I just got my July electric bill. Time to open it on camera so that you and I get to see what it is at the same time!
In July, we finally started getting some nice summer days! (June was surprisingly rainy and cloudy!) But along with the sun was HEAT. We used our central air-conditioning quite a bit and that DOES increase our electric use.
Besides our household electric use, we also have an electric car. So, when I’m talking about my electric bills and how solar saves money, keep in mind that I’m also NOT BUYING GASOLINE! Combining PV & EV is a GREAT way to keep expenses LOW!
This month, my solar production covered all of our electric use (including that car) and enough extra production to cover the general fees charged by the power company with A DOLLAR left over! We still have a credit of over $30 with the power company. It would be nice to build up as much of a credit as we can, as that can help reduce our costs going into the fall and winter when days are shorter and the weather is cloudier.
In the mean time, I’m pretty happy to have another month of NOT paying an electric bill!
Before we go, one note on dates and billing. My billing cycle with the power company is typically from the 21st of one month to the 22nd of the next. It is NOT the standard calendar month. That still generally lines up well with monthly production stats I can pull up from the Enphase Enlighten software. I can also pull up custom reports for those exact dates, but it’s one more step.
At my power meter, I CAN figure out exactly how much I have pulled from and returned to the grid, but it requires me marking down 4 different numbers on one particular day of the month and doing some subtraction. Easier and more fun just to wait for the power bill!
I have a simple digital meter in my garage that tracks my solar production, and another that tracks only electric car energy use. On the last day of the month, I record both meters and then reset them. This lets me compare how much power I made, and how much of it went straight into the car.
That’s it for now!
Until next time, stay charged up!
-Ben Nelson
Current running balance has been a credit since spring. 
We overproduced more energy this month than the same month last year. 
We produced more energy than we used this month, but less than the previous 3 months. Mostly due to air-conditioning use. July monthly production report from our solar software. 
In July, we produced 820 kWh of solar energy. 
Of the 820 kWh of energy we produced, 243kWh went to power our electric car.
