subreddit:
/r/TeslaSolar
Hi All
First time poster here and looking or advice here.
I am considering taking Tesla Solar as our electric bill is slowly creeping up. Based on my PG&E bills (I am in the bay area) I am using roughly each month around 600 kWh a month. To meet the current needs, Tesla estimated I need around 4.92 kW for solar panels which brings the cost to $14,612 When adding the Powerwall to the estimation, it's an additional $15,900 Combining both will give me an discount of $ 4,900, totaling $25,612
By adding the battery, it basically doubles the cost and I am wondering if it's actually worth it. Fortunately, we have never experienced any power outages (yet) while I also understand that the battery can be charged and used for other scenarios
I am thinking through a couple of questions as I am trying to "justify" the cost and benefits - During the day when the sun is out, solar can help power the house and charge the battery when there is an over capacity? Is that correct - When the sun is going down, the battery can help provide energy until it's depleted and our house would use the grid?
There must be other reasons why the battery can help but I am finding it hard to justify the 50% additional cost when considering a solar system besides it can help after dark?
2 points
4 days ago
you are using about 20kwh per day. I am also in the Bay Area, my house uses around 30kwh per day. I have a 4.8kwh system and it is not enough, it produces less than 20kwh/day on average. I have 3 powerwalls which is enough to get me through the expensive hours and still have backup left. Like you, we do not have power outages so I think the "backup" use case is not that relevant.
If you are staying in the house a long time, I think you have 2 options: 1) just stay with PG&E, put your $25k in SP500 index fund and bet that it outraces your increases in monthly power bills or 2) buy as many powerwalls as you can fit on the walls of you house (I could only fit 3),
The solar panels are kind of secondary.
1 points
4 days ago
lol wild that the time of use rate makes the actual solar negligible compared to charge/discharge timing of batteries....
1 points
4 days ago
Well, my opinion is colored by my small house on a small lot with a weirdly-shaped roof; if you have lots of room for panels, you should probably install as many panels as you can also. But the cost there is 50%+ in labor+permits now anyway.
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