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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…)