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We have PG&E (Actually another company called Pioneer came in and took over but PG&E still runs our solar program) The rates for us go up late afternoon and early evening. Goes down again late night/early morning. Chargers are programmed to take power at the best time and talk to the power company to find that rate. You tell the charger when you expect to blast off and it will try to meet your deadline. Tough noogies if you have to leave a few hours early, perhaps.
Here are my panels, installed in 2009, on my back acres as of this morning. Easy to maintain and clean. Depending on if you have string inverters or one big one like I have, a small thing blocking a panel can have a significant impact on production. My panels have some kind of coating on them, feels kinda rubbery, that makes dirt and bird poop just slide off with only a hose and water. Easy, peasy. They remain very clean in the winter with the rains and I hose them off only in the summer once a month or so. They do not really attract much dust. Once a year I cut weeds on the west side to keep any shadows off the panels and for fire protection.
You've had them a long time. Has wind ever damaged any of them?
^The one and only solar panel I have had its mount bent by intense wind but it still works. A neighbor in CO and the house I lived at in Acton, CA had wind damage solar panels and toss them around, both on the ground.
You've had them a long time. Has wind ever damaged any of them?
The one and only solar panel I have had its mount bent by intense wind but it still works. A neighbor in CO and the house I lived at in Acton, CA had wind damage solar panels and toss them around, both on the ground.
No damage at all and we get hurricane force winds as we are on a ridge on the western slope. My county extends all the way to the Nevada line and the code for panels includes a large snowload. Panels around here can survive nuclear attack. The big danger is fire but I keep the ground clear around it. The other is impact damage but my panels are out in the open with nothing around it. I hose it off every now and then. Replacing panels can be problematic depending on the type of inverter that it goes with. Panels are only made a short time before a new generation comes in. New panels today are far more efficient than my old ones. The other gotcha can be bird droppings. Does not take much to stop a panel generating. The birds only occasionally like the top, high corner and the spacing of the edge with the panel leaves enough room for poop not to hit the panel. The coating on the panel repels dirt extremely well. A hosing does the trick, no rubbing required. Kind of a slick, rubbery feel to it.
The only thing that killed my panel before I noticed was a bad breaker connecting the panel to the house panel/grid. Simple pop in, pop out. It was corroded.
California Climate Credit Moving to High-Billed Months
To make bills more affordable, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has directed California’s three large utilities (Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and San Diego Gas & Electric Company) to deliver the California Climate Credit to residential customers later this year when electricity bills are typically higher.
What is the California Climate Credit?
The California Climate Credit is a bill credit that automatically returns to utility customers their share of benefits from California’s Cap-and-Invest program. It has previously appeared twice per year, typically in April and October, depending on your billing cycle. This program is designed to support affordability and help customers as California transitions to a low-carbon future.
What's Changing and What to Expect
In 2026, your usual April Climate Credit will instead be applied later in the year during high-billed months to provide greater relief on your bill when you need it most.
You will receive a $72 credit, which may come in a single payment or be split across high-billed months.
No action is required. The credit will be automatically applied on your residential bill.
Mass has Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC)
In short the utilities are required to use solar for some percentage of their power generation.
They can either deloy that many panels or buy credits from consumers.
So every megawatt of power in one unit. You get to sell units to the utility.
They're running about $35 a unit now.
There are business that have popped up to facilitate this exchange.
Things really change when the "new" (let's move the goalposts after a bazillion people did the math to install solar in California) grace period expires at 20 years. For me that is in 4 years. The new math is designed for the latest green push du jour of Tesla batteries hooked up to solar. I don't have any Powerwalls. That means in a few years, when my panels are producing in the daytime I will get pretty much nothing for the energy production. Then the rates skyrocket in the evening and night. No solar in the dark. The idea is that your solar system serves to charge the batteries in the daytime to power your stuff at night when rates are high.
I have 2 big energy draws. My well and pool pump. My irrigation runs continuously for 3-4 hours before sunrise. With the new change I will run irrigation in the daytime while the solar is working so as to offset the night charge. The pool runs in the morning so that will work as well. Candles at night. I love how the government changed the rules after you make the big investment for solar based on what was billed as the way it will be in the future. Keep moving the goalposts.
OK not being political while discussing a technical issue.
I can appreciate the challenge for utilities.
When a lot of solar adoptees flood the grid with daytime power but the grid has no storage ( for the most part) and still needs to provide power at night.
The graph of power Is called the duck curve
BTW this isn't a challenge just for California, it's anywhere solar adds a significant amount of power to the grid.
Distributed batteries do two things.
First they flatten that supply curve/demand curve out,
The second more subtle factor is they reduce the load on grid infrastructure by making sourcing of power a local event.
California Climate Credit Moving to High-Billed Months
To make bills more affordable, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has directed California’s three large utilities (Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and San Diego Gas & Electric Company) to deliver the California Climate Credit to residential customers later this year when electricity bills are typically higher.
What is the California Climate Credit?
The California Climate Credit is a bill credit that automatically returns to utility customers their share of benefits from California’s Cap-and-Invest program. It has previously appeared twice per year, typically in April and October, depending on your billing cycle. This program is designed to support affordability and help customers as California transitions to a low-carbon future.
What's Changing and What to Expect
In 2026, your usual April Climate Credit will instead be applied later in the year during high-billed months to provide greater relief on your bill when you need it most.
You will receive a $72 credit, which may come in a single payment or be split across high-billed months.
No action is required. The credit will be automatically applied on your residential bill.
^Oh, boy. A drop in the bucket.
So the power companies get to keep the $72 longer and earn interest on it??
California Climate Credit Moving to High-Billed Months
A drop in the bucket.
