States/Cities Attempting To Limit You Self Produced Power...

[OffGridForGood]

Ontario. That's north of Dallas, right?
?

Yeah, a bit further north, but ya know, everything is bigger in Texas so 'a bit' is pretty far!

 

[SolarScott]

This is one of the key topics to prepre for in the coming years, they will start treating us all like charter schools vs public schools and attempt to infringe the rights of off-gridders to prop up a broken government sponsored monoopoly.

One of the things that honestly make me passionate about earlier adoption and organization of this community as an interest group before rights are taken away without the proper fight.

Just like the Homeschoolers, we will organize and fight them to the death, or at least to the "Leave us the hell alone"

 

[SolarScott]

Huh. I finally made it into a 1% club!

We have a coop here, which is a whole different animal and they aren't regulated the same or very much at all. I tried for six months to get someone to call me back about solar so I could try to do it the right way and make them happy. Never returned one call. The "solar guy" never once answered his phone when I called. I was talking to a local commercial electrician and he told me to give it up. They claim they are solar friendly but they're going to throw every roadblock possible in front of you. He recommended off-grid. Fortunately, we're rural and in Texas so you can do just about whatever you want. That's how I ended up here and I'm SOOO glad I did. I'm not 100% off-grid and don't really want to be but I've eaten into a chunk of their income from me and keep doing so. If push came to shove I'm finally at a point I could tell them to pull their meter and get their ass off my property. I really, really don't want to do that, but I could in a jam. It's a good feeling.

But yeah, I think a lot more regulations are coming and it will be poorly camouflaged as being for the good of the public. Gonna be ugly, I'm afraid.

When I talked to my local co op, they tried to discourage me, said it was not worth it, then changed course when they saw I was determined and said to sell back to them.....they charge 12.5 cents and want to pay me 4 cents......hello batteries, here I come.....still use them as the back up battery.

 

[OffGridForGood]

Just like the Homeschoolers, we will organize and fight them to the death, or at least to the "Leave us the hell alone"

Thats when we go Stealth-Solar!
back-forty camo-panels, underground solar shed, the works.

 

[wattmatters]

from what were told, you guys get a full professionally installed PV system for about the same as what it cost us just to buy the parts/panels/equipment!

Professionally installed grid-tied solar PV costs ~A$1.00 ± 0.30 per PV watt. A$1 = US$0.68.

The Cost of Solar Panels - Solar Panel Price | Solar Choice

Solar Choice publishes the average cost of solar panels broken down by each state of Australia. Updated every month! Read more to save on solar today.

www.solarchoice.net.au

 

[OffGridForGood]

I paid more than those rates just for the PV panels. DANG!
okay I guess this makes no damn sense since my utility rates are 8-14 cents (half of Aus rates) but the cost of solar is triple your costs.
AND your solar potential is 160% of mine.
I see why I am 'all alone' on this solar journey in my neck of the woods, everyone else just pay the utility rates.
Not really alone on this, there are lots of solar farms and private solar set ups around here, just spouting off.

 

[EastTexCowboy]

When I talked to my local co op, they tried to discourage me, said it was not worth it, then changed course when they saw I was determined and said to sell back to them.....they charge 12.5 cents and want to pay me 4 cents......hello batteries, here I come.....still use them as the back up battery.

We get off on this topic and I start getting all antsy, wanting to buy a couple of those EG4 18K or maybe some of those Deye inverters like @timselectric snagged, and a bunch more batteries. I need to stop hanging out here until I recover from the last massive cash hemorrhage. Y'all are a bad influence. Or good, I suppose, depending on the perspective.

 

[OffGridForGood]

We get off on this topic and I start getting all antsy, wanting to buy a couple of those EG4 18K or maybe some of those Deye inverters like @timselectric snagged, and a bunch more batteries. I need to stop hanging out here until I recover from the last massive cash hemorrhage. Y'all are a bad influence. Or good, I suppose, depending on the perspective.

yeah instead of self help, were all feeding off each others' addictions here! LOL
there are worse things to spend time and money on!
I do want to get my hands on one of those EG4-18K's too! Wasn't "The Plan" to use the MPP's for at least five years ?? Testing my resolve I can feel it!

 

[EastTexCowboy]

yeah instead of self help, were all feeding off each others' addictions here! LOL
there are worse things to spend time and money on!
I do want to get my hands on one of those EG4-18K's too! Wasn't "The Plan" to use the MPP's for at least five years ?? Testing my resolve I can feel it!

I thought the plan was 2 years. And we start counting when we bought them, not when we installed them. Or was it 18 months? I'm old. Hard to recall.

 

[OffGridForGood]

When I talked to my local co op, they tried to discourage me, said it was not worth it, then changed course when they saw I was determined and said to sell back to them.....they charge 12.5 cents and want to pay me 4 cents......hello batteries, here I come.....still use them as the back up battery.

