SCE Rate Increase 2021: What You Need to Know

If you live in Southern California, and specifically in Southern California Edison territory, you are likely fed up with the already high cost of electricity. It seems like every year there is a rate increase, and, as you could likely guess, there are more increases on the horizon. SCE recently published a notice of public forums for them to request a large rate increase for 2021, with similar increases proposed for coming years.  Let’s take a look at the history of SCE rate increases and what is included in their current request, to see what homeowners can expect as far as increases go in 2021 and coming years. Why Utilities Request Rate Increases Every utility has to increase rates periodically to cover increasing grid maintenance and service costs. The grid, like any network of equipment, goes through wear and tear, and therefore, rates have to increase to cover the increasing costs of paying employees, buying new equipment, etc. to keep it up to date.  In SCE’s recently released notice, they state that the reason for the rate increase is to “set rates that customers pay to fund SCE’s day-to-day operations, including maintenance for its equipment and electricity grid upgrades.” The increases are there to cover the anticipated costs in the coming four years, from 2021 to 2024. Utilities like SCE have had increased scrutiny over the past few years as a result of the 2018 Paradise, CA fires that resulted in many deaths. These fires were found to be caused by neglect on Pacific Gas & Electric’s part, due mostly to outdated and shotty electrical equipment. So with this increased scrutiny on all utilities in California has come increased regulation, which means that the utilities are having to put more money into maintenance. Why You Should Maintain Skepticism of Increases The three big utilities, PG&E, SCE and SDG&E are "investor-owned utilities" (IOUs) and as such, they are publicly traded companies. But this means they are incorporated to provide a substantial return on investment (ROI) to their shareholders, not their customer base. So while they do have to have money to keep these elements maintained, they also have to be profitable to appease their shareholders. So while we can give them the benefit of the doubt that some of the increases are absolutely necessary to keep the grid running properly, it is also necessary to maintain healthy skepticism of the amount of the increases. This is why, when it comes down to it, you should attempt to free yourself from the utility so you will no longer be subject to any rate increases. The Effect on Residential Rates Not all utility customers are impacted by rate increases the same. Residential rates are generally rising more rapidly than average rates, and additionally, are rising more quickly than inflation. Residential rates in CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) jurisdiction, the jurisdiction that SCE is under, are growing faster than residential rates statewide. The Effect on Baseline Rates Baseline rates are affected more significantly than any other rates. For those that don’t know, a "baseline" of electricity consumption is an amount of electricity, measured in kilowatt hours (kWh), that satisfies a substantial amount of electrical use of the average residential customer in a given area. The baseline statute was established by The 1976 Warren-Miller Lifeline Act (CAL PUC Code § 739) as a response to significant energy cost spikes in the 70’s. Baseline rates are set at a lower rate and are meant to cover 50-70% of average household consumption - but are the most susceptible to large increases when rate changes are requested. The History of SCE Residential Rate Increases SCE has seen steady increases in their residential rates every year since 2009. Between 2009 and 2019, residential rates have increased 18% in SCE territory. Unlike other utilities in the CPUC jurisdiction like PG&E and SDG&E, SCE’s residential average rates have actually paced similar to inflation, and have actually paced below the CA average. See the rates below, where (EIA) CA represents the CA residential average rate, and CPI represents rate of inflation.So you can see that rates have increased every year, and you can expect that to continue into the future. The History of SCE Baseline Rates Baseline rates have risen much more significantly since 2009 than those of the general residential rates. Even in SCE, where rates in general have not risen like that of SDG&E and PG&E, baseline rates have risen 48% since 2009. See below:So since baseline rates are meant to cover most usage for the average customer, these dramatically increasing rates are largely affecting lower use customers - making power more expensive for lower income earners. It’s estimated that a quarter to a third of residential customers never exceed their baseline - so really, these baseline rates are a better representation of what kind of increases most customers are seeing. SCE Application for Rate Increase 2021 SCE has again filed an application for a rate increase in 2021 and increases over the next consecutive three years.  If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, there will be a 14% rate increase for residential rates in SCE territory in 2021.  According to the application, this amounts to increases of approximately $14 in 2021, $4 in 2022 and $6 in 2023 to the average bill. These amounts will be less for lower income residents that are enrolled in the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program. These rates could take effect as early as 2021. This 14% increase is a significant jump from previous years for SCE. After only 18% in increases over the last 10 years, a 14% increase in one year is astounding. For those customers with higher than average bills, this could result in significant bill increases that could be hard to swallow.  How You Can Avoid these Increases by Going Solar So if you’re a homeowner in SCE territory, you may be worried about these impending rate increases. If your usage is higher than average, you will be faced with much higher bills, that, especially in the summer, will strain your already tight finances. You may be wondering how you can get relief from this impending financial strain. At the end of the day, you can add all the home efficiencies you want, but you will still be susceptible to high rates. In reality, there is only one answer: you should go solar.  By installing solar panels and producing your own power with the Sun, you can create enough power to offset most or all of the power that you pull from the grid. How it works is through a billing mechanism known as “net metering” where homeowners can sell the extra solar power their panels create during the day back to the power company for “credits” that can be used at night when the solar is not producing. Through this system of producing credits and using them at night, most homeowners who install solar can completely eliminate any electric charges they may have had previous to installing solar. So by eliminating electric charges, homeowners who install solar can shield themselves from the increases coming in SCE in 2021, and any increases moving forward by creating their own power instead of having to rely on power from the utility. By doing this, they will no longer have to worry about rate increases, and as rates increase, the return on investment of the solar actually increases, as when rates increase, savings from solar increase. Save Even More by installing Battery Storage With the new “Time of Use” rate structures that have been implemented in SCE territory, electricity costs more or less based on the time of day it is used. It is most expensive in the “On-Peak” times, which are typically in the afternoon / early evening, as during these times, more people are at home using power, and therefore the power company charges more, as the higher demand puts strain on the grid. For many homeowners, the increased rates at these times mean they will be spending much more than before Time of Use was implemented, as they are typically getting home from work or school and using appliances in these hours.  Luckily, if you install solar and add battery storage, you can offset these Time of Use charges by charging your battery with the extra solar power you create during the day and using it during on-peak times. Instead of pulling power back from the grid when the sun starts to go down and the solar produces less, you can set up your solar + battery system such that you can pull power from the battery during this on-peak times. That way, you don’t have to use the expensive power from the utility, and can save a ton by using the extra power you created during the day.  So, as you can see, SCE rates are going up in 2021, and pretty significantly. If you’re a homeowner in this utility, you should see this as a sign of things to come, and should seriously consider going solar so that you can produce your own power so you will no longer have to worry about the dramatic rate increases like the one coming next year. If you’re a homeowner in SCE utility and are interested in getting a solar quote or adding battery storage, contact us today.

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SDG&E Flex Alerts: How Installing Solar + Battery Storage Can Help

