Wednesday, January 7, 2015

In The Beginning........PART 2

Apparently this blog has gotten so big it now requires 2 parts.  So here goes.......

 

TO READ PART 1 - CLICK HERE

 

Update - - 1/7/2015 (Wednesday)  INCLUDING 2015 AND BEYOND PREDICTIONS

I believe in the not too distant future (within 5 years) you will see a new type of attorney.  This new breed of legal beagle will specialize in solar panel litigation claims.  You’ll know I’m right when you turn on the television and hear something like this - - “Hey there.  I’m Sunny Watts and if you’ve been burned by going solar the law firm of ‘Watts, Current, Shady, Deals, and Schmuck’ is here to help you.  We know you were promised the moon and barely got anything from the sunshine.  You may not be getting much in the way of free electricity, but we’ll help you see green in way of CASH because we’ll sue those lying bastards for you.  Call us today at 1-888-U LOST IT.”

If you want to know what makes me write this I encourage you to Google ‘solar panel sales scams’.  You’ll find there is plenty to read on this subject.  Like all new or rapid growth industries it doesn’t take long for the scammers to set up their circus tents.  Of major interest to me was this one http://watchdog.org/130098/solarcity-horror-stories/ on WATCHDOG.ORG/written by TORI RICHARDS.  This is a very insightful well written article.  Connect a few dots and you can figure out who the next Bernie Madoff is going to be.  This makes me feel kind of bad for my beloved state of Nevada because the powers that be may have made a deal with the devil.  I hope I’m wrong, but if I’m right our current Governor, Brian Sandoval, may have dug his political grave.  Enter the Spin Doctors.

Okay, moving on……December of last year was nothing short of a horrible month for solar electricity in and around Las Vegas.  We had less than 50% sunny days, 15 major sunshine days to be exact.  Despite the excessive cloud cover we still managed to make around 85% of our monthly goal however that fell short of what we needed to make more electricity than we used.    Our usage was up due to colder temperatures which forced us to run the furnace more.  Add shorter daylight and we used more ‘juice’ for powering lights.  Instead of having the 80 kWh bonus hours that I predicted in November we ended up short.   The numbers look like this - - Used 520 kWh (slightly more than 16 kWh per day).  Made 427 kWh (around 13 kWh per day) leaving us a shortage of 93kWh.  By the end of November we had accrued 274 extra – Decembers 93 kWh leaves us a remaining usable balance of 181 kWh.  Our actual bill was $.43 after using the remaining credit balance from the previous month.

The jury is still out on my NV PUC complaint.  

January should have an abundance of sunny days which will put us in positive territory for the month and help make up for the December shortfall.  I believe we will generate most of Decembers shortfall.  

Finally for this month, and I hope a smart News Director or Meteorologist reads this - - In the future weather forecasts need a monthly CLOUD COVER PREDICTION for solar panel owners.  Let me be the first to say that is going to be hard but it will someday become a reality.  If I was still in the business I’d be doing it now.  The first station to do it gets to plant the “WE WERE FIRST” flag.  Remember, it was only 50 or so years that forecasting weather beyond 3 days with any accuracy was pretty much a joke.  Today 7 to 10 day forecasts are damn decent.  Hurricane season forecasts still suck, but such is life.  The best that can be said about Hurricane season forecasts is, “Thank God most viewers have short term memory.”

Oh, one last thing.  Next month I’ll share with you the facts of ‘hidden’ solar panel electricity. 

See you then.

Update - - 2/4/2015 (Wednesday)  SOLAR POWERS ‘HIDDEN’ ELECTRIC BONUS

 I’m going to take care of some housekeeping matters before I get into the down and dirty numbers for January.

#1  I got an email last month that informed me there are advertisers on my blog pushing 0 Down – lease/purchase solar panel offers along with solar panel finance deals.  The email was careful to point out that I preach against those things so why are they advertised on my blog?

This is a free blog.  I pay nothing for it.  In return any advertiser is free to plug their goods.  To be clear, I do not, have not and until anyone can show me how you can get a reasonable ROI with 0 down – lease/purchase or financing solar panels, I will not endorse, recommend, or encourage any solar panel deal with the above options.   Cash is the ONLY way to make it work with a reasonable ROI.  Any ad that appears on this blog is the right of the advertiser but not endorsed by me.

#2  The following is a quote from my last month’s blog entry,January should have an abundance of sunny days which will put us in positive territory for the month and help make up for the December shortfall.”  I want to take a minute to correct any misconception that might be taken from that quote. 
There are 3 things that can never happen – 1)  You can never make up for lost sleep.  2)  You are never playing with the houses money in a casino.  3)  You cannot make up for lost solar electric production in the future.

Let me elaborate.  You plan on sleeping 9 hours tonight but you only get 8.  Tomorrow is a new day and yesterday is gone.  If you get nine hours sleep the next night that’s nine hours for that day and has nothing to do with yesterday.

You win money in a casino and continue to play because you FALSELY deceive yourself into believing you are playing with the houses money.  WRONG!  The second you win that money it is yours.  It no longer has anything to do with the house.  You are always playing with your money.  Let’s say you win 10 grand.  You will pay the tax on it because it is your money.  You can damn well be sure the casino isn’t going to pay your tax.  If it was their money they would pay it.  Casino owner’s love guests that believe when they win they are playing with the houses money.  It makes it easier for the house to get that money back and then some.  

For the same reason you cannot catch up on lost sleep, you cannot make up for lost solar electric in the future.  As the old song lyric goes, “that was yesterday, and yesterdays gone.”

As promised, here’s the story of the ‘hidden’ electric bonus by going solar…..

