Year One Results
Promises Made, Promises Kept
In this concluding part I want to
review actual production and usage results as well as review once again why a
move to a new energy portfolio for this country is so right. Up until now everything presented relating to
system performance was based on estimates and projections. It is just over a
year that my system has been in operation and, simply stated, it has performed
better than promised.
With my communications gateway connection
and online monitoring I have very detailed information to source. Here is a
screen shot of my system near the end of a day in June 2012. I can view each panel’s production in real
time as well as historically. The
slightly darker panels show some shading starting as the sun goes down behind
some trees. There are many reports I can pull down as I actively manage my
energy usage and production.
Recall I designed my system to
deliver 80% of my historical electricity usage.
It has delivered over 94% through a combination of a couple of
things. First, it was estimated that I
would see just less than 8 megawatt hours of energy per year. I produced over 8.7 mwh. This is weather
dependent and will vary but not by much. Second, I continue to seek energy
efficiency measures as I move to more than meet my home electricity demand and
make room for adding an electric plug-in vehicle to my electricity demand
mix. If I can replace the thousands of
dollars I pay filling a gas tank with the electricity I produce, well, that’s
seriously green in more ways than one.
The following chart shows my system
performance and my usage. The 12 month
window I am using is June 22, 2011 through June 21, 2012. This is when my net metering began. Where the
red usage line is below the blue production line, I was producing more energy
than I used and it was “stored” for me by ComEd (through the net metering
program). Where the usage was in excess
of production I either called for my stored energy, if it was there, or paid
ComEd for electricity.
In terms of dollars and cents, if I
did not have this system I would have been billed $924 for the electricity my
home used. Instead I paid just $53 for
electricity from ComEd, a savings of $871.
Since I remain connected to the grid, I do pay the delivery service fee
monthly. What I have affected is only the
cost of the electricity supply.
The following is the first bill I
received that showed an excess of energy. Note a few kWh of energy is being
held and will rollover to the next month if I need it.
What a great feeling of liberation
to finally shed myself of the guilt and expense of using dirty energy. This is
an emotion I did not anticipate and it has become the most valued. I no longer
consider the use of energy as some evil and to be avoided practice although
wasteful behavior should always be avoided. Rather it is now a welcomed part of
making life comfortable and prosperous. As I became more aware of climate
change and its impacts, just turning a light on became something I felt guilty
about. What a way to live. Now I flip on a light and it doesn’t matter. Land
use is no more than was already occupied by my home (compare to power plants,
oil and gas wells), there is no water use (compare to fracking and nuclear), I
produce no pollution (compare to any fossil fuel), and no CO2 emissions
(ditto), I’m not using up limited resources (ditto again), and it is not
costing me anything more than I have already spent (my fuel is free and
unlimited).
Also I was able to sell the RECs
(defined in Part 2) I produced from July 2011 through December 2011 for $200
each or $835. I hope to sell all my RECs
in 2012 for $125 each but won’t know until the end of the year. But I put $1706 into my pocket with potential
for more. If I sell these 2012 RECs,
then the first year of operation will have netted me $2,456 in combined savings
and REC sales. Using straight line
depreciation of my system as mentioned earlier of $1,848, I am $608
positive. I originally estimated
$702. Pretty close and I’m
thrilled. Recall, I never expected this
project to yield positive cash flow until years from now if ever. I did it for all the other reasons. And remember with that electric vehicle in my
future, at $4 per gallon, I’ll add another $3,200 to my savings.
I went into this project to prove
to myself and others that there are better ways to live. Not just responsibly
but economically. With such a strong case whether you talk the environment, the
domestic economy, or the personal economics, then why such an uphill battle for
renewables to be a bigger part of our energy portfolio?
I believe the answer, and it may
surprise you, is the lack of applying free and fair market capitalism
principles to energy. Please note, “free and fair”, not just “free”. Ironically it is usually big corporations,
their beneficiaries, and their bought and paid for politicians that argue for
free markets (little to no regulations) but not for fair markets. Behind the scenes these corporations
aggressively fight anything that levels the competitive playing field. What is
more central to capitalistic principles than competition? Understand what all
companies seek, but would never admit, is securing a monopoly position in the
market. This shifts the power from the consumer to the producer. This power
gives producers control of pricing and supply which in turn generates massive
wealth that can be used to influence public opinion and government policy.
Case in point, I am now an energy
producer as should be my right in a free market. But there is no market for my energy
besides my own home. It’s the law! I
cannot sell my excess energy production.
It is prohibited. Under net metering
rules if I have excess energy at the end of a mandated 12 month period, ComEd
just takes it. In my first year, ComEd
took 430 kWh from me without as much as a “thank you”. That is more than half a
month’s electricity usage for me. Is that a free market? Someone is certainly getting
something for free but I don’t think that is how it is supposed to work. Is it
a fair market? I feel robbed and believe I was but the law says it is OK.
Why is this important beyond what
is basic fairness? While I am producing
energy for my own consumption, there is a possibility that I may reach a point
where I consistently produce more than I use in a year. Why can’t there be an
exchange for me to sell my excess energy at market rates? Wouldn’t this be good
for society, good for investors, good for small business development, etc.? The
answer is simple; it would be stepping on current large electricity producers’
toes. In fact if such a market had
existed I might have bought a larger system to create a revenue stream for me
but state law prohibited it. Any wonder who wrote (or more precisely “bought”)
that law. Shouldn’t we be doing anything
and everything to find and open new and dynamic markets that would stimulate
demand, supply, innovation, and the economic growth that accompanies such
events?
In conclusion, I couldn’t be
happier with my decision to go solar but at the same time it opened my eyes to
the fact that the energy companies have such a strangle hold on everyone’s
energy dollars and energy behavior that breaking that grip is largely beyond
the capacity of most individual consumers. Until that grip is freely and fairly
eliminated, a future of less expensive, clean, and unlimited energy will be
kept from the majority of residents.
It’s irresponsible, it’s anti-American, and it’s anti-free market
capitalism. But no, I’m not joining the Tea Party, they should be joining us.
1 U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act
from 1990 to 2020, Summary Report, March 2011.
2 Stern,
Nicholas, The Stern Review of the
Economics of Climate Change, 2006, HM Treasury, London
3 Freeing the
Grid, Best Practices in State Net Metering Policies and Interconnection
Procedures, December 2010, Network
for New Energy Choices, New York, NY.
4 Estimating U.S.
Thanks for sharing with us. There are a number of different companies now offering this service. We went with the biomass Kent Company and would recommend them to anyone.
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