It was a hot summer in San Diego. In the first few weeks of September 2020, San Diego had a few days of record breaking heat, which meant that a lot of San Diegans were blasting their A/C. As a result of this power demand, SDG&E issued flex alerts, which encouraged San Diegans to keep their thermostats higher and to conserve energy however else they could in order to relieve the immense stress on the grid that was occurring during these hot times. Fortunately, San Diegans heeded the call, and as a result there were minimal outages. The events of this Summer have shown that the stability of our electric grid, which many of us San Diegans take for granted, is clearly not as solid as we assume. Many residents are likely wondering how this could happen and what the solution may be. One answer now being suggested in many local news publications is for more homeowners in the area to install solar + battery storage; this can reduce the amount of demand on the grid in times of high heat and thereby stabilize the grid. In this way, every homeowner in San Diego can be part of the solution to grid stability. By installing solar panels and adding battery storage, homeowners can use the sun to power their home during the day and store extra power in their battery for use during the evening hours, when peak demand for power is at an all-time high. In effect, every home with battery storage becomes its own self-sustaining power plant, and during times of strain on the grid, the home will be able to power itself and not put more load on the grid.  Let’s look more closely at how this works so we can better understand how a home with solar + battery storage can power itself and thereby reduce strain on the grid. How Installing Solar + Battery Storage Relieves Strain on the Grid The very simple idea behind installing solar + battery storage to lessen strain on the grid is that the solar panels allow homeowners to meet all of their power needs (plus fill up the battery) from 10am-4pm (or so); then from 4pm-9pm, when the solar production starts to "sunset," the home relies on the battery for power (instead of the grid). Most of the flex alerts take place from 12 noon to 9pm when grid demand is the highest, so solar + battery lowers this demand.The graph above provides a visual example of how home solar production and battery charging can be utilized to offset usage. The purple curve represents the home's usage, or how much it is pulling from the grid. You can see first that in the 12:00am to 6:00am time slot, usage is obviously low, as most people are asleep. Then, in the 6:00am to 4:00pm slot, you can see that usage actually goes down as the Sun rises and provides enough power to offset the current usage, charge the battery (yellow) and earn extra solar credits for use at night, all at once.  In the 4:00pm to 9:00pm slot, you can see that, as usage goes up and solar production goes down, the power that was stored in the battery earlier is discharged and used during the peak power times. This not only saves the homeowner money by using the cheap solar power instead of the expensive On-peak power from the grid, it makes it so they are not pulling from the grid, and therefore putting more stress on it.  Real Life Example of Solar + Battery Use Let’s take a look at a real life example of how solar and battery storage work together to relieve stress on the grid. The graph below is from the solar monitoring of Stellar Solar Co-Founder Michael Powers’ home solar system. Here is a direct explanation from Michael of how his system works:“At midnight on Sept 1st, the battery recharged (light green) so the state of charge was back to 100% (purple line). During the day, there is not much activity on the battery side because the solar is powering the house and selling back to SDGE.  But at 16:00 (4pm), you can see the consumption (blue) is met by the battery discharging that much (red). This continues from 4pm to 9pm and then the battery shuts off (although I could program it to continue discharging until midnight or whenever). The net result (see below) is that on that Sept. 1, I was selling power back to SDGE during the day (below the line) and then from 4pm to 9pm, my net purchases from SDGE (above the line) were zero. After 9pm, the battery stopped discharging and so my SDGE purchases came back:”In this chart above, you can see that on September 1, Michael’s usage of power from the grid was limited to 9:00pm to 9:00am in the morning. That means that he was pulling power only when most households were starting to use less, so it not only decreases his home’s demand but shifts it until later, after the peak. So not only does Michael save money by not using power in the On-peak, more expensive time period, but he also is making it so he doesn’t pull power from the grid in that time. It’s a win-win situation for both the individual homeowner and the community. Solar and Battery Incentives Luckily for homeowners considering solar + battery storage, there are government incentives out there that make them more affordable now than ever. These incentives combined with the fact that electricity rates will only continue to go up, and we are undoubtedly going to have more fires and blackouts in the future, and there has never been a better time to install solar + battery storage than now. Let’s take a look at these incentives to see how homeowners can take advantage of the best deal possible. The Federal Solar Tax Credit The main government incentive for installing solar is the Solar Investment Tax Credit, a federal tax credit will pay for 26% of your solar installation. The Federal Solar Tax Credit has been around for many years, but started phasing out last year from its original level at 30%. It phased out by 4% to 26% this year, and will phase out another 4% next year to 22%, until it will completely go away for residential installations starting in 2022. It will remain at 10% for commercial installations indefinitely.  So if you’re looking to install solar, the next two years are the last that you will be able to receive a substantial tax credit. Considering that the average solar installation is around $20,000, that means that you could save around $5,000 if you go solar this year. With numbers like that, it’s no wonder the Solar ITC has been extremely successful promoting solar deployment nationwide since its inception. Self Generation Incentive Program The Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) is the main incentive for installing battery storage in the United States. Started by the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC), the SGIP program provides financial incentives to support the implementation of distributed energy storage systems. Technologies that qualify for SGIP incentives include wind  pressure reduction turbines, microturbines, waste heat to power technologies, internal combustion engines, gas turbines, fuel cells, and battery storage systems. In SDG&E territory, thousands of homeowners have already taken advantage of the SGIP program. $1,316,400 in incentives have already been distributed in the territory, and much, much more is already allocated. Incentive rates change based on how much of the funds are allocated, but as they stand right now, homeowners can get up to $0.25/Wh for installing small residential energy storage. That amounts to a few thousand dollars homeowners can save if they take advantage of the SGIP incentives. If you’re a homeowner in San Diego and you haven’t considered installing solar + battery storage, you can now see that there are benefits to both yourself and your community that are undeniable. The savings on Time of Use rates, the incentives, the solar savings themselves, and the benefit to the grid are all really good reasons to consider installing solar + battery storage this year, in 2020 in particular. If you’d like to get a quote on installing solar + battery storage, contact us today and we will put you in touch with one of our energy consultants.

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Solar Roof Tiles in San Diego: Should You Install?

Solar roof tiles have been in the news on and off for the last four years, and for good reason. Imagine: all the benefits of a solar panel installation, but without roof penetration and with maximum aesthetic appeal. You’d think with those benefits, solar roof tiles would have completely replaced solar panels at this point. Contrary to what you’d think, solar roof tiles have not really caught on, and it’s hard to find someone to install them even if you want them. Since San Diego was recently rated #2 for solar in the US, you would expect that we would be some of the first in the country to see this technology hit, but there’s little to no evidence that has happened. So what has become of solar roof tile technology? Let’s look at the truth behind solar roof tiles, and explore why they have yet to take off in San Diego. Solar Roof Tiles vs. Solar Shingles First, we need to clear up a common misunderstanding when it comes to solar roof tiles. Often, consumers confuse the terms “solar roof tiles” and “solar shingles.” The main difference between the two is that solar roof tiles are rigid, while solar shingles are flexible. Both products are considered "building-integrated solar" which means, as it sounds, that the solar product and the roofing product have been combined into a single system which is integrated into the building (BIPV). The real advantage of this type of product is seen when it is incorporated into new home construction so the home builder can install it when building the house.  This would be especially attractive to help meet state mandates for solar homes, for example, where builders have to make sure all their new homes have solar panels installed. Perhaps it's stating the obvious here but if you can use one product to both 1) cover the roof and 2) produce solar electricity, that will save money during construction. However, once a home is completed and already has a roof, it doesn't make nearly as much sense economically to remove the old roof and put in a new one using building-integrated solar roof materials because you've spent money on TWO ROOFS instead of just one. This History of Building-Integrated Solar Despite the lack of awareness in the mainstream, the first BIPV systems were actually available in 2005 in the form of flexible solar shingles sold under the brand name “Uni-Solar.” Unfortunately, at the time, BIPV solar was much than traditional solar panels, so didn’t really catch on. Unless the homeowner was re-shingling their home, it wasn’t worth the extra cost. They were also plagued by producing much less solar energy per square foot due to their chemical composition (amorphous silicon vs. crystalline silicon). A later version of BIPV solar became commercially available when DOW Chemical, a subsidiary of Dow Inc., the largest chemical manufacturer in the world, came out with a solar shingle system called Powerhouse in October 2011 which utilized solar cells not made from silicon but rather “CIGS” (layers of copper, indium, gallium and selenide). Although they were more efficient than amorphous silicon and consistently coming down in price, a full rooftop of the tiles, or a cluster of 350, were only able to offset 40-60% of the average home’s power demand, but were around the same price as a full solar system that could offset 100% of the home’s needs. A few other companies began manufacturing rigid solar roof tiles in the years following the Powerhouse, including Tesla in 2016. Despite the availability of the tiles, and the hype surrounding them, they have yet to catch on for several reasons. Let’s take a look at the technology as it exists now, to see how they work and why they haven’t caught on. How Solar Roof Tiles Work  Solar roof tiles are essentially just miniature solar panels - they capture sunlight and turn it into electricity. They are typically larger than a normal roof tile, but are able to be easily integrated into a normal roof. They usually have a purplish, blue or black color, and therefore fit the look and style of most asphalt shingle roofs, which is why so many homeowners are excited about the solar roof tiles. As far as the solar technology goes in the roof tiles, techniques have changed over the years. In the early years, some manufacturers were using solar thin-film technology, which differs from monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon solar cells that typical solar panels use. Now, most mainstream manufacturers have switched to the standard silicon solar cells, including RGS Energy, CertainTeed, and SunTegra.  As far as installation goes, solar roof tiles have to be installed during a re-roof. Different models of solar roof tiles are mounted differently, but some can be installed directly on roof felt. Some models are actually easier to install than traditional solar panels, but in general, the installation is more difficult and expensive than a typical solar installation.The Pitfalls of Solar Roof Tiles So here again, we have to ask, why haven’t solar roof tiles caught on? If they’ve been around for 15 years, and so many companies have been manufacturing them, why haven’t they completely replaced solar panels?  That’s because the technology doesn’t work too well. Based on their construction, they consistently have issues with efficiency, durability, and installation that makes creating a viable business installing them difficult. Let’s take a look at these factors, and why they have held back solar roof tiles. Efficiency A solar panels’ efficiency is defined by its ability to convert sunlight into usable electricity. Historically, as they have been tried for many years, solar roof tiles have delivered worse efficiency than conventional solar panels.  The lower efficiency of the solar roof tiles is due to heat buildup. When solar panels are mounted several inches above the roof, this allows for ventilation as air moves under the solar panels and keeps them cooler. When that's removed and the solar material is installed flush onto the roof, heat tends to build up which in turn causes the resistance of the wiring in the solar panels to increase, reducing the amount of power that can flow through them, sometimes by as much as 20 percent. Clearly this changes the economics of the installation as it would then take 20% more solar material to produce the same amount of electricity on a sunny day. As a result of this lack of efficiency, solar roof tiles require the homeowner to pay more for a less efficient product. Additionally, with the solar roof tiles you have to pay for a re roof as well, which makes the entire installation more expensive. Durability One of the main reasons solar roof tiles have yet to really catch on is that the companies that manufacture them have had issues with their durability and therefore, warranty. One of the reasons the solar roof tiles don’t hold up as well as traditional solar panels is that they are more likely to be damaged from heat than solar panels. That’s because, since they lay against the roof and there is not space under them for ventilation, they get much hotter under the Sun. This heat wears away at their efficiency much quicker than a traditional solar panel. Installation The installation of solar roof tiles has perhaps been the biggest setback in their ability to be mainstreamed. The installations are highly labor intensive, and can only be done with a reroof. So for homeowners who don’t need a reroof, the immense cost that is incurred to fully re roof can be a setback.  The length of installation is also an issue. Electrek previously reported that the average solar roof tile installation was taking up to two weeks, although that was over a year ago. Due to the fact that every installation of solar roof tiles requires a full reroof, this keeps the installation longer than a typical solar installation. Supposedly, companies like Tesla that are serious about making solar roof tile installation a viable business have dedicated a lot of their energy to making installation of solar roof tiles easier and take less time. So we should see installation times, and therefore costs, decrease over time. Cost For the reasons we have already mentioned, solar roof tile installation is typically more expensive than solar panel installation. By the sheer fact that a reroof is required to install solar roof tiles, the cost is at minimum the cost of a reroof + the installation of the roof tiles themselves.  The national average cost for a reroof is between $5,250 and $10,000 to start. So add the cost of the tiles and labor on top of that, and you can see that the costs can seriously add up. Tesla recently stated that the cost of installing solar roof tiles will be around  $34,000 after incentives for an average home. So that price tag alone is enough to keep homeowners from taking the solar roof tile leap. Solar Roof Tiles in San Diego If you’re looking to get solar roof tiles installed in San Diego, you may have trouble finding a way to actually find someone to do it. If you do some Googling it’s hard to find a solar contractor that will actually install a solar roof. There’s a lot of results for getting a new roof + solar at the same time, but nothing explicitly for a solar roof. You can, of course, place your order with Tesla, but it’s somewhat unclear as to when it will be installed. Why You Should Install Solar Panels Now Instead of waiting for solar roof tile technology, installation and costs to improve, if you’re a homeowner in San Diego, you should strongly consider installing solar panels instead, and soon. That’s because, due to the 26% Federal Tax Credit being around until the rest of the year, there’s never been a cheaper time to install solar. Plus, the longer you wait for solar roof tiles to improve, the longer you will be paying SDG&E for power, when you could be putting that money towards owning your solar system.  So, if you haven’t already gathered, the conclusion here is that, while solar roof tile technology is improving and may one day be a viable alternative to solar panels, right now as it stands, it’s best for most homeowners to install solar panels instead. If you are an aesthetics obsessed homeowner who needs a new roof, and are also looking into solar, you may want to make the leap for solar roof tiles. But for the average homeowner in San Diego, just going with a classic solar panel installation is the better call at this point.  

