[thrownaway2424]

When will this "duck pricing" actually trickle down to consumers? I'm on a PG&E rate plan that charges me an incredible $0.75/kWh during the afternoons of selected days. According to the figures in the CAISO paper, these are the hours of least net demand.

[djrogers]

>I'm on a PG&E rate plan that charges me an incredible $0.75/kWh during the afternoons of selected days.

Yeah, PG&E is practically begging their customers to install solar. The biggest savings come on the days/times with the best solar potential, and dropping out of that highest tiers can be a real win.

[thrownaway2424]

You think so? It seems like the rate system is stacked against solar. They just made the top tier cheaper, and raised the bottom tier so that your very first joule costs more. If you had installed solar based on the savings of staying out of the top tiers, now your payoff looks less certain.

[djrogers]

The top tier is still 3.5-4x the cost of the bottom tier, making for a big chunk of your bill to whack off with a smallish solar setup

[pilom]

The CAISO paper looked at January and March. In the summer when air conditioners come on, the graph would have no dip and afternoons become the peak rather than evenings.

[thrownaway2424]

Ah, that makes some sense. Still, doesn't solar hack the top off that afternoon peak in the summer?