These guys have become a real nuisance selling rooftop grid-tie systems. I need a sign that says, "Stop looking at my roof!
Before I could tell them no, they said they saw my panels in the back yard. “Are they really enough to reduce your electric bill?”
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“My last bill was $27.38”
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They looked at each other. “Oh okay. Sorry to bother you.”
It’s my understanding that the grid tied systems without battery banks will not power your home if the grid power goes out. And that makes sense, the system wouldn’t be sized to directly power your home from panels through an inverter because there’s no way to know the load or how much sun there would be at any given time. So when the sun shines they power your home and/or back feed the grid and when the sun goes down you get credit for the extra you made during the day and pay for the rest. So I wouldn’t say its a bad idea but why go to all the cost and effort just to still have someone or something determine whether you get power or not.
I agree. As soon as I found out grid-tie has no battery backup, I said I wasn’t interested. The grid goes down, you also lose power. From what I’m told, you’re connected to the grid, through a meter that tracks power going in and out. The difference will determine how much power you pay for plus the Basic fee and numerous other fees and taxes that politicians have made up. Don’t expect to ever have a system so large that the Power company has to pay you. Seems regulations prohibit large systems like that for homes.
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While you save some money, people have complained it’s not what they were told to expect. On top of that Warren Buffett who owns NVEnergy raised our Basic rate, trying to recover money he’s losing to solar.
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I actually only used $7.41 (50KWh) of power, but my bill was $27.38, the rest being the Basic charge plus taxes and fees.
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I could go all off the grid, but I would not be able to run my HVAC system, (central heat and air).