I figure if the DIY batteries really last 4000 cycles, or lets just say "days" -then the cost per kWh of battery should be about 3-4 cents. ie a good deal.

 

[Haze]

Income Based Electric Rate System Proposed by California Energy Companies – California Globe

californiaglobe.com

Apparently a law to do something, but not clear exactly what terms if any have been finalized.

California wants electric rates based on income

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/california-power-companies-roll-out-fixed-rate-bill-proposal/ Cant say Im surprised. full on commies, whats next ?

diysolarforum.com

What’s next, income based water and sewer bills. Seems crazy a public utility wants to know our income. I say no chance this passes, but in this crazy state anything seems to go.

 

[Tulex]

What’s next, income based water and sewer bills. Seems crazy a public utility wants to know our income. I say no chance this passes, but in this crazy state anything seems to go.

It's not just that state, and we haven't seen anything yet.

 

[OffGridForGood]

Income,
so say I am a zillionaire but retired, and am technically 'low income', do I pay $20 basic delivery rate?

If I put on some rags/old beat up clothes and go buy a pizza do I get to pay 20% of the price the guy in front of me just paid for the same pizza?

If they want to do something based on income, make it a line on the tax forms.
At this pay level you can claim electrical utility deduction of XX.XX /year on your tax forms, where your income is known, clearly shown, and non of the utility co's F@#$ business.

 

[wattmatters]

What’s next, income based water and sewer bills.

Here water and waste water rates are levied by local councils and those rates are based on the unimproved value of the land you own. So in effect they are indexed as the wealthier tend to live on more valuable land. We are not charged waste water rates as the Council does not provide that service and we have approved septic tank systems.

 

[Zapper77]

Thats when we go Stealth-Solar!
back-forty camo-panels, underground solar shed, the works.

Camo panels...is that a thing?

 

[Crowz]

I just went and looked at mine to see if I could tell much on the old and new house.

Old house which has the simple 24 volt system non hybrid.



New house before sungold hybrid inverter.



New house after sungold inverter with 1/2 the panels installed.

 

[Crowz]

Alabama has the wonderful deal of you pay a fee based on how many kw of solar panels you have. So they penalize you for having solar.

 

[JeepHammer]

This is exactly what I didn't want...

'Liberals' don't own fossil fuel energy companies. Capitalists do.

After long fought legal battles, rural area private utilitiy providers can not force you to connect. Rural water and electric, etc.

It finally came down to anti-monopoly laws, no competition, no choice.

The city is a public utility, not private corpration/cooperative.

Amish lost the road use issue. Lights, reflectors, permits/plates to use the roadways and have to pay taxes to the center of the road on roadway facing property.

Not the same thing since they DID use the roadway, benefited from road maintiance, ditches/drainage the county built & maintained, etc.

Lights and reflectors are a public safety issue, and if you ever drove up on a black buggy with 10 people in it at night, in the fog, in the rain, you would whole heartedly agree...

It's unusual that a towner can generate 100% of needs, and we know this guy will sneak past for a while. An ananomaly that no one is looking for, meters all over town on storage spaces/garages that are not consuming.

His existing small grid tie system got him under the code inspection and permitting office notice... and since he has a meter, and is paying the $35/month connection fee, we are just wondering how long it will take before the city notices, and what they will do about it...???

 

[OffGridForGood]

Camo panels...is that a thing?

IT IS!
I was just looking for fun, and then bamm there they are, also in colours to kinda match to a clay tile roof, or other thin-film printed overlays to hide the panels or make them blend in a bit more with surroundings.
All the technical data indicate these are poor at best PV compared to normal pv panels.
I saw them on nuvuslight.com - camo for solar panels, but there are a surprising number of these out there!
how about a set of panels in a field of wildflowers, that are printed to appear like a field of wildflowers!
(I want some with the white and black arctic theme camo, since it is winter more than summer here lol.

 

[Hedges]

I was wondering how our private tax/income data could be divulged to them, but then I realized everyone would default to highest rate, have to submit documentation to get the lower.

We used to have a registration fee for trailers. That was changed to 10 year registration for $20. Trucks pay registration based on planned weight of total rig.
My 1966 F600 used to cost me may $100 or so. Then I was asked to declare weight, and I selected something appropriate. Renewal bill came in around $2000. Apparently our selections were not entered, so it defaulted to 80,000# or so.

Alabama has the wonderful deal of you pay a fee based on how many kw of solar panels you have. So they penalize you for having solar.

Do they now? How much?
California PUC recommended that almost 18 months ago. Even Newsom (after viewing reaction?) said back to the drawing board.
Utilities' request had been $12/kW/month. This would have had us paying them net dollars for all power exported.
PUC's recommendation was $8/kW/month. Would have had us giving exported power for free.

