How do solar panels work in the sense of billing? Do you not have an electric bill? Are you just paying for the panel itself?
In: Engineering
Assuming *you* own your solar panels, this will depend on your agreement with your power provider. It often works like this:
– When the sun is shining, any extra power you don’t use goes to the grid to power other buildings
– Your energy provider keeps track of how much electricity you *give* to the grid
– You get credits for that much free power to pull from the grid at some other time that month
– You only pay for electricity if your monthly needs from the power company exceeds your excess production
If you produce enough electricity, you basically have no electric bill (you’ll still need to pay a basic “on the grid” fee that ranges from $5 to $15).
If you have a battery in your home and you produce enough solar to cover all your needs, you may be able to just leave the grid entirely, but that’s not usually a good idea. It’s better to have a backup plan.
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