Powerwall 3 system

[watchdoc]

Well, I got my new bill today and my utility company is really screwing me!!!!

October update. Billing dates were 9/23-10/23. My extra string and expansion battery were installed around Oct 4th. System operates very well and I was looking forward to zeroing out my bill.... UNTIL I GOT THE BILL

We used 235kWh @ 10.717 cents
We sold back 406kWh @ 6.033 cents BUT they only gave me credit for selling back 235kWh!!!!!!!

Using their calculation method, I gave away 171kWh!!!!!!

The wording of the plan says as follows.

'The Customer shall receive credit for all Excess Energy supplied to theCommission from the Customer in kilowatt hours (kWh) up to the level of Energy used by the Customer from the Commission in kilowatt hours (kWh) during the current billing period'

The way it was explained to me, I would receive credit for all kWh sold back and be allowed to "zero out" the usage each month. The wording feels ambiguous at best but under their inperpretation, there is no way to zero out your usage. This subtle gotcha ruins my payback calculations. I cannot express how much this makes me HATE my local utility company.

 

[Quattrohead]

The way it was explained to me, I would receive credit for all kWh sold back and be allowed to "zero out" the usage each month. The wording feels ambiguous at best but under their inperpretation, there is no way to zero out your usage. This subtle gotcha ruins my payback calculations. I cannot express how much this makes me HATE my local utility company.

You already know the next step of your plan, don't you?

 

[watchdoc]

You already know the next step of your plan, don't you?

No, please elaborate. I'm currently not thinking straight since I have to completely rethink my energy usage strategies.

 

[wpns]

No, please elaborate. I'm currently not thinking straight since I have to completely rethink my energy usage strategies.

Ah, net zero for the month, details!
Obviously the solution is more batteries and going completely off-grid.

 

[watchdoc]

Ah, net zero for the month, details!
Obviously the solution is more batteries and going completely off-grid.

I suppose I could add another Tesla expansion battery or try to AC couple a different system but going off grid isn't really an option where I'm at right now. I had planned to add another EV to "soak up" my excess generation but I'm not sure what I'm gonna do right now.

 

[wpns]

I suppose I could add another Tesla expansion battery or try to AC couple a different system but going off grid isn't really an option where I'm at right now. I had planned to add another EV to "soak up" my excess generation but I'm not sure what I'm gonna do right now.

If you can afford another EV you can afford more batteries.

 

[Quattrohead]

You don't need another EV, stay diversified on your vehicle front. I mean what real driver doesn't want a rear wheel drive manual transmission Mustang
See how your bills go for the next few months through the winter until you have gathered about a year's worth of data, then we can figure out how much work it is to get you entirely off grid. It is a massive commitment but the feeling is absolutely astonishing when you pull it off.
Just in case you don't know my situation, a pair of 18KPV's with 20 kW of PV and 180 kilowatt hours worth of batteries. 100% off grid Florida East coast just because I wanted to see if it could be done.

 

[watchdoc]

You don't need another EV, stay diversified on your vehicle front. I mean what real driver doesn't want a rear wheel drive manual transmission Mustang
See how your bills go for the next few months through the winter until you have gathered about a year's worth of data, then we can figure out how much work it is to get you entirely off grid. It is a massive commitment but the feeling is absolutely astonishing when you pull it off.
Just in case you don't know my situation, a pair of 18KPV's with 20 kW of PV and 180 kilowatt hours worth of batteries. 100% off grid Florida East coast just because I wanted to see if it could be done.

The Mustang is my retirement toy and won't get sold (I retired last year at 55). My 2016 Ram has 166k miles on it and runs like a champ. It also has the Mopar lifetime maxcare warranty so I had planned to keep it until the warranty pays out. (once the repair exceeds the value of the truck, they cut you a check for the value ).

I think they best plan to add another EV with some sort of V2H in a couple years once I have more data. IE, Something like a Ford Lightning could soak up all my excess energy and then feed it back or if Tesla gets Powershare working with the Powerwall 3. Time will tell and I'll collect data and plot my revenge.....

 

[watchdoc]

November update! Billing period was from 10/23-11/21. We used 33kWh from the grid and sold back 563kWh meaning we gave away 530kWh since my utility doesn't buy back in excess of what you consume. Electric portion of our bill was $31.17 including base fees, taxes, and street lights.

After lots of phone calls and emails, the utiltiy company put me in touch with the guy who it supposed to know about the new solar rates. When I pointed out this issue, his response was "Yeah, that policy is a carry over from our commercial solar rates because we were having to cut checks to companies that installed way more solar than they need". I reminded him that residential was limited to 20kW and this policy penalizes residential solar owners. He agreed and promised to bring it up at the next meeting (which isn't open to the public). I'll keep bugging them and hoping for an improvement.

We are running the heat now and getting into the holidays. That means lots of people over for Thanksgiving, kids home from college, Christmas parties, and shorter days so we won't have so much extra electricity. We focused mainly on behavior changes last month to reduce our useage from the grid. This was mainly only drying clothes or charging our Mach E during the day when we had excess energy. Wife is onboard with "gaming the utility company" so it's working pretty well. This month we will do the same but also try to use an electric space heater to soak up some of the excess electricity and lower our natural gas consumption.

 

[watchdoc]

Here's the 1500 watt oil filled heater I'm gonna use to soak up some of the excess energy production. Hopefully it reduces our natural gas consumption downstairs (upstairs is 1.5 ton heat pump).

 

[watchdoc]

After recovering from my post Thanksgiving food coma, we got started with decorating for the holidays. I was shocked to learn our Christmas tree consumes 372 watts continiously!!! Needless to say, we're gonna be investing in some low power Christmas lights. My wife is a Holiday junkie so we have Christmas trees and decorations everywhere.

 

[wpns]

After recovering from my post Thanksgiving food coma, we got started with decorating for the holidays. I was shocked to learn our Christmas tree consumes 372 watts continiously!!! Needless to say, we're gonna be investing in some low power Christmas lights. My wife is a Holiday junkie so we have Christmas trees and decorations everywhere.

View attachment 352696

Yeah, 3-7 watts per bulb when I was a kid, 3-7 watts per string of 100 now. Not even worth turning them off!

 

[LydMekk]

Just invest in a LED based lighting system.
In the EU they have been on the market for like 20-25 years by now.
A fraction of the watts used but same or more light output.