What I’m about to share with you applies to NVEnergy and any other power company that charges those annoying little fees based on electricity delivered.  The fees I’m referring to are things like Temporary Green Power Financing (TRED), Energy Efficiency Charge (EE), and Universal Energy Charge to name a few.  These only amount to a fraction of a penny per kWh (TRED is .00068, EE is .00319, and Universal Energy Charge = .0039 as of the time I wrote this) but added up to around $2 on my last bill.  Because of the low cost, I often refer to these as ‘short’ fees.

This will only work if you are on a standard rate schedule.  It’s also counter intuitive to what you may currently believe.  

Solars ‘hidden’ bonus is based on the fact that during the daylight hours you are generating more than you are using.  You are also using some of what you are generating at the time it’s made and it is NOT being sent to or stored by your electric utility.  In other words, it’s not going through the utility company’s meter.  You made it.  You use it.  It’s yours.  It’s gone.  It’s not metered by the power company.

You’ve probably been told, especially if you were on TOU, it’s less expensive to use electricity during non-peak evening and overnight hours.  Let’s say you have laundry, vacuuming, need to run the dishwasher, and other electric using acts that could be done during the day or evening or night.  If you are solar, do them between 9 am - 4 pm and spread them out so you are not using all of this energy in a short period of time.  By doing that you will be using the electric as it is made, it won’t go through the meter and you won’t be paying those short fees on it.  Oh, and you’ll still be making excess electric that will be usable during the dark hours, keep in mind that delivered electric will go through the power company’s meter and is subject to those damn fees.  

To further prove my point, last month, prior to going solar, I would have typically have used about 23 kWh per day.  After going solar my delivered rate showed at 16 kWh per day.   Did going solar magically cause me to use 7 kWh per day less?  No.  I’m using those 7 kWh per day with laundry, using the dishwasher, running the furnace or air conditioner.  Because I’m using at the time it is being made it never gets into the NVEnergy meter.  Now you understand why I call it ‘hidden’ electricity. 

Okay, so much for housekeeping and the ‘hidden’ bonus, let’s get to the January numbers.
The power company delivered 461 kWh, while I made 501.  This adds 40 kWh back into my future use column leaving me with 221 kWh I can use in the future.  My bill was $12.75 meter fee + 5% tax + a couple of nuisance fees + the 43 cents that I didn’t pay last month because it would have cost more to mail it than the bill was worth + (are you ready for this B.S.) I got charged .01 as a late charge on the .43 cents.  

Again this month, the jury is still out on my NVEnergy PUC complaint.

With warmer weather in February and longer amounts of daylight my power usage will drop and yield a larger amount of accrued kWh going into March.  I’m seeing about 80 kWh in my crystal ball. 

Come back next month and see for sure.

Update - - 3/6/2015  (Friday)  DAILY SOLAR INFORMATION AT ONE LOCATION


As of this point I’ve given you just about all you need to know for going solar.  So with all of the knowledge you now have I’ll start making my monthly updates much shorter.  

I’ve decided to place my daily solar information all in one place so you can access it easily.  At the link I’m about to share with you, you will be able to see my daily, weekly, and monthly solar production.  With a few clicks you can also see it hourly by the day.  You will also be able to compare it with my outdoor webcam which will show you cloud cover.  In addition you can see the solar radiation graph from my weather center.  If you combine all of this data you will get a comprehensive look at the making of solar electric.  How cool is that?   I’m also inviting you to bookmark and share the link to this website.  Check it out often.  That mystery website is www.weather89014.com .  Simply slide down to the solar information section and you’ll find it all.  

Of course, if there is any earth shaking new solar things you need to know about you’ll find it here on my blog.

So the future at this blog looks like this:

Now through August you will get a monthly solar production update.  By that point I will have a year + of solar data from NVEnergy bills and you will get an idea of potential savings.  The only missing piece of the puzzle now is the value of my Portfolio Energy Credits and how much they will be worth.  That number will be the final item needed to get the actual ROI.  When that happens I will most certainly let you know and I’ll give a quick briefing on how it all works.  That is all handled by NVTREC and you can check it out at www.nvtrec.com .  

Oh, the jury continues to remain out on my NVPUC complaint.

February, by the numbers, goes like this:  We used 323 kWh.  We made a whooping 648 kWh.  That gives us an additional 325 kWh in our electric piggy bank.  Our available total is now at 546 kWh.  March should exceed February and that works for us.  Keep in mind that during July and August we will be using much of this excess on air conditioning.   Our February bill was strictly meter charge, those damn nuisance fees, & 5% tax on the meter for a total of $14.33.  The bill should hover at this point for the next several months and if we make enough extra juice maybe all of 2015.

We’ll be back around this time in April.  


UPDATE - - 4/6/2015  (MONDAY)  MARCH MONTHLY SOLAR PRODUCTION REVIEW 

I knew March would be a great month for solar and WOW was I right.  We used a bit more electric because we had to add an hour daily to our pool pump runtime and we started using the air conditioner, but still the numbers were great.

We sent NVEnergy 692 kWh and we used 328.  That means we added 364 kWh to our existing 546 for a future usable total of 910 kWh.  Our actual bill was 1 penny more than February (translation $14.34).  

The wheels of justice continue to turn slowly and the jury is still out on my NVPUC complaint.

Hope you’ll be back around this time in May.



Update - - 5/8/2015  (Friday)  APRIL MONTHLY SOLAR PRODUCTION REVIEW


We used more air conditioning in April and it was still our second best month for banking additional kWh for summer.  

We used 402 kWh.  We generated 732 kWh and sent it off to NVEnergy.  Some simple math will show you we got an additional 330 kWh added to our existing 910 for a bank total of 1240 heading into May.  Our extra a.c. run added some short fees to our bill making it a total of $14.56.  

