"All Things JJ"

System Expectations

Our Electrical Usage:

According to SDG&E, our home used an average of 984kWh per month over the past 2 years. During that period, we had major home-improvement projects going on, and regular incandescent lighting. I estimate that we can reduce our bill by at LEAST 10% by changing out lighting to CFL's, and having the major interior construction finished, etc. This would bring us down to around 880-890kWh/month average.

As we get each complete month of solar generation behind us, I will post the results and compare to the electric bill, estimated charges vs. saving as well as comparison to last year's monthly bill.

Our Solar Output:

Our solar produced 11,305kWh for the year in 2010. We used 900kWh more than we generated over the year, but we ALSO installed central air conditioning and used it quite a bit over the summer.

The 900kWh that we used generated a bill for $149.54 for THE ENTIRE YEAR. Not too bad, if you ask me. At first, we were generating such a surplus of energy that we actually quit trying to conserve. This year we'll try and manage a fine line between regular usage and conservation and see where that gets us.

Our bill averaged $12.46/month or $.41/day. That is down from around $200/month or $6.58/day. Quite a change!

Up next is my taxes. We shall see if the rebates I expect to see actually occur. I will adjust the final numbers for system cost vs. tax rebates etc. as soon as the taxes are complete.

Don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions.