CA RESIDENTS: I am seeking advice. NEM 2/3? EV CHARGING? OFFGRID? ETC

[Hedges]

Good point. You can add battery to existing NEM 2.0
Not sure if there are wattage limits, previously I thought I saw battery inverter up to 2x PV inverter? So the EG4 "12kbat" could be acceptable for minimum 6kW GT PV.

You may be allowed the choice between charging from PV only and later discharging into grid, or charging from grid and later discharging only for loads.

Under NEM 2.0, Peak used to be 2x Off Peak, I think, so some value to time-shifting exports. (NEM 3.0, dramatic value). But if $0.15 added to all times, same dollar but smaller percentage difference.

Do we know yet if OP wants to charge night time or day time?
Using battery to shift time when power is drawn from the grid would only be beneficial if he insists on charging during peak time of use (4:00 PM to 9:00 PM?) Easy to avoid.
What good can a battery possibly do for him? (Unless it is to make an offgrid system, so he can add PV without losing NEM 2.0 status of existing system.)

 

[Ampster]

IE NEM 3.0 is doing what it should, force people to think how/when they are using energy.

I thought TOU rates would do that but so far they appear to have little effect judging by no change in the neck of the duck curve. Maybe the severe pricing of NEM3 will finally do that.

 

[zanydroid]

Not sure if there are wattage limits, previously I thought I saw battery inverter up to 2x PV inverter? So the EG4 "12kbat" could be acceptable for minimum 6kW GT PV.

The NEM+Storage wattage rules in PG&E Rule21 require a master's degree or PhD in Energy Policy to understand /s

You can basically install anything CEC approved but it comes with different kinds of baggage about how you can export from it.

 

[Ampster]

Do we know yet if OP wants to charge night time or day time?

He implied a 40 mile commute so I assumed he could only charge at night. I was not able to discern if he had set his Tesla to charge at off peak.

 

[Hedges]

I thought TOU rates would do that but so far they appear to have little effect judging by no change in the neck of the duck curve. Maybe the severe pricing of NEM3 will finally do that.

TOU remains optional for customers not on NEM.

NEM3 will only apply to the "rich" people who install PV. And adoption has slowed.
No impact on consumer-only customers.

Off-peak rates were just increased $0.15/kWh?
How about decreasing by that much instead. Make it $0.10/kWh 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, raise the duck's back so available PV doesn't go to waste.

He implied a 40 mile commute so I assumed he could only charge at night. I was not able to discern if he had set his Tesla to charge at off peak.

Should certainly tell it not to start charging before Midnight.

AC coupled battery won't help that at all. Only useful to provide off-peak power during on-peak times, so good to save PV from around Noon and export during peak for larger credit.

Or, use a battery to absorb added PV, an off-grid system, and use that to charge car at night. If battery drained, transfer-switch back to grid. Not grid-tied at all.

1. Another option is teaming up with Vivit. They've proposed installing a 30kW battery system and more solar panels for around $50,000 or more. However, this would switch me to NEM 3.0.

for $50k, buy another Tesla.
Leave one at home to charge from an off-grid PV system with minimal battery. Switch between Level-1 and Level-2 depending on SoC.
Drive the other.

 

[zanydroid]

For $50k, buy another Tesla.
Leave one at home to charge from an off-grid PV system with minimal battery. Switch between Level-1 and Level-2 depending on SoC.
Drive the other.

Even better. Buy a used Bolt. Pocket the other $30K

 

[Ampster]

for $50k, buy another Tesla.

That is a novel idea.

 

[740GLE]

Elon could use all the help he can get these days.

 

[noy897]

Might as well just get 1-2 6000XP on a cart with the cheapest SS batteries and the cheapest used panels instead of paying for the markup from a Discount Apple wannabe like DeltaPro.

Production goes down a lot with any kind of shading, so laying them on the backyard may have issues. And there are setback requirements, I can't remember whether they're state wide or only my AHJ. Setback requirements basically mean a 6000 sq ft lot can barely fit any ground mounts.

I will look into this. I just got the final bill for my solar upgrade. Its almost 80K from the total financing! 400+ dollars for 25 years. I may not even have the car for that long. I dont think im going to move forward with upgrading my existing solar. I have to do something DYI. I found the 6000XP can you give me an example of an SS battery?