May marks our first year of solar energy and the total number of PEC for the year is 30593.395.  The number I keep hearing on the PEC value is .058 cents per PEC.  If that number ends up being correct it means there will eventually be a check coming our way for $1774.28.  That number is $500 per year more than I originally calculated for my ROI.  Bottom line on this is if all things are equal in the upcoming years, our ROI will be 5 years and 9 months.  That is 9 months sooner than my original calculation.  Extrapolating the numbers we will have saved and earned an additional $52,975 over 25 years with a >8% ROI.  In the current economy, 8% ROI is pretty damn good. 

The jury is still out on my NVPUC complaint.

We’ve got 2 months to go until we have a full year without being on TOU.  Then there is the first sale of PEC which will help verify the numbers above.  

I’ll keep you posted and hope you’ll be back around this time next month.

URGENT  UPDATE  URGENT . . . . 5/11/2015 (Monday)  PLEASE SHARE THIS......  URGENT

There is a wonderful solar article on page 16 of the May 18, 2015 edition of ‘TIME’.  The article is titled “POWER STRUGGLE” and was written by Emily  Barone.  

This article highlights a bad strategy being used by power companies that will pit solar owners against all other power consumers by putting the blame for future electricity rate increases on the backs of solar owners.  The argument is solar owners pay much less, thus forcing upgrades and infrastructure costs to be spread over fewer customers, which will mean higher electric rates.  


These are the same power companies that tell the general public they are pro-solar.  I believe they are, however, they are only pro-solar if they own it and control it.  If you own it, they are not pro-solar.  


Within the article are some important numbers that I have posted here before:
 

  1)    Less than 1 percent of the entire nation’s power comes from, you guessed it, solar. 

  2)    More than half of that less than 1% (.6%) comes from large scale solar projects owned by or 
         financed by the electric companies.

  3)  The remaining .4% comes from non-profits, businesses and home owners solar systems.

  4)  In actuality .2% is from home owners.  
  

These power companies want us to believe that .2% of its customer base will be responsible for future rate increases.   REALLY?

Keep in mind these are the same utility companies that have powerful Washington D.C. lobbyists to keep the company wheels greased.  

800 POUND GORILLA


Think of it like this…..there is a 40 pound boy in a small room with an angry 800 pound gorilla.  If a fight breaks out what do you think will happen?  Answer – The ape will rip that little kid into pieces.

Now think of the 40 pound kid as .2% of homeowners that are scattered about and new to the solar game.  The gorilla is power companies with decades of experience in knowing how to get what they want.  

So how does the little kid cope with that kind of situation?

1) Face the reality of what you are up against.

2) Tell everyone that will listen about what is happening.

3) Get as many people to help as possible.



I already understand #1 and now you do too.

 
As for #3, this is where you come in.  Visit the above page.  Like it.  Share it.  Get the word out.


If you are wondering why the Electric Companies are taking on this battle so early in the game, it’s because of what I call the ‘Beetle’ effect.  In the early and mid 60’s Volkswagen was importing a small amount of VW Beetles into the U.S. market.  The Big 3 in Detroit laughed saying import autos would never be a big thing in America.  VW’s were in the $600 range brand new and you could have any color provided it was black, white, or VW Yellow.  Long story – short, that less than a fraction of one percent grew, and Grew, and GREW.  

The Electric Utilities are unnecessarily afraid of the ‘Beetle’ effect.  There is always a point of market saturation and ever changing better technologies that should really scare the beegeeziz out of them.  Personally, if I owned an electric company I would be afraid of cheap hydrogen power cells that could be refueled, generate electricity and power a home.  

UPDATE - - - 5/18/15  (MONDAY)  PROOF I'M CORRECT ABOUT THE ABOVE UPDATE

Read this article from Bloomberg News.  http://goo.gl/xuGcej


Anyway, please visit the Facebook page www.facebook.com/esolarhoc , spread the word and get on board.   



Update - - 6/5/2015  (Friday)  MAY MONTHLY SOLAR PRODUCTION REVIEW



May is usually our best month for homemade electricity but this year it tanked.  We had abnormally high amounts of cloud cover that kept us at around 93% of our expected amount.  On the plus side the cloudiness helped keep our temperatures cooler so we saved on running the a.c.

By the numbers for May – Used 420 kWh – Made 544 for a surplus of 124 kWh.    Add those last three digits to our existing 1240 and we now have a reserve of 1364 kWh hours as we head into the hottest months of summer.  

No news on the NVPUC complaint.  

Hope you visit again in July.

Update - - 7/6/2015  (Monday)  JUNE MONTHLY SOLAR PRODUCTION REVIEW



Since going solar, NVEnergy has swapped out our meter 3 times.  The first was because we went solar.  Number two was when I dumped Time of Use.  Just last week they changed it again to put on a net smart meter.  Rest assured I’ll be watching this new meter very carefully.  Trust but verify.


We made slightly more than the projected amount of solar electric for June by only by a meager .03 MWh.  Five cloudy days hurt us and also June was nothing short of HOT with a few record tying days.  Bottom line is we have now tapped into the reserve because we used more than we generated.  We started this billing cycle with 1364 extra kWh but by the end of the cycle we sucked up 324 kWh leaving us a reserve balance of 990 kWh with 2.5 hot months in front of us.  If the next couple of months are average we will make July with just the basic and short fees and should be close in making it through August.  September, well, I’m thinking we’ll get a bit of a hit.  

This month’s bill was a buck and change over May.  The exact amount for this bill is $15.68.

Still no news on the NVPUC complaint.  

Please visit again in August.

Update - - 8/7/2015  (Friday)  JULY MONTHLY SOLAR PRODUCTION REVIEW

This was an exciting month because our first year of solar energy credits were approved.  27,552 credits are now in our bank.  If the $.059 figure ends up being accurate that is $1625.57.  My guesstimate at time of purchase was $1200 per year.  That extra will shorten our ROI time just a bit.  