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No Cost Solar Programs in San Diego: What You Should Know

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SGIP in SDG&E 2020: Everything You Need to Know

If you’re a homeowner in San Diego, you may have heard by now about the benefits of installing solar + battery storage at your home. Installing solar and storage can allow homeowners to fully offset their power bills, offset Time of Use Charges, and provide full home backup - and the best thing is, there are financial incentives for installing. There is a government program the Self-Generation Incentive Program or (SGIP) that provides financial incentives to homeowners for the installation of approved technologies that meet the energy needs of a home or business. Let’s take a look at the SGIP program and how homeowners in SDG&E territory can take advantage of the incentives provided by it.  What is SGIP? The Self Generation Incentive Program is a distributed electric generation incentive program in California that promotes the installation of energy generation and storage systems on businesses, homes and other facilities across the state. It was conceived in 2001 as a response to the energy crisis as a program to reduce peak-load, and complemented the California Energy Commissions’ Emerging Renewables Program. Since then it has been successful in funding thousands of electrical generation and storage projects representing hundreds of megawatts of rated capacity.  Since 2001 the SGIP has been modified several times. Before 2006, it supported solar installations, but after the California Solar Initiative was established it no longer provided incentives for solar. In 2009 it was changed again to focus more on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This meant expanding the technologies that qualified for incentives under the program, which included wind, pressure reduction turbines, internal combustion engines, microturbines, gas turbines, energy storage, fuel cells, and energy storage systems. As time has gone on the program has shifted its budget, with now 75% of it’s funds directed towards energy storage projects. SGIP gets its funds from utility ratepayers in California. It is both paid for and available to customers of SDG&E, SCE, PG&E and SoCal. The funds are distributed by the utility that the homeowner resides in, unless they live in SDG&E territory, in which case the funds are distributed by the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE).  The Results of SGIP in SDG&E As we have said, SGIP has been wildly successful in incentivizing the installation of energy generation and storage systems, resulting in 1,186 MW of cumulative capacity overall. In CSE (Center for Sustainable Energy) territory, which is basically SDG&E territory, SGIP has stimulated the installation of 137.6 MW of capacity, nearly half of which is battery storage. That’s the equivalent of $175 million in incentives paid out, with $13.6 million reserved and $9.5 million pending. So clearly, homeowners are taking advantage of these incentives and it is making a huge impact on how people generate and their store energy. Industrial, commercial, municipal, agricultural, and residential customers are all eligible to receive incentives.SGIP Incentives in SDG&E  Incentive rates for SGIP are based fully on the pace of deployment; that is, the rate starts out high and declines over time as more generation and storage is deployed. When the funds from a given step are distributed, the rates move to a next step and drop. Based on the implementation and technology, some incentives are allocated more quickly and therefore incentive amounts drop more quickly. Small residential storage funds, which tend to be in great demand, tend to be used up more quickly. How To Calculate Your Incentives Incentives for SGIP eligible systems are based on the potential capacity of the installed system with kW being the metric for generation projects and (kWh) for battery or energy storage projects. To calculate the potential incentive amount, you multiply the capacity of the potential system by the incentive rate for the category of technology that system falls under. To find the incentive rate for a given technology, you can look here. How Are Incentives Paid Out Incentives are paid out at different times, based on the size of the system. Smaller systems of 30kW or less have their incentives paid out in one lump sum via wire transfer or check, and cover the full amount of the system upon completion of the installation, a site inspection and verification of the system’s performance. Larger systems, over 30kW in capacity, get 50% of the incentive upon completion of the installation, and then the other 50% is paid out based on performance, over a five-year period following the installation. How To Apply for Incentives Typically, homeowners who apply for SGIP incentives will apply through their installer. The installer will typically take care of the paperwork and the correspondence in order to get the most funds possible. Stellar Solar’s process for applying for incentives is as follows:  We apply for a permit for the storage project. Once we receive a permit, we request the following documents from the customer: A short survey on energy consumption habits A copy of the customers latest energy bill A copy of the customers electrical load documentation Once we receive these documents, we submit them along with the following documents to a secure, third-party processor: Single Line Diagram ✔ Spec Sheets for all equipment  ✔ Contract/Agreement- including the 10 year service Warranty ✔ CISR form signed- attached, please initial in all the yellow boxes and sign on the last page ✔ Electrical Load Documentation- download instructions attached Energy Audit – take the online home audit and send us a copy of the report  https://ift.tt/1CrXQfo  Final Job Card  ✔  Proof of PTO from SDGE Once everything is complete on the processor’s end, they send us back an application that all parties sign.        3.  Once it is signed, we send it back with an audit report. The application is then submitted and the homeowner is put on a waitlist until the funds become available.        4.   Once the funds are available, they are sent to the customer. The key here is that the coordination of these documents is very important to getting your application in line for incentives. That’s why you need a solar company like Stellar Solar to assure your application’s processed in a timely way with no mistakes in order to secure the largest incentive available. Why You Should Install Solar + Battery Storage Now that you know what goes into receiving the SGIP rebate for battery storage, let’s go over again what the benefits are of installing solar + battery storage. There are two main reasons for installing solar + battery storage in SDG&E right now: to provide emergency backup power, and to reduce utility Time-of-Use charges. So installing a battery can both ensure your power, and save you a ton of money. In these uncertain times, doesn’t that sound reassuring? Home Battery Backup With the rolling blackouts that SDG&E is implementing in times of high fire danger, many more homeowners are looking at solar + battery backup to keep the lights on when SDG&E decides to shut off power. In these times where we are at home much more than usual, this backup power is even more important. If you’re working at home, or schooling from home, the last thing you want is to lose power for a whole day.  The way that solar + battery backup works is that the extra power being created by the solar system when the sun is high is stored in the battery. Whenever the utility supply of electricity is interrupted,  the battery automatically  starts up and powers your home with the extra power stored earlier. As long as the sun is shining, your battery is storing power and saving it for whenever you may need it. Solar batteries provide emergency backup power to your home by connecting to their own circuit breaker box that is separate from your normal circuit breaker box. That’s because the utility is hooked up to your primary circuit breaker box, so if you need to go on emergency power, the battery power must flow through a separate set of circuit breakers that are connected to your home. This is called a “gateway”, and is required for solar batteries to be able to provide emergency backup power.  Your backup battery can be programmed to activate whenever the circuit breaker box connected to the grid goes down. That way, you can have seamless transition to emergency backup power and your flow will go unimpeded.  The bottom line with home battery backup is that, if you live in SDG&E territory, especially in the eastern parts of the county, your power WILL be shut off at some point in fire season. It’s not a question of “if,” but of “when.” So if you’re trying to avoid those shutoffs, and save money while you’re doing it, installing solar + battery storage is the most environmentally-friendly and fiscally responsible way to do it. Offset Time-of-Use Charges The other main reason homeowners in San Diego are installing solar + battery storage is to offset utility Time-of-Use charges. Time-Of-Use charges were implemented in San Diego in the last few years, and result in electricity costing different amounts at different times of day..  Power is priced much higher during the times when the demand for electricity is higher – from 4pm to 9pm from June through October. --  which is when families are home and cooking, watching tv, etc.  It is cheapest overnight when more people are sleeping.  With Time-of-Use pricing, homeowners have seen their electric bills spike because it’s difficult to avoid using  essential appliances during these expensive peak times.As a result, even if they already have solar, many homeowners are looking to battery storage to offset these charges. Solar + battery can help avoid these high peak charges by programming the battery during expensive peak periods to supply the home with 100% stored solar power (instead of expensive utility power). The next day, the battery is replenished with additional solar power and is ready to offset the next day’s peak period and so on. So, you can see that installing solar + battery storage has immense benefits for both your life and wallet. Add the SGIP rebate to that, plus the Federal Solar Tax Credit, and there has never been a better time to install both battery + solar in San Diego. Just be sure to hire an installer that is proven to be successful at installing both technologies in order to make sure that your equipment is installed and programmed properly. Stellar Solar has always been San Diego’s premiere solar installer, but is now San Diego’s #1 battery installer as well.  We are a Tesla Powerwall certified installer, and have installed hundreds of batteries on homes across San Diego. We also have an in-house team of SGIP professionals that can fully assist you in the SGIP application and document submission process so it’s all easy for you. We want to help you get the most savings possible, so we know how to get you the highest rebate possible as quickly as possible. If you’re thinking about installing solar + battery storage in San Diego and would like to collect the SGIP rebate, call us today. We’re known as San Diego’s best solar company, and now we’re San Diego’s best battery installer as well.  

