Utility Bill for Charging?

[fengshui]

I'm projecting that at the end of our current annual settlement period they will owe us several hundred dollars.

Owning both a solar power installation and an EV can be very rewarding.

Do you have any documents on how TOU credits map to generation payments? For non-TOU, it's straightforward. They pay you roughly $0.04/kWh. However, I haven't seen any documentation for how TOU affects the calculation.

 

[StevesWeb]

The amount paid per kWh put on the grid is based on time of day too, so that when we are putting power onto the grid mid-day we are getting the highest rate for that day of the week. I wanted to link to a page on the SCE website, but it is down for maintenance.

There are some complex calculations on each monthly statement.

 

[SparkieVee]

It's indeed a complex calculation based on rates and time of use, but the balance you're seeing on your bill is just an accounting entry. At the end of the year you only get paid if you actually generate more than you use. Here's the best explanation that I've found:

OK, it is a bit more complicated than what I stated, but there are two different conditions that need to be considered:

1. The PV generates less total energy than the user's consumption, but because of TOU and tier pricing the customer has a positive dollar amount credit at the end of the true up period: That dollar credit is cancelled. For a person who has sized their system for greatest ROI, shortest payback period, this will normally be the case. A larger system does not make a lot of sense economically.
2. The PV generates more total energy over the year than the user's consumption: With consideration of TOU and other favorable rates, this will usually lead to a very large dollar credit at true up time. That dollar credit is cancelled, but the the user is paid at a roughly wholesale rate for the actual energy surplus of production over consumption. So there is some return, but basically the user has overbuilt the system well beyond the economically ideal point.

Source:http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showthread.php?16455-Rising-Ca-electric-rates/page2&highlight=time

I'm waiting for solar installation now, and tried to size the system to fall into the case where I have a small TOU credit, but don't get paid.