Now for the July wrap.  We used 865 kWh and needed to use 416 kWh from our accrued credits.  The actual bill was $15.90.  Here’s where things get dicey.  We have 574 remaining kWh.  If all things are equal to last year we should use 456 of those next month leaving us only 118 kWh heading into September.  If that’s the case we’ll come up short about 206 kWh in September and that would give us a September bill of around $45.  A power bill of that size would be the largest bill I’ve had in the past rolling calendar year.

Looking back at the last 12 months of bills should help prove my case with the PUC.  We’ll see.

Nothing to report on my ongoing NVPUC complaint.  

Stop back again in September.

Update - - 9/4/2015  (Friday)  AUGUST MONTHLY SOLAR PRODUCTION REVIEW

The race is on to see how September ends.  After this bill we still have 191 accrued kWh for next month.  That’s good, but I do believe we’ll come up just a bit short.  The two big factors will be how long it stays hot and how much cloud cover we have.  As I mentioned, the race is on.  

In August we used 777 kWh with 383 coming out of our reserve.  The actual bill was $15.64.  If we have a bill for actual electric used next month I now calculate it should be =/< $37.00, which, as I mentioned last month would be the largest bill in the last rolling calendar year.  For us, going solar has worked.

Looking back at the last 12 months of bills should help prove my case with the PUC.  We’ll see.Nothing to report on my ongoing NVPUC complaint.  


Stop back in October.


Update - - 10/6/2015  (Tuesday)  SEPTEMBER MONTHLY SOLAR PRODUCTION REVIEW



WE DID IT!  We made it through September with our new and accrued solar panel energy.  That’s 12 consecutive months.  We’re well beyond pleased.  We’re thrilled with this outcome.  Even better, as we head into our next year we still have 26 unused accrued kWh.  Bottom line – Robco was conservative in their calculations with our solar panel system.  They calculated we may get a slightly higher energy bill in both August and September.  It’s smart for them to make a conservative estimate because it makes the system look even better.  My more liberal calculations were pretty damn close.  I figured we may get a slight bill in September only, but even I under shot the power of the panels.   

By the numbers - NVEnergy sent us 615 kWh.  We sent them 450.  That left us 165 short but we had 191 kWh in reserve leaving us the 26 kWh mentioned above in the bank for the future.  The September bill with meter, taxes, and short fees was $15.19.

Since we have a full 18 months of data my future updates will be on an ‘as needed’ basis.  When we sell our PECs, I’ll post it.  When the PUC complaint is resolved, I’ll post that too.  When I hear of a scam or lawsuit that’s of interest, you’ll find it here.  

My conclusion on solar panels is if you do it right – you’re golden.  Do it wrong and you’re screwed. 

Nothing to report on my ongoing NVPUC complaint.  


Update - - 2/12/2016  (Friday)  RESPONSE TO NEW SOLAR RATE EVENTS


HOW THE NEVADA PUC JUST KILLED SOLAR ENERGY, GAVE NVEnergy A RATE HIKE, AND DEALT A BLOW TO ELECTRIC CAR OWNERSHIP IN THE STATE



I haven’t seen this kind of destruction by a government entity in my entire lifetime.  By a 3 to nothing vote the NV PUC just wrecked an industry that should have been a win-win for one of the handful of states where solar energy totally made sense.  It not only made sense but could have generated untold and now never to be seen $’s. 



Faraday and Elon Musk need to abandon plans in the Silver State IMMEDIATELY.  Stop construction and run for cover.  This states leadership cannot and should not be trusted.  



I’ve just checked the numbers – my numbers.  I will recover my solar investment over a period of 12.5 years.  Originally it would have been 6-1/2 but now, should I live long enough I’ll get through this debacle.  Thousands and thousands will never see the light.



Nevada’s residential solar industry is DEAD.  If you want to finance a solar panel system there is absolutely no way to make it work and get your money back.  If anyone tells you otherwise, it’s a lie, period.



NVEnergy was willing, at least saying they were, to grandfather the rate increase over 20 years.  Now if they were willing to do that then they must have known any negative result to the NVEnergy bottom line would have been minimal at worst.  By letting the rates climb NVEnergy just got an unrequested rate hike.



I know of some people that went solar in the hopes of getting an electric car in the future.  Not now.  In the words of one person regarding a planned electric vehicle purchase, NOT NOW – NOT EVER. 

Now for my master plan - - 



From the following blog:  



The BIG Players:   Gov. Sandoval – talks the ‘Green’ talk, but does he walk the ‘Green’ walk?

The NV Legislature:  Some of which have their hands in the pockets of NVEnergy, taxpayer pockets, and the pockets of some big players selling and installing solar panels.

Senator Harry Reid:  Has one hand in the pocket of NVEnergy and the other hand in taxpayer pockets.

NVEnergy:  The big power that helped create the big mess.

A few companies selling solar:  Stretched the truth to customers sucking them into the solar creator.

The Small players:  Getting burned by solar big time are the residential customers of NVEnergy.

The NV Public Utilities commission:  Trying to get it right but are challenged at every turn.

The simple fact:  Southern Nevada, with an abundance of sunshine, should be the nation’s leader in production of solar electricity from all possible sources, which includes commercial, business, non-commercial, and residential energy users.  All of the above players have helped turned the simple fact into a convoluted nightmare with little sunshine to generate solar.

The detailed story:

Prior to January 1, 2016 NVEnergy never purchased excess electricity generated by solar panels.  Solar customers were given Portfolio Energy Credits (PECs).  Any excess electricity generated by panels was credited to your electric bill.  These were known as accrued kWh.  In the spring and fall some, NOT  ALL, solar owners would generate accrued kWh.  Those accrued kWh would then be used by the owner during the hot summer months and a couple of the winter months.   Part of the original solar agreement was that solar panel installations could not exceed 10% above the previous 12 months of electrical use.  

