Unfortunately, NEM 3 was passed by the CPUC on December 15^th, 2022. If you have been considering going solar time is running out to avoid a 20-year procrastination tax.

You need to sign a contract with a reputable solar contractor who has the staff to process your NEM 2 paperwork prior to April 14th. Once that is completed you have three years to install your project to be grandfathered under NEM 2 for 20 years.

Be very cautious of solar scams over the next 120 days. There is no benefit to waiting. Do your research select the right contractor and move forward. All the reputable contractors are going to be backed up processing paperwork so you will want to give them plenty of time.

Normally we sell 400 projects a year I expect to sell 2,000 in the next 120 days.

We look forward to helping as many homeowners, businesses, and faith-based organizations as we can. Thanks in advance for helping spread the word.

If you drive an electric vehicle (EV) or want to buy one, you’ll clearly be charging that car at home.  Nothing special here, the power for at-home charging stations come from the same electrical grid as an ordinary household appliance, just on a much larger scale.  Add in the fact these cars have such a large battery capacity, you should be aware of the potential costs involved to charge them.

So, Just Add a Solar System, Right?

Naturally, adding solar system is an excellent option for EV owners.  But is it that simple?  Can a solar system completely offset the cost of charging an electric vehicle? No.  In reality, the number of panels needed will greatly exceed the space available on your roof or property.  But that doesn’t mean solar can’t provide you with some offset of the electricity consumption.

There are numerous factors to consider when determining how many solar panels are required to power an electric vehicle at home, including the size of the vehicle’s battery and the efficiency of the panels on the property.

How Many Panels Do You Need?

The sheer number of panels needed to charge a car battery is quite high.  The chart below outlines how much energy can be produced by a set number of solar panels.  Keep this information in mind as you observe how large of a capacity comes with the electric vehicle’s battery.

Just how big are these EV batteries?

First and foremost, the amount of electricity required to charge your electric car is determined by its battery capacity. The battery capacity of an electric vehicle is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh), and can range from the low 70s to 130 kWh or more.

The table below outlines popular EV make and models and their battery size.  By comparing the two charts you can see that your brand new Tesla requires over 60 panels to fully charge.  This assumes that all the consumption from the solar system goes 100% to the car, which also isn’t realistic.

As the government increases restrictions on gas vehicles (see California’s ban on gas-powered cars), the popularity of electric cars will only continue to gain momentum. Homeowners should plan their solar projects with this in mind because it will affect the type of inverter and number of panels required.  A homeowner will need to purchase enough panels for their current use and the potential increase of adding and EV to their garage.  Contact Palomar Solar and Roofing today!

Overview

Time-of-use pricing is exactly what it sounds like—the utility charges you more depending when the electricity is used in your home.

Time-of-use (TOU) is a rate plan in which charges vary depending on the time of day, season, and day type (weekday, weekend, or holiday). The time of day when energy consumption is highest is known as peak hours. This correlates to when people arrive home from work in the late afternoon or evening, they tend to use their appliances more frequently. Local utilities charge the highest fee for electricity usage during this time.  Peak hours are commonly defined from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m..

Energy chargers are at their lowest during the late morning or early afternoon, when the demand for energy is lower since fewer people are at home.

Why Do Utilities Provide Time-of-Use Rates?

Prior to the introduction of TOU, the cost of electricity remained constant regardless of when you used an appliance. However, the demand for electricity on the grid is always changing.

If a large number of individuals in a certain area are all at home at the same time and doing things that require a lot of electricity, the grid may become strained. As a result, grid operators must request more power from producers than they require during low-demand periods.

This leads to utility companies incurring higher expenses if they want to generate additional capacity to satisfy peak demand, even if they don’t need to do so most of the time. As a result, they’ve found that encouraging consumers to regulate their own electricity usage is less expensive.

Net Metering and Time of Use Rates

Prior to TOU, calculating net metering credits before usage plans for homeowners with solar was simple: 1 kWh of electricity put onto the grid was worth 1 kWh you could use later.

The value of net metering has varied since the introduction of time-of-use rates: The credit you get for your surplus electricity depends on when you put it into the grid. As an example, adding 1 kWh to the grid during peak hours could result in a credit worth more than 1 kWh. Adding 1 kWh during super off-peak hours, on the other hand, might be worth less than 1 kWh of credit.

Let’s look at a sample scenario of a homeowner with solar installed. In the middle of 2022, summer off-peak rates are roughly $0.32 per kWh, while on-peak rates are $0.70. If the homeowner transmits one kWh of excess electricity into the grid around lunchtime, they will receive a $0.25 credit because it is during off-peak hours. If the homeowner’s solar panels don’t produce enough electricity later in the day and they need to consume one kWh of grid electricity around 5 p.m. and be charged $0.40 or more.

While they still get full credit for the surplus electricity produced, the TOU schedule means that not every kWh is worth the same.

So, is this a good or bad thing for homeowners?

For homeowners with solar, the fairness of TOU is in question.  Within the confines of a TOU rate structure, homeowners potentially have more say over their bill by controlling how much electricity they use during peak and off-peak times. Of course, most customers are not going to the extreme of unplugging their refrigerator every day during peak hours or avoiding charging that brand new Tesla.

Making subtle changes may result in a difference, but it’s negligible in practice.

Our advice is to purchase a system that is oversized and can produce 150% of what your current use is.  This will provide you protection for the inevitable higher future peak rates from SDG&E and the increased energy consumption that comes over time.

Choosing to install a residential solar system may appear like an overwhelmingly expensive upgrade. However, the benefits of installing a solar panel system can far outweigh the costs associated with the installation. Many homeowners have found the savings have allowed them to pay for their system with ease, while enjoying the freedom from the utility company.

What solar financing options are available to homeowners, and which one should be considered? That all depends on personal preference. This goal of this article is to provide a very brief summary of the current options.

Cash

The old adage that “cash is king” also applies to a solar purchase. The simplest and most preferred method is to pay with a check to reduce the complexities and long-term cost of a homeowner’s system.

The obvious benefits are:

• From the start, the homeowner owns the system
• If the homeowner decides to sell, the system can be positioned as an added value
• The homeowner receives all the tax incentives
• No recurring bills or contracts

Finance

For those homeowners that do not have the cash to pay for a system up-front, a loan is the next best option. A solar loan offers immediate short-term savings, as monthly payments are still lower than the utility bill. Unlike lease options, the federal tax credits are still available to the homeowner to reduce the loan payment or invest elsewhere.

Solar Leases and Purchase Agreements (PPA)

The selling point of a PPA is that a homeowner can enjoy the benefits of solar immediately without the need of capital or financing. An installer will point out the high kilowatt hour rates from the utility and sell the homeowner on a long-term contract promising prices lower than the utility’s cost of electricity.

While a PPA has the immediate benefit to solar without an up-front payment, it does have consequences that need to be considered.

• Not eligible for any federal tax credits
• Substantially lower long-term savings compared to purchasing
• Extremely difficult passing the agreement if your home is sold
•  In a PPA, where your system is size correctly. you may actually begin to incur costs.

The Palomar Difference

At Palomar Solar and Roofing, we believe trust is everything and strive to be the company that will do everything we can to live up to our contracts.

There are multiple steps required from the time a contract is signed and when a new system can be turned on. Unlike other installers who will require most, if not, all of the payment up front, at Palomar, we normally require only a $1,000 deposit when the contract is signed. You pay the full balance only once the system is approved and turned on. This means you can enjoy the peace-of-mind that you’re not paying for a system and the utility at the same time.