SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision • Hacker News Board

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#211

Post by kyleblarson » Sun, Jan 10, 2016, 4:11 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #167

maxerickson wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet natural gas is not available there. (the not at all rugged township I used to live in had it in their planning documents that there would not be natural gas lines run -- they want to discourage development)

LP tank onsite. Its what most rural folks use for heat when there's no infrastructure available. http://www.missiongas.com/images/500gallonpropanetank.jpg

Yeah we have a 500 gallon LP tank and use that for (on demand) hot water, backup generator and cooking, but our primary source of heat is in floor electric radiant (floors are concrete slab). We also use a mini split system to compliment the in floor heat and to provide cooling in the summer. And of course we have a wood stove as well. Unfortunately we are in a narrow valley and don't get enough sun to make solar a viable option.

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#212

Post by rhino369 » Sun, Jan 10, 2016, 4:43 PM UTC

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #209

rhino369 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What extra value are they bringing the the grid.

Energy production that correlates (in many parts of the world) with peak load from air conditioning. This saves fuel and wear and tear on expensive peaker plants. The generation is distributed, which saves on distribution and transmission costs. Planning for expansion is also based on peak loads, which as noted above, solar reduces saving yet more money. There's some worked examples for Minesota here: https://www.nre…

Is peaker rate bought off the market interchanges ever more than the retail rate?

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#213

Post by encoderer » Mon, Jan 11, 2016, 12:41 AM UTC

mchahn wrote: post #210

encoderer wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see a 3 cent rate tier. Do you have a link? http://www.pge.com/en/myhome/saveenergymoney/plans/tiers/ind... The pay-out on the true-up statement is very clear about the 3.xx cent rate.

You are correct. I was going by what a solar city engineer told me. I should have known better than to take them at their word. Our first year we didn't go negative so we had a payment to make at the end of the year. Now that I know the return rate is so low I'll try to stay positive, switching some appliances to electric if I have to.

I think it's fair to say that the situation is pretty opaque and confusing. For 2 years I thought we lost our credit balance. I didn't notice the small credit that applied because in effect it only offset about half of our gas bill each January (which, with PG&E is on the same bill for us)