NVEnergy could purchase PECs to meet federal mandated renewable energy standards, but they never bought accrued kWh.  PECs are NOT the same as accrued kWh.  PEC’s are from some nebulous mathematical formula.  Kilowatt hours (kWh) are the real deal.  These are generated from the actual solar panels and are metered.  

Make no mistake NVEnergy is no friend of residential solar owners.  Residential NVEnergy customers are the bread and butter users of NVEnergy and NVEnergy wants it all.  Nationally about .25% or ¼ of 1% of solar energy comes from RESIDENTIAL SOLAR.  In Southern Nevada that number is right around 2%.  NVEnergy wants you to believe that 2% of the residential customer that have gone solar is going to dramatically push up the rates for the other 98%.  FACT:  NVEnergy’s own numbers DO NOT SUPPORT THAT.  According to NVEnergy the growth rate for Southern Nevada is 3.63%.  That number is 1.63% above the 2% that have defected to solar.  NVEnergy does not mind losing some government buildings, schools, and non-profit organizations to solar panels.  That gives the company bragging rights about how solar friendly they are and it is simply good PR.

The NVEnergy strategy is simple.  Get those that don’t have solar to hate those that do.  Convince the ‘don’t haves’ that the ‘do haves’ will be the reason for future rate increases.  Forget reality that shows otherwise, this is a perception game.  

This is as equally important as anything negative about NVEnergy.  There have been some unscrupulous and disingenuous large solar companies that have been selling solar installations on false promises and, in some cases, out and out lies.  Rent to own, lease to own, or financing a solar installation is a horrible idea.  The math on getting a reasonable return on investment didn’t work in the past and still doesn’t work.  I have yet to have anybody show me otherwise.  This type of salesmanship and installation practice should have been stopped before it ever got started.  If you bought a residential solar system under the above conditions and you are mad at NVEnergy you are picking on the wrong company.  You should be after the company that sold you on it or simply blame yourself for a bad decision and move on.    

The Politicians (Governor ‘Sunshine’ Sandoval, the NV Legislature and Harry Reid):

Many, if not all, of the above have taken political donations from NVEnergy.  Some, if not all, have also accepted money from SolarCity.  That puts any elected hack that did it into one hell of a pickle.  You can’t be beholdin’ to two opposite entities.  Even worse for governor ‘Sunshine’ is how he led the charge in convincing the legislature on what wonderful deal Elon Musk’s battery plant would be for Nevada.  Now that NVEnergy and the NVPUC has neutered SolarCity, ‘Sunshine’ must be more than a little worried about what would happen if ‘Battery Man’ (Musk) pulls the plug on Reno.  Note to ‘Gov.’ - - In the 1970’s Volkswagen did just that in New Stanton, Pennsylvania.  They built a VW Rabbit manufacturing plant with huge state concessions and tax breaks.  After promising years of prosperity on this deal the plant lasted one year.  It cost the PA tax payers millions.   

It’s not totally correct to put the blame for this debacle on the NV Public Utilities Commission.  Under staffed and over worked, I believe some improperly applied pressure led to a hasty and, there’s no nice way to say this, bad decision.  

So where does this leave solar owners?  I hope this will lead you to follow my decision.

January 1, 2016 NVEnergy started buying my excess electricity.  No more accrued credits.  My bill shows they bought it all, which the way I see it, now makes me an electric company.  I manufacture and now sell electricity.  Certainly that was not by my design.  But now that I am electric company I am entitled to the following:

11)    To negotiate rates and PUC hearings on such rates.
22)     To be paid monthly by check and not in credits by NVEnergy.  After all of those years of paying my        bills on time I am entitled to the same courtesy. 
33)     If NVEnergy does not pay on time I am entitled to late fees. 
44)     I’m entitled to legal representation and have the rates of such representation included into                     negotiated rate paid by NVEnergy.  You can damn well bet NVEnergy has lawyers on their staff.
55)    NVEnergy should be subject to payment of the same short fees (nuisance fees) on my bill that I 
         pay on my monthly bill. 
66)     All of my years in Southern Nevada I had no choice but to buy electricity from NVEnergy. 
         NVEnergy should have no choice and should be mandated to buy mine.
77)     As an electric company I should be granted the right to put as many solar panels on my 
          property as permitted by building codes.  

At the current time I am shopping for legal representation for my electric company.  Maybe I can find a legal beagle to represent all of those that join the idea presented here.  My goal is to gain a decent ROI, just like NVEnergy’s goal is to get a decent ROI.  

Actually I would love to meet with Governor Sandoval, any and all interested members of the Nevada Legislature, NVEnergy and/or the NVPUC.  From coast to coast this state is becoming the joke of solar energy and that should have never happened.

Final note:  My electric company already meets federal guidelines for the amount of electricity generated by renewable resources. 

If you are a solar owner please join me.  Contact nevadawx@yahoo.com  Subject:  Solar owner.

Update - - 3/11/2016  (Friday)  THIS MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT UPDATE SO FAR!!!!

 

Finally Some Good News for NV Residential Solar Panel Owners

 

You may have already guessed any good news did not come from Gov. Sunless Sandoval, his Carson City Cronies, NVEnergy nor the NV PUC.  This good news comes from a white knight company that really, really, really wanted to help us.  

I’m sure most of you, if not all of you, know Warren (stick it to you) Buffett’s local liars club, more oft than not referred to as NVEnergy is no longer interested in purchasing Portfolio Energy Credits (PECs) generated from solar.  A system they helped create and signed off on is DEAD.  That leaves those of us who own our PECs, aka Renewable Energy Certificates (REC’s) in other states, SOL (Shit out of Luck).

