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M Q

wrote:

On Sep 29, 9:21 pm, "Sac Dave" wrote:

I'm thinking of going to solar to offset high PG&E cost.
....

It is tough to make solar pay. From what you have said, I suspect
that you are not going to make it pay. If the current cost per unit
if energy is very high, then it might. I would suggest that you
should ask any potential installer provide you with their calculations
that show it would be a good investment. You want to see the total
cost of the install, and the expected reduction in units of energy
purchased as a result of the install and the cost of those saved units
of energy. Demand real numbers and if you don't really understand
them, find someone who does and who will be able to show you why the
contractor may be fudging the numbers.

There are cases where it is a good economic choice, but those are
few in number.

California (PG&E) has a progressive electric rate schedule: the more
you use the higher your marginal rates are. There are five "tiers".
The lowest rates are about 11 cents / KwH. The highest (tier five)
is about 36 cents / KwH. If he is paying $600 / month, he is clearly
well into tier five. At that marginal rate, solar panels can be
economical until they reduce your net consumption into a lower tier,
particularly in Sacramento, where there is a lot of sun.

However, I agree with the other posters: first find out why you are
using such an extraordinary amount of power. Fixing that would have
a much greater and faster pay back than solar panels.