New house + solar panel

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
O Hills said:
How long is it taking to get the panels up and running?
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Actual install only takes a couple days.  But the process from architectural design to permits to Edison flipping the switch ... It takes 2 to 6 months depending on the company.
 
OS said:
I think NSR hit the nail on the head. It's an awfully big capital outlay for a really modest and long term payback. And the lease is sticky at best, basically serving as a hedge but with some transition risk.
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Are you an investment banker?  Lots of fancy Wall Street words in one paragraph.  Just saying ...  :P

But on a serious note, I'd say you pretty much summed it up.
 
Update:

The pitch of my roof is beyond a 40 degree angle and pretty much disqualifies me from Solar City.

Talked at length with Edison and bi***ed my way up to a supervisor who took the time to walk me thru over the phone regarding my meter.

So far my meter is normal.  She suggested I disconnect myself for an hour to see what turned off.  The HOA lights stayed on when I hit the main circuit breaker to my house.  So I'm not paying for the HOA.

Just wondering ... anyone lose power to their house at the moment???
 
ZeroLot said:
Update:

The pitch of my roof is beyond a 40 degree angle and pretty much disqualifies me from Solar City.

Talked at length with Edison and bi***ed my way up to a supervisor who took the time to walk me thru over the phone regarding my meter.

So far my meter is normal.  She suggested I disconnect myself for an hour to see what turned off.  The HOA lights stayed on when I hit the main circuit breaker to my house.  So I'm not paying for the HOA.

Just wondering ... anyone lose power to their house at the moment???
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How about the HOA sprinklers near by your place?
 
ZeroLot said:
Update:

The pitch of my roof is beyond a 40 degree angle and pretty much disqualifies me from Solar City.

Talked at length with Edison and bi***ed my way up to a supervisor who took the time to walk me thru over the phone regarding my meter.

So far my meter is normal.  She suggested I disconnect myself for an hour to see what turned off.  The HOA lights stayed on when I hit the main circuit breaker to my house.  So I'm not paying for the HOA.

Just wondering ... anyone lose power to their house at the moment???
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I didn't lose power but I did lose my wifi connection to your nighthawk :-)
 
OS said:
I think NSR hit the nail on the head. It's an awfully big capital outlay for a really modest and long term payback. And the lease is sticky at best, basically serving as a hedge but with some transition risk.

Unless you have a heated pool AND are an AC junkie, I think your dollars are really best spent in efficiency tuning rather than in solar, but that's just me.
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In other words, OS is trying to say that solar is not prime time a 5/1 ARM refi.
 
OS said:
ZeroLot said:
Update:

The pitch of my roof is beyond a 40 degree angle and pretty much disqualifies me from Solar City.

Talked at length with Edison and bi***ed my way up to a supervisor who took the time to walk me thru over the phone regarding my meter.

So far my meter is normal.  She suggested I disconnect myself for an hour to see what turned off.  The HOA lights stayed on when I hit the main circuit breaker to my house.  So I'm not paying for the HOA.

Just wondering ... anyone lose power to their house at the moment???
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Talk about how much Kill-a-Watting you've done. Have you isolated a device that may have an issue? Are you showing a constant 60hz? I have an extra one if you want to borrow it. I'll leave it under the white Land Rover for pickup.
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I just bought one from Amazon today.  Someone recommended TED but that's like $500.  So I purchased a Belkin Insight and Efergy Energy monitor so I can pinpoint the device that's causing this drain.

But I have the majority of the devices already on other Belkin Conserves but have not found the main culprit yet, but I did manage to save 0.10 kW per hour with all the Belkins Conserve switches.

My main concern is the phantom draw when we haven't moved in yet, no appliances, no computer.  However with the investigations I've been able to eliminate all lot of outside factors.

This is becoming a full time job. 

 
OS said:
ZeroLot--

The Kill-a-watt isolated two highly unlikely power vampires in my house. One was the cradle for the cordless drill batteries (70 watts, all day long - not charging!) and the other was a PC tower that consumed 100w in standby (we had two, other one didn't have this problem and consumed a mere 3w in standby).

I've heard stories of folks showing voltage and Hz being off spec, causing billing issues with their utility, but that's forum-lore. Errant devices are the most common issue.
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Agreed ... I am on an errant device hunt.  Will report back with findings.
 
OS said:
Usual suspect list:
Fridge
MWO
Range
Garage stuff
GDO
TV

I found the best approach is to leave these guys plugged in for a few days and trend out how much each consumes over time, rather than at a point in time. The Conserves switches are great for smaller/standby-ish devices, but you need the longer-term consumption to really know if something is off.

Curious what your smart meter shows at "rest" for your household? Ours is ~.3-.5 kw, with the 200watt delta depending on ceiling fans and fridge cycling.
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At rest, before we moved in is 0.13 kW.  After moving in 0.83 kW.  I've got this down to a science babe!! 

However the vampire draw at night is still there.  11pm to 6am is still the highest for us. 

What's a GDO and MWO?
 
OS said:
Garage door opener and Microwave Oven. But given those were there previously, not likely culprits.
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I've unplugged all microwaves already.  But that vampire draw from 11pm to 6am is still there. 

Very bizarre but at least I know the problem is not from the Edison side at least. 

What degrees do you have your fridge set at?
 
awvvs.jpg
 
OS said:
ZeroLot said:
OS said:
Garage door opener and Microwave Oven. But given those were there previously, not likely culprits.
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I've unplugged all microwaves already.  But that vampire draw from 11pm to 6am is still there. 

Very bizarre but at least I know the problem is not from the Edison side at least. 

What degrees do you have your fridge set at?
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38.

What is the average consumption from 11p-6a? Trying to think of devices that would meet the profile. Something you bought post move in. Spidey sense is tingling on the Belkin conserves devices themselves.
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Before move-in it was 0.64 kW from 11pm to 6am.  Now it's just 0.94 kW after move-in.  What does spidey senses say now??

I just changed my fridge to 40 degrees to see if that will help.  Can't wait for the arrival of my energy monitors.
 
do you have computer type devices that are firing up to do 'updates' during the night?  computers, cable boxes, DVRs, etc?

 
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