New York has a number of the highest electrical energy charges in the complete nation, and so they’re solely getting greater. When you’re certainly one of Consolidated Edison’s 3.3 million electrical clients, you’re most likely uninterested in sending what looks as if your entire cash to your utility.
The simplest strategy to cut back your electrical energy prices is by putting in photo voltaic panels. They’ll remove most of your electrical energy invoice all whereas powering your property with clear renewable power. We received’t mislead you although – making an attempt to determine learn how to begin the photo voltaic set up course of is complicated, particularly with Con Edison.
That’s the place we are available. We’ve outlined every little thing you have to find out about going photo voltaic with Con Edison that will help you determine if it’s the appropriate funding for you.
Going photo voltaic with Con Edison at a look
- Con Edison affords full retail web metering for photo voltaic householders however has a compulsory month-to-month Buyer Advantages Cost.
- Photo voltaic panels can remove nearly all of your ConEd invoice, however you’ll nonetheless get a month-to-month invoice consisting of non-bypassable expenses, charges, and taxes.
- New York State’s photo voltaic tax credit score, the NY-Solar incentive, and the federal photo voltaic tax credit score take 1000’s of {dollars} off the price of putting in a photo voltaic panel system.
- It will possibly take between three weeks and three months to get a photo voltaic panel system put in in Con Edison’s territory.
- Low upfront set up prices, web metering, and the excessive worth of electrical energy make photo voltaic a worthwhile funding for Con Edison clients.
Does Con Edison purchase extra photo voltaic power?
Sure, Con Edison does purchase extra photo voltaic power produced by your photo voltaic panels by way of a program referred to as “Part One Web Metering”. Here is the fundamental gist of how ConEd’s web metering program works: any power your photo voltaic panels generate will first be utilized by your property. If extra photo voltaic power is produced than your property wants, it will get despatched to the grid.
In change, ConEd provides you a credit score in your utility invoice, referred to as a “Personal Photo voltaic Utilization Credit score”, which is the same as one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electrical energy. These kilowatt-hour credit offset the price of the power you utilize from the grid later within the day when the solar isn’t shining. Con Edison has fairly excessive electrical energy charges, so web metering can prevent fairly a bit of cash in your electrical energy invoice.
That’s Con Edison’s web metering in a nutshell. However, there are just a few different issues to find out about Con Edison’s web metering program to get the complete image.
Buyer Profit Cost (CBC)
As a part of New York’s transition to a extra equitable photo voltaic billing system, the state’s authorities requires utilities to cost net-metered clients a “Buyer Profit Cost”, or CBC for brief.
The CBC is a month-to-month cost added to your electrical energy invoice based mostly on the scale of your photo voltaic system. For Con Edison clients, the CBC charge is $0.94 per kilowatt (kW) of photo voltaic put in. So, when you’ve got a 7 kW photo voltaic system, you’ll must pay an extra $6.58 monthly. The CBC cost can’t be offset utilizing photo voltaic credit.
It is a bummer that you need to pay an extra cost in your invoice, nevertheless it’s sufficiently small that it does not severely influence your photo voltaic financial savings. You’ll be able to learn extra concerning the CBC cost and the way it impacts your photo voltaic financial savings right here.
Credit score rollover
Beneath the utility’s earlier web metering guidelines, leftover photo voltaic credit could be cashed out yearly. With Part One Web Metering, there isn’t a annual money out.
Personal Photo voltaic Utilization credit roll over from month to month and yr to yr till the top of your 20-year web metering contract. Nevertheless, any remaining credit will expire on the finish of your contract.
Charge plan
Con Edison affords two residential charge plans, the usual charge plan and the time of day charge plan, each of which can be utilized by web metering clients. However, should you’re putting in photo voltaic panels, it’s best to persist with the usual charge plan as a result of it’s going to offer you the best photo voltaic financial savings potential.
The time of day plan expenses totally different costs for electrical energy all through the day. This implies a web metering credit score produced throughout an off-peak interval, when electrical energy is least expensive, can solely be used to cowl power you utilize from the grid throughout an off-peak interval in a while. This limits how a lot of your power prices you may cut back, thus leaving you with decrease financial savings.
What about VDER? New York is shifting away from web metering to a brand new kind of photo voltaic billing program referred to as the Worth of Distributed Vitality Assets (VDER), or Worth Stack, program. Proper now, it isn’t obligatory to make use of VDER, however you may choose into this system if you would like. The VDER program may offer you decrease photo voltaic financial savings total, however not too drastically. Plus, you get a decrease CBC charge. We advocate sticking with web metering for now.
Can going photo voltaic remove my whole Con Edison invoice?
Putting in photo voltaic panels can do away with most of your Con Edison invoice. The portion of the invoice that’s associated to power expenses is the most important portion of your invoice, and that may be utterly worn out with photo voltaic panels.
The a part of your invoice that photo voltaic can’t cowl is obligatory expenses, taxes, and charges. As we talked about earlier, you need to pay the CBC cost, which can add a couple of bucks monthly. Residential clients additionally must pay a $17.00 buyer cost. With these two expenses alone, that’s round $25 you need to pay to Con Ed.
However, $25 is so much lower than the $150 electrical energy invoice you had earlier than going photo voltaic. In actual fact, these financial savings add as much as nearly $1,500 in a single yr alone.
Does Con Edison provide any photo voltaic incentives or rebates?