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We’re Essential: Solar Installation Officially OK’ed by California Energy Commission

It’s a good day for California solar installers and homeowners in the state looking to go solar. That's because two days ago, the California Energy Commission (CEC) put out an official statement clarifying that, under the statewide orders in response to COVID-19, solar installers are considered essential electricity industry workers. That means that we are officially authorized to install, which means we can fulfill our contracts and keep our employees on the payroll.  Under Gavin Newsome’s Executive order to combat COVID-19, the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) State Public Health Officer has ordered that everyone stay at home with the exception of anyone who works at what is considered an “essential” job. Essential jobs, as defined by the CDPH, are any that are required in order to maintain the operations of critical infrastructure sectors. The full list of essential jobs can be found here, but some examples of these critical sectors include energy, food and agriculture, information technology, and transportation systems. It was unclear as to whether solar installers were included under energy, until April 27 when the CEC made its clarification. The official list of essential workers in the energy industry includes any workers who are needed to maintain or ensure the transmission of power to homes and businesses. This includes workers that are required for power generation, or workers like electricians that are required for maintaining existing electrical systems or building new ones at construction sites. Fortunately, since installing solar and battery storage can contribute to the resilience of energy infrastructure in the state, solar installers fall under this “essential” label, as they are important for ensuring an uninterrupted power supply to homes and businesses. Since solar can help contribute to more stable energy infrastructure, and is therefore considered essential, it means that the state is officially encouraging local agencies to permit the construction of solar systems on homes and businesses. This includes both solar and battery systems, on both new and existing structures. What does this mean for you? It means that if you’re a homeowner, you can officially get a solar system permitted and installed, and in fact, it’s encouraged. So if you’ve been holding off because you thought that maybe solar installation wasn’t considered “essential”, you officially have the green light. Not only will you have a consistent source of energy, you will be saving money in these times of financial uncertainty for many families. What does it mean for us? It means that we are permitted to operate at full capacity, which means that we are able to market, sell, design, and install solar and battery storage systems on both homes and businesses. That means that our employees, including the installers, designers, energy consultants, marketing staff, and everyone in between, are able to get back to work. This means paychecks in their hands, and food on the table for their families, which we can all be grateful for. So we are obviously very excited about this clarification by the CEC and the fact that we are considered essential. The entire staff at Stellar Solar is thankful to be back to work, and are enthusiastic to help homeowners save money on their power bills by switching to solar. So if you’re a San Diego homeowner who is ready to make the switch, give us a call today. You’ll be saving money, fighting climate change, and helping a business that provides hundreds of jobs to San Diego residents who are being impacted by this crisis just like you.

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Tesla Powerwall + SunPower Panels: a Match Made in Solar Heaven

Solar + battery storage systems are all the rage these days. Due to the power outages last year that really affected the state of California, and in particular homes in the rural areas, many homeowners have been looking into solar +  battery storage to serve as backup power for when future rolling blackouts occur. So for those homeowners that are looking into the solar + battery storage, they should know that the Tesla Powerwall + SunPower panels is the most powerful combination out there. Let’s take a look at both products and their features to see why the Tesla Powerwall + SunPower panels is a match made in solar heaven. First, let’s talk about SunPower and their new A-Series of solar panels. The A-Series panels, which are 400 watts, are the most efficient panels commercially available. Higher efficiency means they produce more power in a smaller space, which ultimately means more savings for the homeowner. The output of SunPower panels, plus their unmatched durability and low production degradation rate, means that over the lifetime of the solar panel they are going to produce 60% more energy compared to a conventional panel. That means that homeowners are going to save a lot more on their power bills over the lifetime of the system, especially as electric rates go up over time. When it comes to the installation, the A-series boasts fewer points of failure -- a simplified design that can be installed much more quickly and a smaller chance of things going wrong during installation. The A-series panels also have a lifetime warranty of 25 years which is an industry-leading warranty. Many panels are only guaranteed for 10 years and therefore, A-series panels are guaranteed to produce more power over a longer lifetime, compared to  conventional panels. So clearly, SunPower panels are the superior solar panels and a great product overall. But What about the Tesla Powerwall? As far as solar batteryes go, Tesla Powerwalls are by far the most popular. It is partly due to the prestigious Tesla brand, but it’s also because of their superior quality. Let’s look at the reasons why the Tesla Powerwall is the most popular solar battery on the market.The Tesla Powerwall is the solar battery we are recommending at the moment for several reasons: Cost. Believe it or not, even though the Tesla name is so well known thanks to the Tesla electric vehicle which is a premium and somewhat expensive automobile, compared to all the other energy storage devices and batteries that are currently on the market, the Tesla Powerwall is really very cost-competitive. Another reason why it's a great product is it has a built in inverter and the battery management system is also built-in. When you go with some other systems that we've looked at, those are all separate components that have to be purchased and installed separately but with the Tesla Powerwall, all those components are combined and integrated as a single unit.  Battery Management System. The battery management system of the Tesla Powerwall is very important because the battery is constantly being filled up and then depleted and when you're hooking the SunPower panels to it, we want to make sure of that. We are using  solar energy to fill the battery up and then running the home off of the battery and so there's a lot of flow in and out and that has to be managed seamlessly. Modular Gateway. Another reason why Tesla Powerwall is a great component is because they have what's called a modular gateway. The reason a “gateway” is needed for emergency power is that the backup battery and the utility can’t both be supplying power to the main circuit breaker box – otherwise (in the case of a blackout), the power from your battery could flow out onto the grid and into your neighbor’s house, quickly depleting your battery. Instead, there needs to be a secondary, parallel service panel for the home, powered by the battery and separate from your main (utility-powered) service panel. In the case of the blackout, house power switches from the main panel to the backup, parallel panel, powered by the battery. This automatic switch and the backup panel is called the “gateway.” Integrated System. In some systems, all these components have to be installed and connected separately but with the Tesla Powerwall, the gateway is a compatible module meant to connect easily to the Powerwall itself. That means it's a much easier installation and we can get a permit for it very quickly. All these components are meant to go together, which is a really really big plus if you want emergency backup power while you're doing the solar and the batteries. Easily Programmable. Last but not least, one of the reasons we think that the Tesla Powerwall is one of the best products to use with SunPower panels is because it's so easy to program. It's really customer friendly because its plug-and-play user interface is really simple to use.   Why is that important? Well a lot of the reason that people get batteries right now is not just the emergency backup capability but also to be able to power your home with the battery when the utilities price is very high! From 4p.m. to 9 p.m. in the summer, the cost of electricity from SDGE is almost twice as much as it is during the middle of the day and what a lot of our customers are doing is programming the batteries so that from 4 to 9 p.m. in the summer, you're running all of your power off the solar-powered battery. Then during the daytime, the battery fills up with solar power and then from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. it discharges So that programming is something that you can do on your battery or we can help you with it but it's really very easy and the Tesla Powerwall makes it easy and convenient even with a phone app to do that programming and that's just not true of a lot of other batteries on the market today. So, Tesla Powerwall + SunPower panels: a great combination, match made in heaven, and very easy for us to work up a quote for you. So, if  you live in San Diego or Orange County and you're interested in the batteries either for emergency backup or to further cut the cost of your utility power - contact us today, and we’d be very happy to put that quote together for you.

