Excess Solar Power

Each year, after the March bill has been determined, Rocky Mountain Power (RMP) zeros out any credit for excess solar power (power that isn't needed to run the house and is thus given to the grid). This will happen in the coming week.

I expected I would have a credit since February was abnormally warm and sunny, and I've been running a space heater during the evenings to increase my power drawn from the grid, thus reducing any credit that might be accruing.

My monthly bill gives the net meter reading at the date of the bill, and I just read the meter to see my current readings. The result of a simple calculation is that I currently have an excess of 130 Kwh. Monday and Tuesday are forecast to be cloudy, and the following days are predicted to be sunny days, so it is likely my excess will increase. What ever the excess is, RMP will set the excess to zero. So, it is to my advantage to reduce the excess as much as possible during the next few days. I will thus continue using my space heater, and I will wash and dry my clothes this week, as well as setting my dish washer to use the heating coil to dry the dishes. I will keep the furnace set at 69 (F) during the day, because that lower setting is giving me a significant decrease in my natural gas bill.

Later: The breakeven point for solar power exceeding the power drawn from the net is about 20 Kwh. Today, my solar system, even though the day was sunny with clouds, generated 30.4 Kwh.