It has been a long time since I checked in so it is time for an update. This has been an interesting ride - getting the solar panels installed in the middle of the summer - watching the days getting shorter and shorter and shorter and my monthly production go down down down.
The winter was not very harsh at all - we barely had any snow covering the panels. But when it did snow, you knew when the sun came out because there was a loud crash on the deck. Fortunately I knew to move the deck furniture to the shed to prevent damage. This video from New Jersey
shows snow cascading down solar panels. My roof is steeper than this one and it has two full flights to drop.
shows snow cascading down solar panels. My roof is steeper than this one and it has two full flights to drop.
February and March were very sunny with little precipitation as the month-by-month graph shows. But the amazing thing was the once we got out of the winter doldrums and the days started getting longer, I started producing more energy than I was using. You can literally see the production going up by the day on the monthly graph. Sure there are cloudy and rainy days (even a few days with snow in there at the very beginning. But the trend was clear...
Then the amazing happened...my electric bill came...and I was floored. It will not always be this good once the two dehumidifiers and the air conditioner and the two refrigerators all start running, but it was still amazing to see...My electric bill for last year at this time was $100.78. And for last month was still a whopping $69.56...but this month it was a mere $6.43.
I might add that my first SREC check arrived in early February and of course I will be requesting my tax credit of 30% of the system cost and the state tax credit of $1,000. So one day this will be all paid off!