Now along comes a source of illumination and it’s not from the sun, however, it is from a local solar company.  Enter and welcome with open arms A to Z Solar Systems.

If you bought your system outright, did not take the rip-off NVEnergy rebate, and own your REC’s help has arrived.  I want to state upfront A to Z Solars intentions are not purely philanthropic.  There is money in it for them, however, they are taking the risk and deserve some return on that.

A to Z Solar Sytems is the ONLY entity in the state of NV actively marketing and selling RECs from both residential and small commercial solar installs.  They can sell across state lines which will get the best price for you and best 15% commission for them.  You commit for 1 year at a time and can bail at the end of any year commitment.  

In short they track, monitor, and sell you RECs and you get the check, less 15%.  How much will you get?  Hey, prices vary but anything is better than the boot in your a$$ you are currently getting.

Up front you need to know this.....you need a digital meter accurate within 00.2% on your solar panels.  Analog meters are only accurate within 1% and that’s simply not good enough.  That digital meter is going to set you back 100 beans ($).  A to Z will sell and install this for you.  

I suspect sometime in the future some other local solar saviors will jump on board and that might cause some competition on commission rates.  

I’ll tell you this I jumped at this opportunity almost instantly.  Every day you wait is more PECs (RECs) down the rat hole.  

Contact info for A to Z Solar Systems is (702) 831 0313  


Physical address  4012 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite K-341  Las Vegas, NV  89013

Update - - 3/30/2016  (Wednesday)

YOU CAN STILL GO RESIDENTIAL SOLAR IN NEVADA....BUT

In case you’ve been living in a cave the past few months, the Public Utilities Commission in Nevada blocked out the sunshine for residential solar in January of 2016.

Along with many many others, my initial reaction was NVEnergy got their wish, Gov. ‘Sunless’ Sandoval sold out to big electric, and the PUCN was a rubber stamp for helping Warren Buffett’s new toy, NVEnergy.  To me, all of the above still holds true.  The next statement I’ve repeatedly made needs revision.  I’ve been rightly quoted as saying, “Residential Solar is dead in Nevada.”  After additional research and some adjustments to my residential solar model I can now tell you residential solar is not dead, however it is seriously wounded.  The fact is you can make residential solar still work in your favor BUT you have to be very careful in how you do it.  

Residential Solar now requires more homework than before.  Your Return on Investment will be less and the ROI will take a longer period of time which makes your age now factor into the equation.  


ENTER THE NEW REALITIES

I’m going to try and make this as simple as I can and upfront I’ll tell you many of the old rules of residential solar still apply, so I’ll start with them first.


        1)       Shop Around (old reality) 

Get bids on your project from multiple companies.  I strongly suggest talking with Robco Electric www.robcoelectricinc.com and A to Z Solar Systems www.NVRECs.com before you sign on the line.  

        2)      Put up the maximum amount of panels allowed for compliance (old
               reality/new reality)

          You objective is to zero out you electric bill as much as possible.  The only way 
          to do this is to load up on panels.  Prior to January 1 you were limited to a
          10% overage of your previous years production.  Now there is no limit
          but you'll want to cap this at around 15 to 20 %.

        3)       Head South without any obstructions (old reality)

Make sure you panels are installed on the South side of your home and there are no obstructions blocking out the sunshine.  If you don’t have a good southerly heading without anything blocking the sun, don’t waste your money on solar.

        4)       PAY CASH (old reality)

If you finance solar panels or do a lease/purchase (which I have always said is the worst idea ever) you will find it nearly impossible to get your money back.  I’ve actually talked with some people who, under the new rules, are now telling me they are paying more with their lease/purchase solar then they would have paid in electric bills.  In short, they will never get their money back and it’s costing them MORE.  Make no mistake about this, having lease/purchase solar panels on you home will make it more difficult to sell.  Especially if the company that did the deal pulled out of Nevada.

        5)      Make sure your installation comes with Enphase Inverters (new reality)

I’ll explain this with #6.

         6)      Get set up to sell your Renewable Energy Credits (new reality)

Prior to January 1st of 2016 Nevada had Portfolio Energy Credits.  Initially these were yours to     sell, however it got to a point where NVEnergy had no plans on buying them.  PECs had a multiplier applied to them which really meant nothing.  Other states call them RECs and have no multiplier.  Here is where you must have contact with A to Z Solar.  As of this writing they are the only company in Nevada that can sell your RECs.  They get 10% of the money and you get 90%.  Hey, 90% is better than a rake in the face.  To meet specifications on selling RECs you must have Enphase Inverters on your solar panels and you must have a digital solar meter installed that is accurate within 2/10’s of 1%.  That will cost you 100 bucks and A to Z Solar will handle that.  

        7)       Your AGE is now a factor on going solar (new reality)

When we decided to go solar I was 64.  Under the old rules I calculated a 6-1/2 year pay back with an overall 11% ROI.  Under the new system my payback is now 12 years with an overall 6% ROI.  By the time we get our initial investment back I will be 76.  In today’s economic climate a 6% return on investment is decent, not great, but decent.  I feel pretty confident I’d be around in my early 70’s to make all of this work.  I’m in good health and I’m hoping now 76 plus a few is livable.  If you decide to go residential solar, the younger you are the better.  Fifty-five seems like a pretty decent age.  Depending on your health, even 60 might work.  Beyond 60 you become boarder line on making it work.  It’s hard to appreciate an ROI when you’re busy taking an eternal dirt nap.  

You now have 3 new realities to consider before putting solar panels on your home.  It’s still doable but not quite as profitable.  

Update - - 4/18/2016  (Monday)

Lots of solar issues to address today.