 

[Crowz]

I was wondering how our private tax/income data could be divulged to them, but then I realized everyone would default to highest rate, have to submit documentation to get the lower.

We used to have a registration fee for trailers. That was changed to 10 year registration for $20. Trucks pay registration based on planned weight of total rig.
My 1966 F600 used to cost me may $100 or so. Then I was asked to declare weight, and I selected something appropriate. Renewal bill came in around $2000. Apparently our selections were not entered, so it defaulted to 80,000# or so.



Do they now? How much?
California PUC recommended that almost 18 months ago. Even Newsom (after viewing reaction?) said back to the drawing board.
Utilities' request had been $12/kW/month. This would have had us paying them net dollars for all power exported.
PUC's recommendation was $8/kW/month. Would have had us giving exported power for free.

Guide to Alabama Solar Incentives & Tax Credits in 2025

Alabama solar incentives can save homeowners 30% on solar installation costs. Find out how much you can save.

www.solarreviews.com

Previously, the Capacity Reservation Charge was equal to $5.00 per kW of solar on your property. The charge for Alabama Power customers who go solar will now be equal to $5.41 per kW. This doesn’t seem like much, but when you consider the costs over the lifetime of the agreement, it’s a significant financial burden.

Let’s look at an example. The average home in Alabama consumes about 1,236 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month. In order to produce enough electricity to cover this usage, you would need to install a 9.2 kW solar array.

With a 9.2 kW rooftop solar system, you would have to pay $49.77 each month, on top of your regular electricity bill. That’s almost $600 extra a year just for switching to solar!

Over the 25-year lifetime of the solar system, you’ll have paid $15,000 in Capacity Reservation Charges. That’s enough to buy a second solar panel system!

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Fun fun.....

 

[Nobodybusiness]

Capitalists do.

Crony Capitalist are whichever affiliation gets them the most money.

I believe you got to work for what you need and want But there comes a point where a monopoly is not working for good but for greed.

Nothing wrong with getting paid for a product but The POCOs have deferred maintenance and R&D in favor of profits.

Now they are using the law and Government to further those profits at citizens expense.
That has to stop.

 

[cs1234]

That's terrible. Vote those fools out next year. You can't vote in any Democrats for those positions in Alabama (obviously, LOL), but there are two libertarians running.. maybe they won't screw you as bad.
Candidates running for those offices in 2024 found here.

 

[Dyotat100]

I'm in CA. I started in 2021 experimenting with 12v 280ah battery for my 5th wheel. Realized that 24v would be better. Then I bought some panels and built a rack for 3 405 w panels to experiment with running the house for power outage. Would only be one leg but I could run the house no problem with normal loads.

Power company here turns off the power when the wind blows to hard. Turned us off for almost 48 hrs in March of 2021.

So then I went to 9 panels and 2 24v 280 ah batteries from cells I bought and built. I was able to charge and run everything no problem except had issues starting the dryer with a 3000w victron. This was all just a experiment to see how things would work.

In July of 2022 I put up 20 panels and have 2 6548s with 6 Jakiper rack batteries. I'm able to run my 4 ton AC all day at 70 degrees and at night at 74 degrees. I have added 10 more panels since then.

I have a $10 connection fee every month and use around $2 of electricity. I have my lathe, mill, and welders on the grid. I'm sure i could run them but didn't want the on/off hit the lathe and welder would give. Mill is on 3 phase converter.

The funny thing is that I get 2 climate credits a year and basically spend less then $50 a year on electricity. Last one was $71 and that gets me 5 months.

The only time I have used grid was New Years eve. We had a lot of rain out here and I finally hit 50 v at 8:30 pm. It switched over and at 8 am it switched back.

I have had only one issue with my setup. Because my panels are 50.1v and 6548 is 250v I had 2 shut downs. One was while I was at work and then happened next day while I was home. I have 5 in a rack and with the cold temps we were having it went over 250v mid day where the load is only about 500w after batteries are charged. So I turned off 10 panels and never had the issue again.

I do worry some day I will get caught because it was all done on the down low. CA has to many rules and there own UL listing. All is done right but wouldn't matter here.

I have 4 more SoK rack batteries to put in line and should not have any issues with running out of battery. I'm amazed how I can make enough power to put back what I use even when it is raining or full over cast. Some days I don't but haven't even come close since the one time.

So for now I'm off grid until they catch me

 

[DIYrich]

Income Based Electric Rate System Proposed by California Energy Companies – California Globe

californiaglobe.com

Apparently a law to do something, but not clear exactly what terms if any have been finalized.

California wants electric rates based on income

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/california-power-companies-roll-out-fixed-rate-bill-proposal/ Cant say Im surprised. full on commies, whats next ?

diysolarforum.com

Income based rates is discriminatory to ... poor people. Rich people have money (and income to use the federal tax credit) to install solar leaving poor people to pay the increasing rates to offset the people leaving.