EcoRenovator - View Single Post - My DIY Solar Experience and Break Even Calculations

WisJim · 08-03-20, 08:30 PM

I posted about our PV system and electric LEAF back in 2017, and thought I'd update a bit. In March we bought a newer used Leaf, a 2017 to replace our 2013 which we sold to one of our sons. My wife had been saving $150 a month which is what she figures we save by driving the Leaf instead of our old Chevy Metro which died a violent death when the front A-frame failed while driving. We averaged over 40mpg with the Metro, so our savings figure is based on the detailed budget and financial records that my wife has kept for the last 45 or more years. The savings factor in more expensive insurance on the Leaf, more expensive tires on the Leaf, and almost no fuel cost because our solar electric production would only be worth about 3 cents a kilowatt hour if we "sold" it back to the utility instead of using it to replace gasoline. Also we have installed a pair of mini-split heat pumps for heating in the fall and spring when it isn't cold enough to have our wood furnace going all day, so we are using our summer surplus production in the fall.

08-03-20, 08:30 PM	#32
WisJim Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 42 Thanks: 7 Thanked 9 Times in 8 Posts	I posted about our PV system and electric LEAF back in 2017, and thought I'd update a bit. In March we bought a newer used Leaf, a 2017 to replace our 2013 which we sold to one of our sons. My wife had been saving $150 a month which is what she figures we save by driving the Leaf instead of our old Chevy Metro which died a violent death when the front A-frame failed while driving. We averaged over 40mpg with the Metro, so our savings figure is based on the detailed budget and financial records that my wife has kept for the last 45 or more years. The savings factor in more expensive insurance on the Leaf, more expensive tires on the Leaf, and almost no fuel cost because our solar electric production would only be worth about 3 cents a kilowatt hour if we "sold" it back to the utility instead of using it to replace gasoline. Also we have installed a pair of mini-split heat pumps for heating in the fall and spring when it isn't cold enough to have our wood furnace going all day, so we are using our summer surplus production in the fall.