Our solar photovoltaic (PV) electric
generating system has been installed! We contracted with NamasteSolar to install a SunPower system which we are leasing for 20 years.
Our lease payment will be a fixed $62 that will stay the same for the
next 20 years (with no 5% to 10% inflation rate that most electric
utility customers will experience). Our equivalent rate is
approximately 7 cents per kilowatt-hour produced compared to our
previous utility cost of about 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. Since we
are still tied to the electric grid for backup purposes (and so our
surplus power can be fed onto the grid to help supply our
neighborhood's electric needs), we will still have to pay the power
company's monthly service and meter reading fees, but we are
expecting to use less electricity each month than our system will
produce.
Here are some technical details for the
solar geeks reading this: there
are a total of 24 SunPower 327 watt modules for a total of
7.85 kilowatts. The system also includes a SunPower Inverter
(manufactured by Fronius) that converts the DC (direct current) power
produced by the panels into AC (alternating current) power so it can
be used in our home or fed into our neighborhood power grid. The
power from the inverter is fed through a production meter and then to
a circuit breaker in our electric panel. Xcel Energy (our electric
utility) will read the production meter and our net consumption meter
each month to determine how much to bill us. If we produce more than
we consume over the course of a year, they will pay us at the current
wholesale rate for the overage.
The panels outside the house show the meter readings and inside the house control the system.
The panels outside the house show the meter readings and inside the house control the system.
We are expecting to produce enough
power to cover our electric consumption as well as offset our natural
gas consumption, and still have enough to power two future electric
plug-in vehicles. This will make our house a net-zero energy usage
home if everything works as expected. We will keep you updated with
the actual results.