Solar update
Jan. 8th, 2026 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizillaIt is working really well. Our electric bills dropped to near zero, last spring, and have stayed there.
When we got the extra panels in fall 2024, we seem to have got too many. Cutting those trees increased our production - we went from 20 panels to 34 panels, but solar production has doubled. Meanwhile our usage went down, due to the casita mini-split and less driving for eldercare. In 2025, we produced way more power than we used. DTE doesn’t pay us for our surplus, it just gets banked. But being so far ahead, I have high hopes that we can get through this winter without using up our bank. Last winter, we did run out, and had electric bills for a couple months.
I am wondering if we should try to reduce our gas bill by getting some heat from the mini splits in the main house? We already have them, after all. But I really like the quiet comfortable hydronic radiant heat, that uses the gas boiler. I guess it is nice to have options!
Friends with EVs are welcome to charge here. We have plenty of spare electrons.
With all these data centers going in around here, the solar should shield us from rate increases.
When we got the extra panels in fall 2024, we seem to have got too many. Cutting those trees increased our production - we went from 20 panels to 34 panels, but solar production has doubled. Meanwhile our usage went down, due to the casita mini-split and less driving for eldercare. In 2025, we produced way more power than we used. DTE doesn’t pay us for our surplus, it just gets banked. But being so far ahead, I have high hopes that we can get through this winter without using up our bank. Last winter, we did run out, and had electric bills for a couple months.
I am wondering if we should try to reduce our gas bill by getting some heat from the mini splits in the main house? We already have them, after all. But I really like the quiet comfortable hydronic radiant heat, that uses the gas boiler. I guess it is nice to have options!
Friends with EVs are welcome to charge here. We have plenty of spare electrons.
With all these data centers going in around here, the solar should shield us from rate increases.