I'll start with this - - http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/13/solar-panel-energy-power-company-nevada

Followed by this which is being sent to the local media -


Recently a commercial started airing on television for Citizens for Solar Energy Fairness with the website of www.solarenergyfairness.com .  This website is yet another misinformation campaign. 
Electric companies have repeatedly charged that residential customers going solar have and will continue to raise electric rates for non-solar residential customers.  This is simply NOT true.  

Nationwide less than 2/10 of 1% of all solar energy comes from residential customers.  In Southern Nevada that figures is 2%.  NVEnergy’s own growth numbers show growth in our area will increase slightly more than 3-1/2% while only 2% of residents went solar.  That indicates NVEnergy’s customer base will grow more than 1-1/2% beyond those residential customers that have opted to put up solar panels.  When you have growth above and beyond defectors, it follows that NVEnergy profits will grow despite the loss of a 2% customer base.

The website www.solarenergyfairness.com incorrectly claims rooftop solar owners get an average of $623 in subsidies yearly.  I have rooftop solar and the ONLY incentive I had was a ONE TIME 30% Federal Income Tax Credit.  This is not a subsidy and it has ZERO effect on how NVEnergy charges its local customers.  

To be fair there were a few and I mean very few subsidies given each year to a lottery pool of residential solar applicants.  Again, the fact is very few residents got this subsidy.  The bulk of NVEnergy subsidies were given to state, business and non-profit organizations.  As of January 1, 2016 NVEnergy subsidy ‘Power Clerk’ system has not taken any new applications.  

The above change coincides with the Public Utility Commission of Nevada wholesale and unfair changes (referred to by the New York Times as “Nevada’s Solar Bait-and-Switch) which successfully punished and penalized those of us that put up residential solar panels.  Part of my punishment for my solar efforts has been having my base rate jump a whopping 79% from a $10 per month to $17.90.

Thanks to the PUCN’s January 1st punitive action for those of us that put on residential solar panels, NVEnergy actually LOWERED the kWh rate from $.11487 to $.10920.  Contrary to what Citizens for Solar Energy Fairness would have you believe, the kWh rate has actually dropped because of rooftop solar.

Admittedly there were some unscrupulous large solar panel sales companies preying on home owners by making unsubstantiated claims, mainly with lease/purchase solar panel agreements.   Home owners that got sucked into unrealistic solar agreements are now stuck with homes that will be, at best, difficult to sell and, at worst, will be paying more for solar and electric combined than they ever would have paid in just NVEnergy bills.  

It’s easy to see NVEnergy does not want any additional residential (bread and butter) customers jumping ship to solar.  

Governor ‘Sunless’ Sandoval, his buddies at NVEnergy, and appointees at the PUCN have successfully slowed the growth rate of residential solar which is now something equivalent to the amount of solar electricity generated at night.  Let’s not forget the fact that literally thousands of solar rooftop homeowners were hurt in this uncaring process.  

What I find most interesting is Big Electric isn’t content with how it managed to squash residential solar.  It wants to continue to villainize residential rooftop solar owners.  

I did the basic homework and found out Citizens for Solar Energy Fairness and the corresponding website www.solarenergyfairness.com was established by Kenny Eliason.  Eliason has a business called NeONBRAND.com.  NeONBRAND.com is a company that designs websites and specializes in Search Engine Optimization located at 817 S. Main Street, Las Vegas.

It seems more than a little odd that a Facebook page like Citizens for Solar Energy Fairness with slightly more than 1700 followers could afford to launch a big television campaign touting the evils of rooftop residential solar without some big backing from NVEnergy, Energy company lobbyists, and/or other big electric interests.   

I did the basic homework on this, now it’s up to a news organization to pick up the ball and dig deeper on what entity is perpetuating the lies.

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Then there is this which will have a few minor edits to it before being submitted to state legislators, the NV Governor, the PUCN, and NVEnergy.

I’ve been shooting my big mouth off from my solar rooftop perch about both the State of Nevada and NVEnergy’s horrible record in dealing with residential solar.    
 
Finally somebody hit me with the question I’ve been somewhat dreading but also waiting for – “Okay, big mouth, what is your solution?”  

Thank you for the question, I guess and here goes the crux of my solution to the solar problem in Nevada.

At the onset, let me reiterate on something I have said time and again.  Nevada should be the premier state in leading the nation in solar energy.  At the current time it has become a national embarrassment.  Below are some of the fixes and the effects thereof.



1)  No more new solar subsidies from NVEnergy, PERIOD.  However, all existing
     subsidies will be honored.

THIS BENEFITS NVENERGY.  Subsidies may have been necessary when the solar baby was born, but this game has grown.  In addition, subsidies often lead to misuse and fraud.  Fly-by-night and some big name solar companies where using the subsidy ploy to lure customers.  Eliminating subsidies will help stop shady business practices.  The absence of subsidies will slow solar growth, however, it will be at a tolerable rate for NVEnergy.
THIS ALSO BENEFITS EXISTING SOLAR OWNERS.  Those few with subsidies will continue to receive them.  This will eliminate the false argument that residential solar customers are forcing rate increases.  This will be eliminated because solar growth will be slower.
THIS BENEFITS NON-SOLAR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS – for all of the reasons mentioned above.

2)  The compass rule.  All new solar installations must be with + or – 40
      degrees of due south (180 degrees).

THIS BENEFITS FUTURE RESIDENTIAL OWNERS.  The object here is to get the maximum benefit from lowest cost when you install solar.  Solar panels facing any other directions produce less electric.  To get the benefit of solar in other directions you need to install additional panels.  This is a consumer protection rule.  If your residence faces the wrong direction, rather than waste money adding solar panels that will under produce, buy a different home or simply forget about solar.

 3)  The Shade Rule.  Solar panel installations will not be approved for homes where
      obstacles, such as trees, exceed the height of the roof and create shade on the
      panels.  Again, this is a consumer protection rule.  

