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I was reading the Trib, saw this article and thought it might be of interest. Apparently HECO is proposing to "double the amount of solar energy that can be accepted onto its circuits" and to do away with Net Energy Metering (for new installs), then start using something called Transitional Distributed Generation. This would decrease the credit you get from selling electricity back to HELCO, from 36 cents per kwh to 19. So the trade off seems to be more and faster approval of solar but less paid per kwh.
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/loc...lar-energy
The article doesn't mention monthly fees or any surcharges...
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Paying the solar customer wholesale rate instead of nearly retail is sensible. The solar customer does not provide any of the infrastructure or maintenance for selling that solar power back into the grid system. I was really surprised when I found out they had been doing net-metering that way.
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Now we find out the real reason why Helco was having problems hooking up new solar systems.
Anyone who put it off for too long will be kicking themselves.
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In other words, raising their grid tie fee from $20 to $80 didn't fly, so their new strategy is to pay less for the solar electricity. Anybody want to guess if the end result is the same financially?
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There are many variables - how much you use, when you use it, how much you produce, etc... - that will affect whether this generally works out better for a consumer. Instead of paying $80 a month you get payed less for what you sell back.
What are your thoughts on the difference; is the $60 increase you would have had to pay each month more or less than the credit difference of 17 cents per kwh? I'm terrible at math...
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My engineer brother says there's a new type of solar battery due out in a few months...
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I think this is the end of "no upfront cost" solar. The companies offering the leases needed the retail rate to make it work.
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Go off grid. Never regret it. No HELCO changing rules on u.
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quote:
Originally posted by leilanidude
Paying the solar customer wholesale rate instead of nearly retail is sensible. The solar customer does not provide any of the infrastructure or maintenance for selling that solar power back into the grid system. I was really surprised when I found out they had been doing net-metering that way.
But the solar producer is paying for all the production infrastructure costs of producing the KWHs, and Helco gets the power without having to invest in its own infrastructure to produce those KWHs. So solar customers/producers do pay a share of infrastructure costs at the front end. I will go all off grid next time and skip being involved with Helco at all.
