If You Were To Install Solar Panels On Your Home That Would Allow You To…..?

always use less power than what the panels are generating, does the electric company pay you for the excess electricity you produced?
I live in California. I know it may be different in each state.

6 thoughts on “If You Were To Install Solar Panels On Your Home That Would Allow You To…..?”

  1. The 3 major suppliers in California do NOT pay you for excess generation – the best you can get is a credit on your bill up to the amount of your usage. This is true for the PG&E region, as well as SCE and SDG&E. Also there will be a minimum charge for staying connected to the grid, nominally $5-10 a month, which cannot be undone by generating credit.
    This being true, if you get a solar electric system, you want to size it to not quite meet your electrical needs, averaged over the year. We made the mistake of over-sizing our system, so ended up with a net credit at the end of the 2007 period. At that time, the power company said “thank you for your donation” and zeroed out the credit.
    See the California Solar Initiative site below for official information.

  2. No, you wouldn’t necessarily use less power than what the panels are generating. You may still have to draw from the power grid to meet your needs. But most importantly, check with your utility to make sure that they allow you to send the excess power created by your solar panels (assuming there is some) back to the utility and that they will be willing to pay you for the energy.

  3. It is different for each utility. Most in California do pay for excess power but it will cost more to install the system that feeds excess power back to the utility. Check with the local utility. Also check what the power you will get from your solar cells where you are located. Many do not generate much more than is used.

  4. I know that is they way it is for people who have the wind mills that generate electricity, so I imagine, that would be the same for the solar panels that generate more power than is used.

  5. im not sure about the first part of your question but i do know that you can save money on your electric bill by installing them and in the long run the savings will pay for your panels…
    cheers
    mystic

Comments are closed.