Our Online SolarEdge Panel. Click to see what we are producing with our rooftop solar array!

In August, we had another month of strong solar production. Again, there were a few cloudy days, which you see in this graph:

Here is the NV Energy Bill for the month:

Interpretation:

The system generated approximately 1.3 megawatts of power. We used 700 kilowatts (finally turned on the A/C). We banked approximately 600 kilowatts.

From the NV Energy bill (page 1 Usage Column):

kWhGenerated = 1330 What our system generated.

kWhReceived = 990 Electricity NV Energy Received from our system.

The difference (1330-990=340) is what we used directly off our system.

kWhDelivered = 361 Electricity NV Energy Delivered to us, usually at night.

kWhAccumulated = 629 Electricity accumulated over the month. This figure is calculated as the difference between kWhR 990 – kWhD 361= 629. Then it is multiplied by $.08 (our storage rate): 792 X $.08 = $48.95 credit banked (see page 2 of NV Energy bill).

The $48.95 calculated above is added on Page 1 to the previous month’s Excess Energy Credit ($185.49), less some minor credits applied to current charges ($2.23), for a total carryover of $232.21. At $.09 per kWh retail electricity rate, this equals 2,580 stored kilowatts to date ($232.21/$.09).

Total usage = 361 (kWhD) + 340 (directly used off solar system) or 701 kWh. We used more this month, because it was finally hot enough to start using A/C!

We also had another economical month with the LEAF:

Little Miss Sippy used 143 kWh and traveled 555 miles this month. We were out camping again for about 5 days mid-month. The LEAF averaged 3.88 miles per kilowatt hour in August.

We took a drive up to Incline and back and still had 25% of our battery charge left when we got home! (We charged her up to 100% before we left). She uses a lot of power to go uphill, but then gets it back from regenerative braking and coasting on the way back down. It was great fun driving the LEAF down Mount Rose, which is a steep and curvy mountain road. The Braking Mode (B-Mode) worked awesome for slowing the car down without having to use much braking. This mode increases the regenerative braking the car does when your foot isn’t on the accelerator. It’s similar to being in a lower gear in an ICE vehicle, but much smoother and quieter. Because of the LEAF’s lower center of gravity due to the battery, she handles curves like a dream!

The other fun thing we did this month was get the NissanConnect EV app on our iphones (Scott was the technical genius who set it up). What a great app! It tells you how much juice the battery has and how far you can drive. It has a car finder if you misplace your LEAF in a parking lot. But the coolest thing is that you can start the climate control in the car with your iphone! So, say you are having lunch with a friend for a couple of hours. Your car is parked in the hot midday sun and you want it cool when you get in. A few minutes before you get ready to leave, you turn on the climate control, and presto you have a cool car waiting for you! (Alternatively, you can turn the heat on in the winter.) The app also offers an option to turn off the climate control if, for example, your departure gets delayed.

Our Online SolarEdge Panel. Click to see what we are producing with our rooftop solar array!

In July, we had another month of strong solar production. There were a few cloudy days, which you see in this graph:

Here is the NV Energy Bill for the month:

Interpretation:

The system generated approximately 1.3 megawatts of power. We used 1/2 megawatt. We banked approximately 800 kilowatts.

From the NV Energy bill (page 1 Usage Column):

kWhGenerated = 1307 What our system generated.

kWhReceived = 1064 Electricity NV Energy Received from our system.

The difference (1307-1064=243) is what we used directly off our system.

kWhDelivered = 272 Electricity NV Energy Delivered to us, usually at night.

kWhAccumulated = 792 Electricity accumulated over the month. This figure is calculated as the difference between kWhR 1064 – kWhD 272 = 792. Then it is multiplied by $.08 (our storage rate): 792 X $.08 = $60.92 credit banked.

The $60.92 calculated above is added on Page 1 to the previous month’s Excess Energy Credit ($126.25), less some minor credits applied to current charges ($1.68), for a total carryover of $185.49. At $.09 per kWh retail electricity rate, this equals 2,061 stored kilowatts to date ($185.49/$.09).

Total usage = 272 (kWhD) + 243 (directly used off solar system) or 515 kWh. This seems to be our average power usage, about 1/2 megawatt.

We also had another economical month with the LEAF:

Little Miss Sippy only used 145 kWh! We were out camping for about 6 days mid-month, but it is interesting we still used about the same as last month when Scott was driving the LEAF and Bruce was borrowing it to commute to Truckee. The LEAF averaged 3.74 miles per kilowatt hour in July.

Fun Discoveries about EV’s

They don’t need to warm up! What this means in practical terms is that you have instant A/C in the hot weather and instant heat in cold weather. It finally got hot enough in July that we really noticed how quickly the LEAF cools off the cabin.

Scott also discovered that you can leave the LEAF running with the climate control on Auto while you are running quick errands. You can lock the car and when you return it is cool as a cucumber!

Another interesting discovery, via a friend with a Tesla, is that you can hit a deer head-on at highway speeds and keep on driving! No engine, no radiator, no problem (well, at least mechanically speaking…)