The grid is my battery. The meter is running backwards now. It'll go forwards in the evening. Right now, I'm putting in 5 or 6 KW/day, beyond what I'm using. In winter, it'll go forwards.
I hope to just abut break even over the course of a year. I've got no incentive to go beyond that right now, since PGE doesn't have a buyback program anymore. Anything < zero, and I am giving corporate welfare to PGE, and I don't believe in that.
Why isn't there a national buyback law? If things change here, I'll replace my meter with a time of use meter. You get credit, or pay, 3X as much for power produced/consumed during peak hours, 1000-1800. I'd make out like a bandit, especially since I work nights.
I'm in an energy sweet spot. If it hits the fan, I'll plug my seasonal creek in. I also have wind potential at the top of my property, but it is 220-440 yards from the meter. There is also some natural gas up there; the original owners tried digging a well for water, and hit gas. Then, I've got lots of trees and pasture land. Maybe even get creative, put a water powered ram pump on the creek, pump the water up to my pond, run it back down thru mini-hydro. If the crunch hits, I'm a potential energy millionaire. |