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SDG&E “When Matters” Campaign: How Going Solar Can Make Time-of-Use Rates Not “Matter”

If you’re an SDG&E customer, you’ve probably heard about their “When Matters” campaign. “When Matters” is an awareness campaign to help customers understand that when they use electricity determines how much it costs. While it is true that SDG&E’s new Time-of-Use rates change the price of electricity during different times of the day, the good news is that if you go solar, those different prices won’t really matter very much. Let’s look at what Time of Use (TOU) means for San Diego homeowners, and how going solar can alleviate the worries associated with using appliances and electronics during expensive peak hours under Time-of-Use. Time-of-Use Rate Structures The concept behind TOU rates is that electricity costs more at certain times of the day based on demand. Utilities explain the reason they implemented TOU is that during the times when demand for electricity is highest (e.g.,late afternoon to evening) they must use more expensive forms of power generation for relatively short amounts of time (such as gas turbine “peaker” plants) in order to meet demand and this causes their costs to be higher, so they want to pass this cost along to their customers. In addition, making electricity more expensive during these times of high demand helps discourage customers from using their appliances during those times, thus reducing overall demand for the power company. TOU rates make electricity much more expensive in the late afternoon, typically from 4pm-9pm, and cheapest late at night (after midnight to 6am). They refer to the different times / rates as on-peak, off-peak, super off-peak. In order for homeowners and renters to avoid the highest charges, they are discouraged from using major appliances like washers, dryers, and dishwashers during peak times in order to avoid high charges. This can be a huge inconvenience for many people, so TOU rate structures can be seen as a negative for the customer. Time-of-Use in SDG&E TOU has technically been used in SDG&E territory for over a decade, but back in March of 2019, SDG&E began transitioning thousands of their residential customers to a TOU rate structure with plans to eventually transition all residential customers.  Under TOU rates, electricity costs change not just throughout the day but also change seasonally as well. In the Summer, rates are higher than in Winter, and there is also a larger difference between on-peak and off-peak rates in the Summer. For both seasons, weekends are cheaper than weekdays.Currently in the “winter” months, during the week, on-peak rates are from 4pm-9pm, off-peak are from 6am-4pm and 9pm-12pm, and super off-peak are from 12am-6am during the week. On the weekends, super off-peak is between 12am and 2pm, off-peak is from 2pm-4pm, and on-peak is between 4pm-9pm.  There are different TOU rate structures SDG&E customers can choose from based on when their typical usage is, and whether or not they have solar. For non-solar customers, the choices are between TOU-DR1 (the standard rate structure), TOU-DR2 (no super off-peak times), and TOU DR-P.  SDGE When Matters Campaign In order to better educate their customers on TOU rates, SDG&E has been publishing videos, content, and sending out fridge magnets to make their customers conscious of their energy usage, directing them to their URL https://ift.tt/2HTuIYb to learn more. On this site they have information about TOU, energy efficiency suggestions, as well as suggestions as to when to use energy to minimize use during on-peak times for all types of appliances. While all of this is very helpful, especially for renters, the one thing they don’t mention is how going solar can make it so you can avoid all of this worry about times you are using electricity.  TOU and Solar Energy If you’re unfamiliar about how SDG&E treats solar energy customers - here’s a quick explainer of how it works through something called “Net Metering”: When you install solar on your home, you’re connected to the grid so that you can both send and receive energy. During the day, when the solar you installed is producing a lot of power and your usage is low, the extra unused energy is sent back to the grid and sold to SDG&E for credit through a system called Net Metering. With net metering, you can sell your extra power to the power company for credit during the day and then buy back what you need at night, only paying your power bill for the “net difference” between what you produce and use – once a year. But what does the power company due when they have too much power during the middle of the day? There is so much solar being produced now that the utilities sometimes have extra power in the middle of the day. To some extent, they can use transmission lines to sell this extra power to utilities in adjacent states who may find it cheaper to use than turning on their own power plants. In California and several Western states, there is an organization called the “Energy Imbalance Market” that is designed to do just that. However, until more transmission lines are installed to increase capacity, this solution is limited by availability of open transmission lines, especially eastward over the Rocky Mountains. In addition, when the solar energy begins to drop off at the end of the solar day (around 4-5pm) and people come home from work in the summertime and turn on their air conditioners, the utilities must very quickly replace the missing solar power plus ramp up added power as the load increases. This is called the “duck curve” due to its appearance on a graph and it presents a problem for the utility company.In the summer, the hours of 4-9pm are especially problematic so to counter this, the utility companies have changed the pricing of electricity from being based on how much you use each month to the time of day that you use the power. During the weekday hours of 4-9pm (June-Oct), electricity now costs twice as much as it does during the rest of the daytime (56 cents vs 28 cents, generally). And from 12 midnight to 6am, the power costs half as much. This new rate structure is known as “TOU”. It used to be that solar sent back to SDG&E would be bought back at the same price no matter what time of the day it was. Now, with TOU, that has changed. Under TOU, the price that SDG&E pays for solar power is the same as the cost of buying power from them in that same time period. So mostly, when you’re producing the most power, which is during the day in off-peak, SDG&E is paying you credits at that same low rate. So unfortunately, when power costs the most from 4pm-9pm is when you are creating less solar power, so you are using the solar credits you earned at the low off-peak rate to buy power at the high on-peak rate.  Fortunately, there are still ways you can leverage solar to fully offset TOU charges so you don’t have to worry about your usage at on-peak times. Offsetting TOU Rates with Solar Even with TOU rates, solar can enable you to offset on-peak rates so that you don’t have to worry about your electrical usage during those times. There are two ways to leverage solar to do this: Change Your Rate Structure + Add Extra Panels Back in early 2018, SDG&E made it a rule that all homeowners who went solar would be put on a rate structure called DR-SES. With this rate structure, in the Summer months, the swings between on peak ($.053/kWh) and off peak ($.029/kWh) rates are huge, with on-peak rates being almost double the off-peak. This means that the credits you are producing during the day are worth less, and the amount you are paying for on-peak power is more, which makes it harder to offset the on-peak times.  What many homeowners who install solar don’t know is that they can choose a different rate structure with flatter, more similar rates between on and off peak times. This rate structure is called TOU-DR, where, in the Summer, the on-peak rate ($0.55/kWh) is closer to the off-peak rate ($0.33/kWh), which means you get more credits for your extra power generation during the day, and pay less for the on-peak rates. So by switching to TOU-DR and increasing your solar production above 100% of your needs by adding 3-5 more panels (for example), you can still offset the increased price of power between 4-9pm by simply selling more back during the prime production hours of 9am-4pm. However, if your power needs during peak period (4-9pm) are still very high, you may need to store the power in a battery at your home during the day and then use this stored power during peak period instead of buying it from the power company at the peak rate. This is called “time shifting” your solar power; it is also called “arbitrage power” because you’re storing power when the cost is lower and using it or selling it back when the cost is higher. Install Solar + Battery Storage Another way to offset on-peak times is to install battery storage with your solar panels. That way, when you create that extra power during the day, instead of selling it back to SDG&E for the off-peak prices, you can store it in your battery and save it to be used for later during on-peak usage times. Then you can use the extra power stored in the battery instead of having to buy power from SDG&E at the high prices. Tesla Powerwalls are a great battery brand we offer to do just that.So as you can see that, by installing solar, and either adding a battery or installing extra panels and switching your rate structure, you can fully offset SDGE’s on-peak times under TOU such that you don’t have to worry about your usage in those times. So if you’re a homeowner in SDG&E territory and you’re tired of worrying about using your washer, dryer, or dishwasher during on-peak times, you should consider going solar so that you can offset your usage in those times. By installing solar, you can go from “when matters” to “doesn’t matter” when it comes to using power. Contact us today to get your free quote and learn more about offsetting Time-of-Use rates in San Diego.

