Electric Bill

So I got my first PGE bill after my solar system has been up and running for a month.

we got an undersized system because we unfortunately did not have the roof space for a larger one. I would have liked a few additional panels but what can you do.

Anyways, I got a decent pre-paid 20 year lease through a broker- We paid $5850 or so for a 2.5kWh system and I'm expecting some cash back from them shortly due to my ninja negotiation skills.  Overall they were a pain in the a** to deal with. Slow responses, lost paperwork, etc.  But the system is up and running now.

Because of our pretty high energy usage, I was always in Tier 4 for my top energy charge - family and small children at home all day so we have to keep the AC at a managable temp.

Our electric bills the last few months have been from $140-175 a month, which is the highest I've ever paid for electricity and a far cry from our house in Turlock since TID rates are ridiculously low. 

This month our bill showed that our net charge would be $64.99 which will be due in 12 months at the time of our true up statement.  During the month, we used a total of 483kWh, which I would estimate is about 300-400kWh less than we would have without solar.  So I would say that the solar saved us about $80-100 in electric charges during the month, which is pretty good.

We paid $2400 for an exterior rated commercial grade Tankless Water Heater about three years ago (Santa Cruz). It is the way to go, as our gas bill went down by 45%.

We paid $2400 for an exterior rated commercial grade Tankless Water Heater about three years ago (Santa Cruz). It is the way to go, as our gas bill went down by 45%.

Unless you realize how long you can stay in the shower. Then the bill can be almost the same. I did the same thing but my problem is I wait for the hot water to run out. but never does.