Con Edison doesn’t have photo voltaic incentives or rebates for his or her clients. Don’t fret, although – there are state and federal incentives that may assist convey down the upfront price of photo voltaic for ConEd clients.
The primary is the state’s NY-Solar Megawatt Block Program. Con Edison householders who change to photo voltaic can earn $0.20 per watt, or $200 per kW, of photo voltaic put in on their roof. That is a rebate of about $1,200 for the average-sized photo voltaic system.
New York additionally has a state photo voltaic tax credit score that is the same as 25% of photo voltaic set up prices, as much as $5,000. Mix that with the 26% federal photo voltaic tax credit score, and it can save you 1000’s of {dollars} on putting in photo voltaic.
With each the state and federal photo voltaic tax credit score, plus the NY-Solar incentive, a median photo voltaic system would price round $8,500. With out incentives, the overall price could be nearer to $16,500.
The solar is setting on incentives. The present incentives obtainable to Con Edison Prospects are nice, however they received’t final endlessly. The federal tax credit score falls from 26% to 22% on the finish of 2022, and the NY-Solar incentive will expire as soon as this system’s cap is met. When you don’t change to photo voltaic quickly, it could possibly be too late to avoid wasting 1000’s of {dollars} with incentives.
Ought to Con Edison clients set up a photo voltaic battery?
Photo voltaic batteries have gotten a preferred addition to photo voltaic installations throughout the nation as extra householders need entry to backup energy, however they are not actually crucial for New Yorkers. That is principally as a result of Con Edison supplies web metering for his or her photo voltaic clients, so including a battery will price you not less than an additional $10,000 with out offering you any further electrical energy invoice financial savings.
Nevertheless, putting in photo voltaic panels in New York is comparatively low cost, due to the entire incentives in place. So, including on power storage is not a horrible monetary funding, as you may nonetheless get a good photo voltaic payback interval.
The underside line? You don’t want a battery while you go photo voltaic. However, if you wish to have peace of thoughts that you simply’ll be capable to maintain your lights on and some home equipment working throughout an influence outage, then a photo voltaic battery could possibly be a worthwhile buy for you.
Con Edison’s photo voltaic interconnection course of
We want putting in photo voltaic was as simple as putting in the panels and turning them on. Sadly, there’s slightly extra paperwork and much more time concerned to ensure the photo voltaic panels are secure for operation. Typically, that is known as the interconnection course of, and it’s principally dealt with by your photo voltaic installer.
From the time you begin your utility to the time your photo voltaic panels are turned on can differ drastically. Count on it to take at least three weeks, but in addition be ready for it to take so long as three months.
Step 1: File an utility
Your photo voltaic installer will fill out an interconnection utility to ship to Con Edison. The appliance package deal consists of many objects together with however not restricted to a signed contract, an outline of the system, the system design, and product particulars.
Upon receiving, Con Edison has ten enterprise days to assessment and both approve or deny the applying. Con Edison may also warn you if the grid wants upgrades to help the proposed system. If that is crucial, the prices would fall on you because the buyer, however usually wouldn’t exceed $350.
Step 2: Acquiring permits
Getting your arms on the required permits goes to be the longest a part of the complete course of. Allowing varies from city to city, so there isn’t a concrete reply as to what permits you’ll want to finish the set up.
All permits have to be obtained earlier than the system set up can start. In complete, allowing can take as little as one week or so long as six weeks to finish.
Step 3: System set up
When you obtain written approval from Con Edison, the photo voltaic set up can happen. Imagine it or not, that is the quickest a part of the complete course of. Usually, residential photo voltaic installations solely take about 6 hours to finish. Extra complicated installations can take round 3 days. You’ll be able to learn our breakdown of the photo voltaic set up course of for extra particulars.
Step 4: Meter configuration
When the photo voltaic set up is full, your installer will notify Con Edison. Inside ten enterprise days of notification, Con Edison will set up the brand new electrical energy meter or meters wanted to take part in web metering.
Step 5: System testing
Earlier than the photo voltaic panels may be turned on, they have to be examined and inspected by your installer. New York State has a required testing process that you would be able to examine here.
Con Edison doesn’t must be current on the time of testing, however the firm may determine they need a consultant on web site. If so, Con Edison and your installer will work out a gathering time inside ten enterprise days of when the set up was accomplished.
Step 6: Ultimate acceptance
Your photo voltaic installer will submit a proper notification that system testing has been accomplished. As soon as obtained, Con Edison will provide a written letter of acceptance inside 5 enterprise days. Then, your photo voltaic panels are able to be turned on, and begin powering your property with clear, renewable power!
Goes photo voltaic with Con Edison price it?
Sure, it’s positively price it to go photo voltaic with Con Edison. Part One Web Metering supplies glorious photo voltaic financial savings, even when you need to pay the month-to-month CBC cost. Not solely that, however the incentives obtainable in New York State proper now are phenomenal. The mixture of all of those incentives, plus web metering, means ConEd clients can get a photo voltaic payback interval as quick as 5 years. Which means 20 full years of free electrical energy!
However, you don’t wish to wait. The NY-Solar megawatt block program received’t be round endlessly – in actual fact, it’s getting near reaching capability. The federal tax credit score drops to 22% on the finish of this yr, and New York is on the brink of transition away from Part One Web Metering to a distinct photo voltaic crediting program.
If you would like the utmost quantity of financial savings and the most affordable photo voltaic set up worth, the time to go photo voltaic as a Con Edison buyer is now.
