From d19b3d1bf14f05e1dbaef4230f183a98eabe4fe9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Paul Duncan <pabs@pablotron.org>
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2023 16:05:45 -0500
Subject: add content/posts/2023-12-29-solar-one-year.md and
 static/files/posts/solar-one-year

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+---
+slug: solar-one-year
+title: "Solar: One Year"
+date: "2023-12-29T08:06:45-04:00"
+pics:
+  dashboard:
+    css: "image"
+    tip: "Total 2023 energy production and consumption."
+    sources:
+      - "/files/posts/solar-one-year/dashboard.webp"
+      - src: "/files/posts/solar-one-year/dashboard.png"
+        width: 855
+        height: 527
+  bill:
+    css: "image"
+    tip: "Our July power bill with monthly usage and amount due highlighted."
+    sources:
+      - "/files/posts/solar-one-year/bill-20230722.webp"
+      - src: "/files/posts/solar-one-year/bill-20230722.png"
+        width: 873
+        height: 534
+tables:
+  savings:
+    # table columns (required)
+    cols:
+      - id: "desc"
+        name: "Description"
+        tip: "Description"
+      - id: "amount"
+        name: "Amount ($)"
+        tip: "Amount of money saved, in dollars."
+        align: "right"
+
+    # table rows (required)
+    rows:
+      - amount: "$868.00"
+        desc: "Energy Produced (6.2 [MWh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt-hour#Multiples \"megawatt-hour (MWh)\"), $0.14/[kWh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt-hour \"kilowatt-hour (kWh)\"))"
+      - amount: "$260.25"
+        desc: "[Fairfax County Solar Energy Equipment Tax Exemption](https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/taxes/relief/real-estate-solar-equipment \"Fairfax County Solar Energy Equipment Tax Exemption\")"
+      - amount: "$179.52"
+        desc: "[SRECs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Renewable_Energy_Certificate \"Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC)\")"
+      - amount: "**$1307.77**"
+        desc: "**Total**"
+---
+
+{{< pe-figure "dashboard" >}}
+
+Last year we got [rooftop solar][solar].  The picture above is our
+[Enphase][] dashboard, which shows how the solar panels performed in
+2023.
+
+The blue bars indicate the energy produced by our solar panels and the
+orange bars indicate the energy consumed by our house, in
+[megawatt-hours (MWh)][MWh].
+
+The relevant values are:
+
+* Consumed: Total energy consumed by our house.
+* Produced: Total energy generated by our solar panels.
+* Net Imported: Energy we are actually billed for.
+
+Any excess energy that we produce is exported back to the grid and
+credited to our account ([net metering][]), so our power bills during
+the spring and early summer look like this:
+
+{{< pe-figure "bill" >}}
+
+The sections of the bill highlighted in red show the following,
+respectively:
+
+1. Four months of zero net energy use.
+2. A bare minimum power bill.
+
+## Savings
+
+Here's a breakdown of the money we saved this year from solar:
+
+{{< table "savings" >}}
+
+Notes:
+
+* The solar panels offset **62%** of our energy use for the year
+  (6.2/9.9 = ~0.62) and saved us **$868.00** (6200 kWh * $0.14/[kWh][] =
+  $868).
+* We received a **$260.25** property tax exemption from the [Fairfax
+  County Solar Energy Equipment Tax Exemption][tax-exemption].
+* We generated 6 [solar renewable energy credits (SRECs)][srec] in 2023
+  and 5 have been sold.  We received **$179.52** for them (after fees).
+
+The expected lifetime of the solar panels is 20 years.  We expect to
+recoup the initial installation cost in 11-13 years.
+
+That's longer than usual (most folks try to break even in 5-8 years),
+but we're okay with it; our house is partially shaded and our panel
+placement is deliberately less than optimal for aesthetic reasons.
+
+[solar]: {{< relref "posts/2022-09-11-solar-panels.md" >}}
+  "Solar Panels installed on our roof."
+[enphase]: https://enphaseenergy.com/
+  "Enphase"
+[kwh]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt-hour
+  "kilowatt-hour (kWh)"
+[mwh]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt-hour#Multiples
+  "megawatt-hour (MWh)"
+[net metering]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_metering
+  "Net metering"
+[srec]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Renewable_Energy_Certificate
+  "Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC)"
+[tax-exemption]: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/taxes/relief/real-estate-solar-equipment
+  "Solar Energy Equipment Tax Exemption for Fairfax County"
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