planet4ever said:
It seems unlikely that E1 would be better than E6 unless you have a very small solar array and high weekday afternoon usage.
You mean like those of us with young families, who sized our PV array to maximize ROI by getting us out of the higher tier rates without trying to completely zero out our usage (since on E1, baseline power is cheaper than the cost of generating it from PV)?
I installed a 2.1KW south-facing array five years ago, and it's (now) returning nearly 10% tax-free on my investment for avoided power cost for now. I analyzed my peak summer usage at the time and decided that since there was a chance I might not be able to generate enough to cover my consumption (let alone push anything back into the grid at those nice peak rates), that TOU didn't make sense. It might've saved me a few bucks a month, but not really enough to even pay back the cost of the TOU meter installation.
That said, I've been trying to figure out (though it's painfully difficult to do so) whether it be cost effective for me to add another 2.5KW of west-facing panels and then switch to TOU (presumably E6, or maybe E9a). But that really depends on how much I end up charging at home vs. at work.
planet4ever said:
(Is it that hard to run the electric dryer before 10 AM or after 9 PM on weekdays?)
With TOU, you don't want to ever be a "net-consumer" during summer peak or really even partial peak -- and those hours stink on E6. You want to be pushing lots of power into the grid during peak hours, so you can "buy it back" cheaper in the off-peak hours and in the winter. That's tough to do if you have a family at home during the summer, or use (even occasionally) air conditioning. We have a whole-house fan which we often use instead of A/C, but who wants to chase their wife around with a watch saying "Honey, I told you we can't use the clothes dryer until after 9pm!! Or the dishwasher!! And couldn't you bake those cupcakes for the kids after they're asleep?" :lol:
planet4ever said:
When it comes to E6 vs. E9 the choice is not so clear. E9 Peak times don't match PV output nearly as well as E6, but E9 Off peak rates are even lower than E6. You will need to do your own analysis to see which is better for you, assuming PG&E lets you have a choice.
Yes, that seems to be the tricky part. Martin's spreadsheet (link on page one of this thread) appears to be helpful in comparing different scenarios but some have said it may not be entirely accurate depending on your specific usage patterns and how "normalized" they are.
I wish they just would create a "hybrid" tariff based on blending the old E7 (net metering) with the new E9a (EV charging) tariff: "peak" rates during peak solar generating hours, and low EV charging rates after midnight.
The problem with E6 is that it's not as PV-friendly as E7, or as EV-friendly as E9. :-(
I think I'm going to stick with E1 until there is a clearly better choice, ideally a new tariff.
Just as I'm deferring my EVSE decision for now in hopes of better/cheaper options (e.g. Leviton 16a L2).