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The 2020 Federal Solar Tax Credit Explained

It’s finally 2020, and the esteemed 30% Federal Solar Tax Credit, the Income Tax Credit that homeowners can get for installing solar, has come and gone. While many solar companies have been claiming that the Solar Tax Credit is “going away”, this only partially true: the 30% credit has gone away, but the Solar Tax Credit itself is still around. Let’s take a look at what the Solar Tax Credit is, what it has done for the solar industry, and what remains in 2020. The History of the Solar Tax Credit The Federal Solar Tax Credit, or the Solar Investment Tax Credit, was implemented in 2006 in the Energy Policy Act to promote the growth of solar installations on home and businesses in the US. It was extended twice, then in 2015, through the Omnibus Appropriations Act, was extended through 2023, putting it at the state that it is today. The Tax Credit begins slowly phasing out this year.  The Impact Since the implementation of the Solar ITC, the solar industry has grown by more than 10,000%, flourishing into an industry that is now healthy and sustainable. By keeping costs down for the consumer by providing a financial incentive to go solar, the Federal government has allowed solar installation businesses to and drive down the costs of installing solar to the point of sustainability.  The impressive results of the impact of the Solar ITC can be clearly seen in the numbers. A 10,000% increase in solar capacity, a quarter of a million new jobs, and $140 billion in investment have all been recorded. What’s not recorded is the massive positive impact on the environment, the massive savings homeowners have seen on their electric bills, and the quality of jobs created by the flourishing solar industry.How the Solar Tax Credit Works The way the Federal Solar Tax Credit works is that homeowners or business owners who install solar receive a federal income tax credit worth a certain percentage of the cost of their solar installation. They have to own the solar system, which means that they have to either buy it with cash or finance it. It cannot be a leased system.  What this does is bring down the total cost of the solar installation, which makes it within reach of a much larger percentage of the population. This has proven to be a successful model, based on the results of its implementation over the last 12 years. So let’s look at an example of how this would work with an average sized solar system. Let’s look at a $20,000 dollar system.  Since its original implementation, the Solar Tax Credit has been at 30%. So what we do is multiply that percentage by the total cost of the installation ($20,000) $20,000 X 30% = $6,000 So that $6,000 is what the home or business owners would receive as an income tax credit. So if the homeowner owes $12,000 on their federal income taxes, that amount would be reduced to $6,000.  That takes the full price of the system down to: $20,000 - $6,000 = $14,000 So the final cost would be $14,000 with the Tax Credit included. If the home or business owner doesn’t owe that much on their taxes, the credit can be rolled over to following years. So even if what you owe isn’t that much every year, the tax credit could reduce what you owe for years to come. This formula has been the driver for solar’s success. This massive Tax Credit has served as an extremely effective incentive as it has stood so far. Now, in 2020, the Tax Credit is scheduled to reduce, but not by much. What is the Solar Tax Credit for 2020? In 2020, the Federal Solar Tax Credit is scheduled to reduce to 26%, down 4% from previous years. This has been planned since the extension in 2015, so homeowners have known it was coming for years. The Tax Credit is scheduled to continue to decrease over the next two years, down to 22% in 2021, then down to 0% by 2022 for residential installations, leaving a 10% credit for commercial installations only. So for the next two years, there’s still substantial savings to be gained by installing solar. So let’s do that same math in the example earlier, but with the 2020 26% Tax Credit instead of the full 30%. So that same $20,000 system will now be reduced by 26%. $20,000 X 26% = $5,200 So instead of a $6,000 Tax Credit, you will receive a $5,200 Tax Credit.  $20,000 - $5,200 = $14,800  That makes the total price of installation $14,800. So only $800 more than the total price with the 30% Tax Credit. While that $800 is 4% of the total, it’s still not a huge loss, especially compared to the $5,200 you can get off with the credit. So if you’ve been deterred from going solar because the Solar Tax Credit has decreased, you may want to rethink your decision. The truth is, the Solar Tax Credit is still very substantial, and will be for two more years. If you let the slight decrease completely deter you from going solar, you will be missing out on huge savings.Why Now is the Best Time to Go Solar Besides the still substantial 26% Solar Tax Credit there are several other reasons that right now is the best time to go solar. What we mean by “the best time” is that, by going solar as soon as possible, you will get the best deal and save the most money. So let’s look at the other reasons why right now is the best time to go solar. Lowest Costs Ever As a result of the amazing work the Solar Tax Credit has done, the actual cost to install solar, even without the Tax Credit, is lower than it has ever been, due purely to the volume of installations the the industry has reached. These combined low costs, combined with the Tax Credit, make solar much cheaper than it was in previous years. Sure, they will likely keep going down, but you may as well take advantage now while the Tax Credit is still substantial.  Electricity Prices will Continue to Go Up It is inevitable that the prices that the utility charges for power will continue to go up. In SDG&E for example, is looking for a 4.5% increase this year. That means that the sooner you go solar, the more you will save, as you will not have to pay for power when those rates go up.  Interest Rates are Very Low Many homeowners who go solar choose to finance their systems, which is a great option because they can make monthly payments that are less than their power bill was before going solar. It just so happens that right now, because interest rates happen to be lower than they’ve been in years, is one of the best times to finance solar. If you go solar now you can lock in those low rates, which will save you a ton of money in the long run. So as you can see, the Solar Tax Credit is still around, and at 26%, it is still very substantial. So homeowners who are deterred from going solar because they think the best deal has passed should know that the 4% difference is not much. The Tax Credit combined with lowering costs, low interest rates, and increasing electricity rates makes it so that there will never be a better time to go solar than now.

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4 Reasons to Install a Solar Battery in San Diego

