In the not so distant future, effective storage for renewable energy will be available.  For now,  the amount of electricity generated from renewables can supplement the electric grid and the need for storage is less critical.

If your utility company offers net-metering, like SDG&E does in San Diego, you can receive full credit for every kilowatt hour that your solar electric system produces.  During the day when you’re generating more solar electricity than you are using, the excess flows into the grid and your electric meter will actually spin backwards.  When your solar panels are not generating electricity and you turn on lights or other appliances, your meter will spin the other direction, drawing against the credit you’ve earned during the day.

Whether electricity is coming from your solar panels or from the utility company grid, it will flow seamlessly, as it always has.  With net-metering your electric meter simply spins back and forth, allowing you to reduce your electric bill with clean, renewable energy.

My favorite quote from the video: “The sun is the original source of almost all the energy used on earth.”  

Let’s do a little math.   Let’s say you have an area at your home that’s good for solar and you pay $16,500 (after incentives) for a system that will offset 6000 kWh per year of the high-priced electricity.  At  30 cents per kWh, that’s an immediate return of $1,800 per year on a $16,500 investment.    And if that’s not good enough, throw in a little inflation along with the added benefits to the planet, the electric grid and national energy security.

How does this compare to the return on the $$$ you send the utility every month?

Most solar installers in Southern California are currently charging in the $6,000 – $10,000 range per DC kW for solar systems, depending on size and difficulty of the installation.

Typically, a larger system will get you a lower price per kW.   The easiest installations are on a composite shingle,  standing seam or flat roof.  You’re likely to pay more if  you have a tile or shake roof, or if your roof is high and/or steep.

Some additional expenses may include upgrading your electric service to accommodate the size system you want, building a structure for a ground mounted system or trenching to run conduit underground from one structure to another.

There is help paying for solar — you can expect to receive approximately 20% of your system cost from the California Solar Initiative and the remaining costs will qualify for a 30% Federal Income Tax credit.  But don’t take my word for it — check with your tax preparer.

If you don’t have a year’s worth of bills and you live in San Diego, you can go to SDG&E energy waves and enter your account number, meter number, zipcode and valid email address.  Within minutes you’ll receive an email with your password.  Then you can  log in and download your history to see how many kWh you purchase from the utility over a one year period.

It is important to know how many kWh you use in a year because the panels make more power in the summer months than during the winter.  When sizing your system, each kW of solar is going to generate approximately 1500 kWh per year in SoCal.  So, if you want to replace 3000 kWh of electricity from the utility each year, you will want a 2 kW system.

Some variables that will effect system performance are your location,  the type of panels you use, the orientation and tilt of the panels, and whether you have much shade or other obstructions.  In general, if you have an area to place panels where it is sunny most of the time, you can install an efficient PV solar system.

You may be surprised to learn that there are limits to net metering.  In fact, California utilities are only required to accept 2.5% of demand and this number is already in sight in PGE territory.  A recent article in Green Inc. suggests this could put the brakes on California solar unless the limits are raised.

To learn more about net metering in your area visit: PGE SCE SDG&E

When the current rebate program was launched in January 2007, the rebate was $2.50 per AC watt for residential installations and has stepped down quickly to $2.20, $1.90 and now $1.55.  For a typical 4 kW system, the available rebate has been reduced from $10,000 to $6,220 in just 2 and 1/2 years.

For those intent on waiting for solar prices to drop further, the combination of lost solar energy production and declining rebates will likely offset any future savings.