Sun Power

It isn't something to be proud of, being #1 according to the BLS.

i'm paying 25cents a kwh... plus the line charge in and out... i'm more then happy to pass the mantle of highest in the U.S. to u guys in san diego... but u deserve it... best weather in the U.S..., and poss the world... u gotta pay for that great climate

The easiest job in the world is the meteorologist for our local TV stations with the same daily forecast, spring, summer, fall, or winter. "Sunny with a low of 60 and a high of 75."

I have a friend who ran the NWS office in Buffalo back in the day who remarked that the toughest part of being a TV weatherperson in San Diego was finding different ways to say "Cloudy 'til 10, then sun" day in/day out without seeming repetitive. There's a kernel of truth in that statement.

For anything you found useful or thought provoking in my keyboard spoor, you're most welcome.

I saw an owner who was bent on replacing every incandescent
light with LEDs. This, though most of those light were very
rarely turned on. I was able to show, that the big electric bill was
caused by a couple huge, old, inefficient air onditioning units with
high running times. Effective conservation starts with getting the
numbers of just how the energy is used. That was a months project
at my house, upgrades are ongoing. Bruce Roe

Well, at least early May through mid-July.

Yeah, we upgraded our air conditioners to much more efficient heat pumps last year. But honestly the biggest efficiency change we made was upgrading our windows several years back; even with the old inefficient system it brought us from negative to positive generation. We now generate a lot more than we use, even with two EV's. (And we're in San Diego, where it's nice to avoid power bills.)

Thanks for the information.

to be fair all they do is read off the screen

Just like most every other talking head slug on the idiot box, but that's off topic.

When I was shopping for panels in 2012 the best ones were the commercial models from SunPower. SunPower only sold them to their dealers who were doing installations on commercial buildings and would not sell them to residential only solar dealers. I found a dealer that did both and they installed the SunPower SPR-327NE panels on my house. Ten years later their output has dropped by less than 1%.

I designed the panel layout to be able to fit 11 panels on frames on the roof. I specified an inverter that could handle two strings of panel input which was very important and something that none of the salemen I spoke with were aware existed.

I knew in 2012 that with global warming the supply of relatively inexpensive hydroelectric power would decline and power companies would be spending more on coal or natural gas an those cost increases are passed along to customers. My rates have doubled in the past 10 years and as the utility has a monopoly they have zero incentive to reduce the prices they charge. My average rate in 2022 is what was my top tier rate in 2012, or $0.44 per kWh. And rates will more than double over the next 10 years.

With my new solar installation I first had a new roof put on where the panels would go and also paid for the labor to install the panels and the electrical runs and the inverter and its installation. Saving money on the panels made no sense in terms of the overall cost and I got the tax credit which also helped. The installer was the leading roofer as well as the leading solar installer and I was told at the time that it would probably cost $3,000 to remove the panels to re-roof my house and put the panels back in to place. I decided to replace the roof and at the same time to add some insulating panels to help keep the house cooler.