?

 

[tvguy]

So I am clear. You don't pay ANYTHING for the actual solar, ever? You then pay the solar company (or investor) for anything the system produces. You DO NOT have to pay PGE or other utility for the power you use because you are drawing power from the panels instead. My parents have solar but they still have to pay PGE transmission fees or whatever, I assume you do that as well?

I paid nothing for the equipment. And at the end of the 20 year contract, my obligation to pay for power the system produces is over and I own the equipment. I DO have to pay my local electrical power for power I use from them, There is a $26.29 a month fee for being connected to their system. Looking at my SMUD bills from last year, I paid them more than the $26 in January, February, March, April and December. All other months I only paid $26, so my system in those months produced more power than I used.

 

[tvguy]

I'm guessing you are under SMUD vs PG&E?

Yup. SMUD.

 

[disneychrista]

I paid nothing for the equipment. And at the end of the 20 year contract, my obligation to pay for power the system produces is over and I own the equipment. I DO have to pay my local electrical power for power I use from them, There is a $26.29 a month fee for being connected to their system. Looking at my SMUD bills from last year, I paid them more than the $26 in January, February, March, April and December. All other months I only paid $26, so my system in those months produced more power than I used.

The downside of the cloudy days. No/less sun to produce solar power. Overall are you happy with the solar? Would you do it again if approached today?

I assume Sunrun is very similar to what you have.

 

[tvguy]

The downside of the cloudy days. No/less sun to produce solar power. Overall are you happy with the solar? Would you do it again if approached today?

I assume Sunrun is very similar to what you have.

My daughter talked us into looking at going solar. The PPA seemed pretty risk free. Everything is spelled out in the contract. The entire system design had to be reviewed and approved by my electric provider. A building permit was required, and a County inspection required before turning the system on. 10 1/2 years in, I would say that I would do it again.
I have not needed any service yet. The internet monitoring device on my system got disconnected. They emailed me asking I check it. So they keep an eye on everything remotely. I was told to expect the transformer to need replacement at about 12 years, so we are getting close to that now.
But I went with a major national company, Solar City who got bought out by Tesla a year after my system was installed. I have heard horror stories locally from people who went with small local companies that have since gone out of business. Companies that did now include insurance that would pay for repairs if they did go out of business. A 20 year warranty is useless in that situation. And even finding someone willing to repair a system installed by someone else is hard.
Now, my next door neighbor went a different way. He hired someone to design and install his system. He paid for it all out of pocket, but he has no warranty. He has 17 panels, compared to the 36 I have. He spent $10,000 for everything. But I have no idea how he is making out financially. But his house is 565 square feet bigger than mine, a two story with a pool and they have 4 people living there, where I have just 2. So I suspect his electric usage is much higher than mine.

 

[barkley]

Yup. SMUD.

you are fortunate-the last I heard SMUD's rates are 50% less than PG&E's (though no where near as low as what we pay per kwh-as much as .30 less per kWh 24/7-we don't have the time of day rate structures).

I don't know much about solar in private homes but would caution anyone to check with their individual power provider b/c we have multiple in our region and they all vary greatly on their policies and charges for homes that have solar but will remain hooked up to their power. we've had local news coverage focusing on it over the summer when homeowners were gobsmacked to learn that their monthly connection fee had gone up 365% by virtue of their adding solar to their home (the utility company reported that it was fully disclosed to the company that installed the solar b/c they required permission to install with an interconnection agreement but the homeowners say they were never told by the solar company who said 'oh, we did'nt catch that').

check on your own behalf.

 

[tvguy]

you are fortunate-the last I heard SMUD's rates are 50% less than PG&E's (though no where near as low as what we pay per kwh-as much as .30 less per kWh 24/7-we don't have the time of day rate structures).

I don't know much about solar in private homes but would caution anyone to check with their individual power provider b/c we have multiple in our region and they all vary greatly on their policies and charges for homes that have solar but will remain hooked up to their power. we've had local news coverage focusing on it over the summer when homeowners were gobsmacked to learn that their monthly connection fee had gone up 365% by virtue of their adding solar to their home (the utility company reported that it was fully disclosed to the company that installed the solar b/c they required permission to install with an interconnection agreement but the homeowners say they were never told by the solar company who said 'oh, we did'nt catch that').

check on your own behalf.

We have a publicly owned utility so they operate differently.