Don’t Get Left in the Dark When Going Solar

Over 32,000 homeowners in the Southern California Edison territory have gone solar this year, and the vast majority are likely unaware of the financial impact they will experience due to Southern California Edison’s newly altered solar rates. A typical homeowner may lose thousands of dollars in savings over the lifetime of their solar power system if it is not designed to factor in the new solar rules and rates.

Under former solar rules, it was simple for solar companies to design a solar power system that resulted in a $0 bill for electric energy. A solar company looked at how much energy a household used on an annual basis and designed a solar power system to produce that same amount of energy per year, regardless of when the system produced energy or when the home consumed energy.

Since July 1, 2017, solar customers in the Southern California Edison (Edison) territory have been on new solar rules, which have forced all solar customers onto “time-of-use rates.” An in-depth analysis is now needed to design a solar power system because with time-of-use rates, Edison charges more for the electricity depending on when a home uses energy in a day, not just how much the home uses in a given month.

The current time-of-use rate for a typical Edison solar customers is 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with on-peak rates as high as $0.45 for electricity consumed during this time period. However, Edison’s proposed time-of-use is expected to change to 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the near future with the possibility of an even higher rate. Solar doesn't work at night when the utilities want to charge more, so a battery allows homeowners to store their solar power and use it when electricity is most expensive. Systems which are not equipped for a battery will not be able to mitigate these new charges as effectively as system with batteries, according to Sullivan Solar Power, whose local office is located in Riverside.

This is the reason Sullivan Solar Power has been educating the community about the need to pair solar with a battery since late 2016. The company partnered with regional nonprofits, Center for Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Campaign, putting on a series of educational solar seminars to teach the facts about solar and battery integration.

"Battery storage has saved the solar industry, in that the weakness with solar since the rate changes has been the exposure at night when the rates are the highest,” said Jeffrey Simmons, a Temecula resident who went solar this August and is set to receive the state rebate for his battery, “This is why I am really excited to be one of the first customers to get a battery storage system with Sullivan Solar Power; I am looking forward to the savings it will offer me to use my own energy every night when the electricity rates are the highest.”

A typical family who goes solar with a battery saves about $80,000 over 20 years. If their next door neighbors go solar without a battery at the same time, the neighbors will pay hundreds of dollars per year in additional unavoidable costs. Over 20 years, using a six percent escalation, the family without a battery will have paid $8,400 in additional costs that they were not necessarily expecting.

Homeowners in Edison’s territory have the opportunity to learn from what has already taken place in the SDG&E service territory, where the evening rates are an astounding $0.54 and the on-peak, time-of-use windows of 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. have already been implemented. In fact, the entire state will soon be moving to nighttime on-peak hours and this is exactly what the investor-owned utilities have been lobbying for. Electric bills will continue to increase as rate reform continues, and solar power customers without a battery will not be protected against impending utility attacks. In short, they will be left in the dark.

“Many local solar companies are simply saying batteries as are unnecessary or are only for back-up power, and that's patently false - batteries allow solar customers to maximize their return on investment,” said Daniel Sullivan, founder and president of Sullivan Solar Power, “The majority of families going solar in San Diego County have no idea about the huge financial impact these new rates are going to have because their solar company doesn’t fully comprehend it, therefore these companies do not teach people the importance of incorporating a battery.”

For those who go solar now, they can apply for the state rebate, the Self-Generation Incentive Program, which can cover roughly half the cost of a battery. In addition, the remaining cost can be offset by a 30 percent federal tax credit. A typical battery costs $6,500, including installation. After the rebate and tax credit, the cost is as little as $2,000, and the battery will pay for itself through energy savings in four to six years.
“The future is here, today – Edison customers can be free from the utility with the power of the sun for less than their current electric bill,” said Sullivan, “That’s a beautiful thing.”

For more information about solar paired with energy storage, visit www.sullivansolarpower.com/solar-battery.