Solar batteries are all the rage lately, and homeowners with and without solar are looking to them as a way to store extra power created by solar. While the excitement about batteries seems to be following the recent rolling blackouts implemented by California utilities, there are many benefits to solar batteries that homeowners in San Diego should be aware of. Let’s look at 4 of those reasons, so you can see just how beneficial installing a solar battery can be to San Diego homeowners. 1. Offset Time-of-Use Charges In SDG&E, Net Metering has always been the billing system that homeowners are entered into once they install solar. The way Net Metering worked originally, for those that don’t know, is that during the day, when the solar was producing more power than the home was using, the excess power was sold back to SDG&E. At night, when the solar was not producing power, the home pulled power back from the grid, utilizing those credits earned during the day to purchase the power back from SDG&E. This crediting and buying back system allowed solar homeowners to “zero out” their electric bill, an incentive which was attractive enough to allow the solar industry to get its footing and skyrocket in the San Diego area. Over time, Net Metering rules were changed so that the value of the electricity changed depending on when it was used, also known as “time of use” billing. The concept behind Time-of-Use charges is that electricity costs more or less based on what time of day it is being used. According to SDG&E, this is based on demand at different times of day, so when more people are using more power, the power becomes more expensive and vice versa. This plays out in the following way: during the day, when everyone is at work or out doing things, the general population is using less power - in the Time-of-Use model, this is referred to as “Off-Peak”. That’s when power is less expensive, because there is less demand. Come 4pm, to around 9pm, when everyone is getting home, cooking dinner, watching TV and using the computer, electricity demand goes up, and thus, so does the price of electricity. As the night goes on, prices go back down, until they are again “Off-peak” at night. As a result of these TOU charges, solar power produced from 6am - 4pm was worth a little less, and after 4pm (when solar output goes down) electricity prices went up quite a bit. There are ways around this, for example by adding more panels to create more credits, but in general it did reduce the value of solar power a bit in San Diego. In comes solar batteries. With solar batteries, solar homeowners can store the extra power created during the day, and use it later at night when electricity prices are higher under Time-of-Use. So instead of selling the extra power during the day for a lower valued credit, that power is stored to be used when you would be buying the expensive On-peak power. This allows the solar homeowner to do an offset on their own. So installing a solar battery can help you get around Time-of-Use charges, keeping your power when it’s cheap to be used when it’s expensive. 2. Protection Against Blackouts / Outages Nothing has sparked interest in solar battery storage like the recent planned power outages in California. It all started with the Northern California utility PG&E being blamed and sued for the large “Camp Fire” that killed 86 people in 2018. The claims were that PG&E had failed to maintain power lines and wires, and that those power lines were responsible for the deadliest fire in CA history. As a result of these lawsuits, which ended up with the utility dealing with an estimated $30 billion in liabilities, PG&E filed for bankruptcy this year, marking the largest utility bankruptcy case in US history. As a result of this massive lawsuit, and to remove any liability, PG&E implemented what they referred to as “public safety planned power shutoffs” this year when the fire danger was rated at high levels. Essentially what this means is that, when Santa Ana winds were high across California recently, conditions which are known to be highly susceptible to fires, PG&E shut down power to around 2 million of their customers to prevent potential fires caused by downed power lines.  This was a highly controversial decision, but it was done essentially to protect themselves from further lawsuits. SDG&E, seeing what PG&E went through with their lawsuits, followed suit with their own public safety planned power shut offs this year. On October 29, 2019, SDG&E announced that, in lieu of Santa Ana winds 41,000 customers would potentially lose power over the next few days. For many homeowners this announcement was completely unexpected and out of the blue, so needless to say, panic ensued in many areas. So many homeowners have tried to figure out ways to protect themselves from these unexpected blackouts. Of course there are generators, but the more economical and environmentally friendly option is to install solar + battery storage. That way, no matter what happens with SDG&E, as long as there’s Sun, which typically there is on those high fire-risk days, you’ll be able to keep the power on. During the day, when the solar is producing, your power will be kept on from that, all the while charging the battery for backup power at night. Your appliances, your computer, your medical equipment will stay when you really need them, and you’ll save money on your power bills for years to come.3. Charge Your Electric Vehicle Another great use of a home solar battery is using it to aid in the charging electric vehicles. While you can charge electric vehicle without a solar battery, utilizing a battery can make charging more economical. That’s because during the day, when you are at work and driving you car, the battery stores the extra power being created instead of sending it back to the grid. Then in the late afternoon, when you come home from work and charge your vehicle, instead of having to buy power back from SDG&E, when it is at “on-peak” at times, you use the power you created during the day. So instead of having to buy the most expensive power back from the utility in that 4-9pm slot, you use the free power you already created. This can help save a ton of money by allowing you to charge at a much lower price than you would without a battery. 4. Increase Your Home Value It has been shown that installing solar panels increase home values in California between 3-4.5%. Throw a battery on top of that, and you are sure to get a hefty home value increase between the solar and a solar battery. Think about it: if you’re a homebuyer in San Diego, and you are aware of recent rolling blackouts as well as increasing electricity prices, what will be more attractive to you, a house with solar and battery storage already installed, that is blackout proof and comes with no electric bills, or just a normal house? You’re going to go for the house with solar + battery storage first, and will definitely be willing to pay a 3-4.5% premium for both. So if you install battery storage, you will certainly add to your home’s value, and if you go to sell it, it will almost certainly sell faster. So as you can see, there are many reasons to install a solar battery in San Diego, including offsetting Time-of-Use charges, protecting yourself from blackouts, charging EV’s, and increasing home values. The thing is, in the future, as electricity prices go up and rolling blackouts increase in frequency, these reasons will become increasingly relevant. So to get ahead of the curve and prepare yourself for the future, consider installing solar + battery storage to prepare your home for the future.  

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Why the Quality of Solar Racking Matters

While it may seem like a secondary concern, the hardware that supports the solar panels on your roof is an extremely important element of a home solar system. While most people may write it off as something that doesn’t affect the overall performance of the system, the quality and performance of the racking is critical in the performance of the solar system in the long run. After all, if the panels aren’t properly supported, how can they, properly produce power? What makes good solar racking “good?” Obviously, due to their exposure from being on rooftops, solar systems are exposed to a variety of harsh elements including high winds, rain, snow, various chemicals, etc. Solar racking, in order to last, must be able to withstand uplift, weight, and corrosion from the elements. So, let’s look at these factors to see how and why solar racking is designed to withstand them.Solar panels are relatively thin, like an airplane wing so winds blowing over and under the panels will result in “lift” – a force that good racking systems have to resist. It doesn’t matter where you live, eventually, there will be enough wind to try and lift up a solar panel. The last thing you want is to have a solar panel come unwired and hang, or fly off your roof because of bad racking. Both can result in disaster with unforeseen consequences. The “Max Uplift” of solar racking is how much wind load the racking can resist. This is important because  the space between the panels and the roof that’s intended to provide ventilation and dissipate heat can also allow enough force to try to move the panels. So you’ll want to make sure that the Max Uplift is high enough to handle the maximum amount of wind you can expect in your area.  Let’s say you live in an area where there is a potential for hurricanes. After landfall, most hurricanes don’t exceed wind speeds of 100 mph, but just to be sure you’d want to have a Max Uplift that can handle a little more than that, let’s say 120 MPH. Max Uplift is measured in Pascals (pa), so if you convert Wind Speed in MPH to Pascals, which you can do here, you’ll see that for sustained 120MPH winds, you would need a racking system with a Max Uplift of over 2000 pa. So when you do your research into solar racking, make sure the company that manufactures it lists the Max Uplift of the racking in their racking datasheet or on their website. Make sure that it’s high enough such that even the maximum winds in your area won’t get anywhere near it. The SunPower Invisimount racking system, as an example, has a Max Uplift of 3,000 Pascals. That’s plenty of strength to resist the highest winds, more than hurricane force.Another major element that can put solar panel racking to the test is load in the form of downforce. Whether it’s snow, hail, leaves, etc., solar panels can be put under a lot of stress based on where they are located. This downforce resistance is a critical element of good solar racking, particularly in climates where large amounts of heavy snow can build up, so having strong racking that can support substantial  weight is critical. Downforce, like uplift, is typically measured in Pascals. But since not many people use Pascals as a measurement, a better way to describe solar racking resistance to weight is in “pounds per square foot.” Let’s look at what kind of weight we would expect solar racking to be able to support in order to resist heavy snowfall and other elements it could potentially be exposed to.  It’s important to realize that solar panels themselves are relatively light but even their minimal weight is usually spread out quite a bit through the use of many “stanchions” or feet, which attach the solar racking the roof beams themselves (not the shingles or plywood). As the typical solar panel is around 40 pounds and around 6’x3’ in dimension, we can say that a solar panel is only about 2.2 lbs per square foot.  So how much weight would be adding to the downforce on the solar racking with some snowfall, let’s say? Well, it is generally known that snowfall adds around 1 pound per square foot for every 1.25 inches of snow depth. So from that, we can calculate how much, let’s say, 10 inches of snowfall would add in pounds per square foot: 10-inch roof snow depth x 1.25 Ibs per inch = 12.5 Ibs per sq ft of roof snow load So that’s 12.5 lbs of snow load per square foot, adding to that 2.2 lbs that already exist from the weight of the panel, making it around 14.7 lbs weight per square foot.  SunPower’s Invisimount racking system is able to support an enormous amount of downforce, expressed on the data sheet in Pascals:  up to 6,000 Pascals of downforce.  6,000 Pascals of downforce, if we use a converter, comes out to around 125.31 pounds per square foot – so well within the tolerance of the snow load in our example, which is only 14.7 lbs per square foot.Besides uplift and downforce, the other force, if you can call it that, that solar racking must resist, is corrosion. There are different types of corrosion, but the one that can most likely affect solar panel racking systems made from unprotected or inexpensive metal is known as general corrosion. General corrosion occurs as a result of rust, which happens when metal is exposed to water and the surface of it oxidizes. If it continues unabated, rust can erode away critical components of solar racking, which can cause it to weaken and fail under pressure. Adding salt to the equation can make corrosion occur even quicker. The presence of salt in water increases the conductivity of the water, which ultimately leads it to oxidize the metal faster. So for those homeowners that live near the ocean, which many Californians do, corrosion resistance of their solar racking should definitely be something they consider, and they should seek out solar racking that is proven to be corrosion resistant. So what makes solar racking corrosion resistant? There are two ways to make solar racking corrosion resistant. Either the racking has to have corrosion resistant coating, or the metal that makes up the racking has to corrosion resistant. The only metals that are corrosion resistant are stainless steel, aluminum metal, copper, and galvanized steel, so make sure that the solar company you choose uses solar racking that is made up of one of those metals. As far as corrosion resistant coating, anodizing is the typical method for making metals have increased corrosion resistance. In technical terms, it is a process used to make the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts thicker. So, as with the type of metals used for the racking, when homeowners are researching solar, they should make sure that the racking used has anodization. SunPower’s Invisimount racking system is made up of only corrosion resistant metals, with most of its components being anodized. Specifically, the rails and end clamps of the Invisimount racking system are both made of aluminum and have black anodization. The other components are made up of either stainless steel or aluminum alloy, and are coated as well.So, as you can see, solar racking has to be able to resist several forces: uplift, downforce, and corrosion. As all three of these forces can lead to solar racking failing, and as a result your solar system either falling apart or not producing, it is extremely important to make sure that your solar racking is top quality such that it can resist these forces. SunPower’s Invisimount racking can stand up to these forces, even at their most intense, so when you’re looking at solar, be sure to include SunPower in your search.