THIS BENEFITS FUTURE RESIDENTIAL SOLAR INSTALLATIONS by maximizing output for the lower  cost.

 4)  Pigeon Guard.  All residential solar installations MUST include pigeon guard
       surrounding the top bottom and all sides of panel groups.

THIS BENFITS BOTH SOLAR OWNERS AND NEAR BY RESIDENTS.  Pigeon droppings are annoying and, when directly on the face of solar panels, cut into production.  Underneath unprotected solar panels is a great home for pigeons.  No pigeon guards – no solar panels. 

 5)  Rent/Lease Solar Panel Purchase WARNING with 3 day right of recension.  This
       rule would work as follows:  Any Rent/Lease Solar panel purchase would have
       something similar to the following, in bold type, at the top of the contract:  

WARNING!  READ THIS CAREFULLY!  INSTALLING SOLAR PANELS USING A RENT/LEASE OPTION MAY MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO SELL YOUR HOME IN THE FUTURE.  IF ATTEMPTING TO SELL YOUR HOME WITH RENT/LEASE SOLAR PANELS YOU MUST DISCLOSE THIS FACT TO REAL ESTATE AGENTS AND POTENTIAL BUYERS.  ADDITIONALLY, A RENT/LEASE SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATION MAY, OVER TIME, COST MORE THAN THE BASIC PRICE OF ELECTRICITY DURING THE SAME TIME PERIOD.  YOU MUST SIGN AND DATE THIS PORTION OF THE CONTRACT.  A COPY OF THIS WILL BE KEPT ON FILE BY YOUR LOCAL ELECTRIC UTILITY COMPANY.

THIS BENEFITS BOTH FUTURE SOLAR PANEL OWNERS AND NVENERGY.  The rapid growth of solar in Southern Nevada was, in part, caused by a few companies making pie in the sky promises using the rent/lease ploy.  Rest assured, in the future there will be a plethora of lawsuits between existing rent/lease solar owners and those that sold them on this horrible concept.  

 6)  No loans for a down payment of rent/lease solar panels.  No purchasers will
       knowingly apply for a down payment loan on a rent/lease solar panel deal.  
       In addition, no bank or lending institution will knowingly approve such a loan.

THIS BENEFITS BANKS, LENDING INSTITUTIONS AND CONSUMERS.  The chance of a homeowner walking away from a mortgage is dramatically increased if that person is upside down on a loan and increased his overall cost with a bad rent/lease solar deal.  

 7)   The base rate for residential solar home owners will be $2.00 above the
        rate of non-solar residential customers with the same class of service.

THIS BENEFITS SOLAR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS AND NVENERGY.  This will actually lower the base rate for solar owners from the current rate.  Because it is a slight decrease solar customers benefit.  The fact that this rate is still an increase from the rate prior to January 1st 2016, NVEnergy remains a benefactor.  This levels the playing field between solar and non-solar customers because the solar customers will continue to pay $2.00 more whenever there is a base rate increase.

  8)  Excess solar generation credits are applied at the same rate as accrued.  
        This returns the credit generation system to the way it was prior to
        January 1, 2016.

THIS BENEFITS RESIDENTIAL SOLAR CUSTOMERS AND NVENERGY.  This simplifies accounting for excess credits.  Unlike prior to January 1, 2016, excess credits can now be used to pay base rate meter fee.  This was permitted on January 1, 2016.  By allowing a meter fee of $2.00 per month more than non-solar customers, solar customers will be using some of the excess generation money to pay meter fees.

 9)  The 5/50/50 rule.  The new rules no longer limit the amount of solar panels
       that can be installed by residential customers.  This rule makes it un-profitable
       for residential solar customers to ‘load-up’ on panels.  Every 5 years NVEnergy
       will purchase 50% of excess accrued residential power at 50% of the current kWh
       price.  Example:  For this example let’s assume the current price of a kWh is $.10. 
       Let’s also assume the residential solar customer loaded his roof with enough extra
       panels to zero out his energy bill and generate an extra 1000 kWh per year. 
       NVEnergy could then buy 2500 kWh of that reserve for $.05.  The return of 50%
       makes it totally unattractive for residential solar customers to ‘load up’ on access
       panels because the customer would never generate enough electric to pay for the
       excess panels.  The unpurchased kWh would remain in the owners account as a
      ‘buffer’ for potential rate increases.  

THIS BENEFITS NEVADA ENERGY by removing any incentive for residential solar customers to ‘load up’ on solar panels in the hope of generating a personal profit.

 10)  The round-up rule.  Any NVEnergy bill will be in whole dollars ONLY.  All bills are
         rounded up to the next dollar.  This is already being done by some utility
         companies in other states to help offset short fees such as a universal energy
         charge.  This will also consume a few extra kWh from some residential solar
         customers each month.  

THIS BENEFITS NVENERGY.  All future NVEnergy bills will be whole dollars only with zero cents.  The round up is used to offset short fees and ‘burn’ off a few additional solar credits.

 11)  No payment due, no snail mail bill.  Any customer non-solar or solar that has a
         credit does NOT receive a bill by U.S. mail.  Credit statements and ZERO bill
         customers are notified by email to download that month’s statement. 
         Statements sent by U.S. mail will only be mailed when actual money is owed
         to NVEnergy OR at the times when NVEnergy issues a check for the 5/50/50
         rule.

I am not naïve enough to believe this will settle all of the issues with the State of Nevada, NVEnergy, solar residential customers, and non-solar customers.  I do believe this is a solid start to common sense ideas that will hopefully get the powers that be to stop drawing lines between solar and non-solar customers.  

Stop back from time to time and see what’s new.  I’ll post update information on my FB page and twitter.  

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