 

[noy897]

Do it on a trailer. Then it's easier to move, and you'll be able to transport everything far more easily. You can get a used trailer for a few hundred $$.

I was looking at this. This is a great idea. Are the trailer have enough surface area to mount over 5+ kwh solar panels? This is also a great move since i can avoid the permits and stuff. However, If i did get a trailer it will be park outside on the side of my house. Im assuming the battery will be enclosed in the trailer locked. I saw something like this but there are many things I do not need that is included with it.

 

[740GLE]

I will look into this. I just got the final bill for my solar upgrade. Its almost 80K from the total financing! 400+ dollars for 25 years. I may not even have the car for that long. I dont think im going to move forward with upgrading my existing solar. I have to do something DYI. I found the 6000XP can you give me an example of an SS battery?

You can always get more than one quote right?

I wonder how many people they get with estimate like that.

 

[noy897]

Good point. You can add battery to existing NEM 2.0
Not sure if there are wattage limits, previously I thought I saw battery inverter up to 2x PV inverter? So the EG4 "12kbat" could be acceptable for minimum 6kW GT PV.

You may be allowed the choice between charging from PV only and later discharging into grid, or charging from grid and later discharging only for loads.

Under NEM 2.0, Peak used to be 2x Off Peak, I think, so some value to time-shifting exports. (NEM 3.0, dramatic value). But if $0.15 added to all times, same dollar but smaller percentage difference.

Do we know yet if OP wants to charge night time or day time?
Using battery to shift time when power is drawn from the grid would only be beneficial if he insists on charging during peak time of use (4:00 PM to 9:00 PM?) Easy to avoid.
What good can a battery possibly do for him? (Unless it is to make an offgrid system, so he can add PV without losing NEM 2.0 status of existing system.)

I want to charge at night time. I always thought a battery on my existing system that is grid tied does not make any sense in value? So educate me please because may not understanding this. If I add 10KW battery, im essentially paying the grid to charge my battery so where is the savings here? Also, if i let the solar charge the battery, then im not able to sell 10kw back to the grid because it ended up charging the battery? This will only make sense if I added more pv on my roof? Also the peak vs off-peak on my time of use is a 4c difference.

Time-of-Use (Peak Pricing 5-8 p.m. Weekdays) E-TOU-D
-Peak
$0.50/kWh

-Off-Peak
$0.46/kWh




Also, under NEM 2.0, when PGE buys back your excess energy, do they back it back at the same rate they would sell it to you at that time period? Example if its peak time @ .50c/kwh and you exported 1kwh to them they would offer you 50c?

 

[noy897]

You can always get more than one quote right?

I wonder how many people they get with estimate like that.

I'm not going to move forward with it. I realized that 25 years is a long time (duh) and plus, I AM STILL PAYING FOR THE EXISTING PANELS THAT ARE NOW UNDERSIZED. LOL!

However, I realized that it's now much cheaper now to charge at the superchargers local to me. It's only 24c per KW! A bit of inconvenience because it has to be after 11PM but I only have to do it once a week and its < 5 miles from where I stay.

I have been using the supercharger for almost two weeks now and I already see a big difference on my projected daily production/usage showed on the PGE website. I am actually overproducing most of the days now.

 

[noy897]

I will look into this. I just got the final bill for my solar upgrade. Its almost 80K from the total financing! 400+ dollars for 25 years. I may not (EDIT: WILL NOT) have the car for that long. I dont think im going to move forward with upgrading my existing solar. I have to do something DYI. I found the 6000XP can you give me an example of an SS battery?

 

[Hedges]

Battery only makes sense for charging off-peak, discharging on-peak.
That doesn't help for discharging battery to charge car at night.
It could help if charged from PV at Noon (low rates) and discharged into grid at 6:00 PM (high rates). This would earn you more kWh to put in the car at night.

However, if your spread is just $0.05/kWh, battery costs more than that. (I thought spread was greater, at least $0.15, but still too low to make this a good investment. maybe $0.46 peak, $0.28 off-peak, $0.186 spread. Too narrow without long-term contract and a sharp accounting pencil.)



Battery & inverter round-trip efficiency is something between 80% and 93%, so spread needs to be greater than that as well.