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How Much Does SDG&E Pay for Solar Power? (2019)

In San Diego, most homeowners are now on a utility rate structure with local utility, SDGE, that is called “Time-of-Use”. With this rate structure, SDGE charges different rates for power use depending on the time of day, hence the name “Time-of-Use”. They also buy back excess solar power being produced by home solar systems based on those rates, so solar power is worth more or less depending on the time of day it is being produced. There are multiple Time-of-Use rate structures homeowners can choose from, all with different rates, so homeowners do have a choice they can make based on their electricity usage.  So when asking the question of how much SDG&E pays for solar power, the broad answer to this question is that the value of electricity -- whether you're buying or selling -- changes depending on the time of day. High electricity prices are only bad if you're buying; when you're selling, high electricity prices are good. So in order to understand how we got to this point - let’s look at the history of SDG&E paying for solar, how it has evolved, and the current rate structures used to determine payment. The History of SDG&E and Solar Power When it comes to how homeowners with solar installed are billed by the utility, Net Metering was the original arrangement. Originally established in 1996, Net Metering was created to reimburse solar homeowners for the extra power their solar generated and sent back to the grid. There have been several iterations of Net Energy Metering since then, but the core idea of selling extra power created by the solar during the day for credits to zero out the electricity usage at night has remained at the core of the current iterations. Note that in these early versions, all electricity prices were based on the "tiered rate structure" which means that the cost of electricity was based on the total amount (volume) you used for the entire month. For example, 0-350 kWh was priced at 12 cents/kWh and the next 150 kWh was priced at 18 cents/kWh and so on. But with solar --- as long as you produced the same amount as you used, your NET usage was low or zero and so your actual charge was little or nothing. When SDG&E starting charging for WHEN the power was used (instead of HOW MUCH per MONTH was being used), the solar net metering rules were changed to mirror SDG&E's charges throughout the day. Net Metering 1.0 (1996 - 2016) The original version of Net Metering, Net Metering 1.0, established the system by which homeowners could sell their excess solar energy back to the utility for credit. During the day, when the Sun is high and hitting a home’s solar panels, the solar panels create more power than the home is using. With Net Metering, that excess energy goes through the home’s electric meter to the energy grid, which runs the meter backwards, crediting that excess energy to the homeowner’s account at retail price. Later, when the Sun goes down and the solar is no longer producing, those credits accrued earlier in the day are used to purchase power back from the utility.  So this balance of creating extra energy and earning credits during the day, and then utilizing those to buy energy back later at night is what creates the “offset” which allows homeowners with solar to zero out their electric bills. Homeowners cannot make money from oversizing their system and receiving extra credits, it only allows for zeroing out charges. Under California’s State Net Metering policy, Net Metering 1.0 in SDG&E territory had a cap of 5% of total peak electricity demand. That cap was hit in 2016, after which the California Public Utilities Commission created Net Metering 2.0 to ensure that the solar industry would be able to maintain its momentum. So at the time, all homeowners who went solar in SDG&E territory went on Net Metering 2.0, of which, at the time, there was no cap.  Net Metering 2.0 (2016 - Present) Net Metering 2.0 was essentially the same as Net Metering 1.0 except for a few changes. The core of it, receiving retail rate bill credits, as in, per kWh bill credits, from the excess solar power equal to the rate of a kWh of electricity, remained the same. What was changed were three things: Time-of-Use rates, interconnection fees, and non-bypassable charges. While these changes were not estimated to make a significant impact on bills, (approximately $10 a month increase) it did have a temporary impact on the local demand for solar.  Interconnection Fees Under Net Metering 2.0, every customer who goes solar has to have a representative from the city come out to do an inspection on the installation and sign off on its activation. The fee for this is $132 in SDG&E territory, and is required for all residential and commercial installations. While a small fee, it is one of the main differences between Net Metering 1.0 and 2.0 Non-bypassable Charges Also included under Net Metering 2.0 are what are known as non-bypassable charges, which are per kWh charges that are built into rates. These are mostly insignificant, 2 - 3 cents per kWh, and they go to low-income, customer assistance, and energy efficiency programs. These don’t add a huge amount to the bill, but are still there and should therefore be considered. Time-of-Use Explained With Time-of-Use, electricity costs different amounts depending on the time of day it is being used. This is due to the demand for power being different at different times of the day, and therefore SDG&E has to charge more for when there is a higher demand. These prices also apply to excess solar energy being sold back to SDG&E for credit, as in, when the excess energy is being created affects the amount per kWh SDG&E will pay for it.  You can compare Time-of-Use Rate structures to buying a ticket from an airline -- the ticket prices are variable. When they have a lot of inventory, they cut the price. When there's a Super Bowl in Atlanta and everyone wants to fly there, ticket prices go up. At least with SDG&E, they tell you ahead of time when the prices are highest: from 4pm to 9pm in the summer months, M-F. And also when they are the cheapest: from midnight to 6am. And this is true whether you go solar or not. You always have the opportunity to use less power from 4pm - 9pm and use more power overnight, if you can adjust your habits accordingly.  If you have solar, you will almost always be making more power from 9am - 4pm on most days; which means you'll be buying less from SDGE and maybe be selling more back. In order to offset the power you use from 4pm-9m, you have to make (sell) twice as much during the middle of the day, because the value (price) of the electricity doubles after 4pm (or, conversely, is worth half as much from 6am-4pm, M-F. There are multiple Time-of-Use rate structures to choose from, but the common thread amongst all of them is that there are three price periods in a day:  On-peak, when the demand for electricity is highest and prices are highest - typically in the late afternoon / evening.  Off-peak, which is when the demand is less high and prices are in the mid range - typically during the day. Super Off-peak, when demand is low and prices are low - typically at night. Prices for all these categories also differ between Summer and Winter months. So every TOU structure has different prices based on time of day and what time of year it is. They also have different terms that go along with them. Which structure you choose is based on a number of factors, including whether you have an electric vehicle or not.Time-of-Use in SDGE 2019 While Time-of-Use in SDG&E has been around for over a decade, as of March 2019, SDG&E has been switching thousands of their customers over to this new rate structure in hopes of switching all their customers over eventually. There are different types and tiers of Time-of-Use rate structures, and depending on when you installed your solar, you are subject to different options as to which one you want to transition to: Homeowners in SDGE territory whose solar was activated before June 29, 2016 can stay on the Net Metering 1.0 Plan until the 20 year anniversary of their solar Homeowners in SDGE territory who received their solar PTO before March 30, 2018 can delay the change to TOU until either five years from the date of their solar installation or in June 21. SDGE Customers who received PTO after March 30, 2018 are already on a Time-of-Use Plan Using Solar + Storage to Offset Peak Time Installing solar and accompanying it with battery storage is a great way to make the most out of your solar system and get around SDG&E’s on-peak charges. While the Sun is high and the solar is producing excess power during the day, the battery is charged with the extra power. So instead of selling that extra power back to SDG&E at the off-peak prices, it is being produced and then saved for later to be used when pulling from the grid is at on-peak prices.  That makes the value of the excess solar power worth more, and therefore, you will ultimately have to pull less power at on-peak prices and will save more money. 2019 SDG&E Rate Structures and Prices So when asking: how much does SDGE Pay for Solar Power? The answer is dependent on what Time-Of-Use plan you are on, what month it is, and what time of day it is.  Listed in the graph below are the prices for power by kWh, and therefore excess solar power, under the different plans. Remember, the Summer Period is between June 1 - October 31, and Winter is between November 1 - May 31. All of these rates are effective June 1, 2019.You should know that with TOU-DR, there is a baseline adjustment credit, which brings the rates down. Our energy consultants at SunPower by Stellar Solar recommend it for this reason.Note that we're explaining all this so you know how the rates are calculated but the bottom line is that you can work with your solar specialist from SunPower by Stellar Solar and they will advise you about how much solar you need to minimize your SDGE bill. So there you have it, the current rates for what SDG&E charges for power, and also credits for excess power generation from solar. You can see from these charts that rates vary widely based on rate structure, time of year and time of day, and they are likely to change again soon. If you’re looking to learn about what rate structure works best for you, feel free to contact us to speak to one of our energy consultants today.

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