Client Success Story: Lower SCE Bills and Add Resiliency Against Outages
Prolonged power outages throw a monkey wrench at everything from irrigation and food preservation to running life-saving medical devices, leading to inconveniences, monetary losses, and even life-or-death situations.
Resiliency is top-of-mind for most people in rural areas like Caliente. When the power company turns off electricity, outages often last for days — making it even more essential that folks have backup solutions. We've got plenty of sunshine here, so why not take advantage of it?
Off-grid solar is ideal for building true energy independence in the rural Sunbelt region. It’s maintenance-free (except for cleaning the panels once every few months and replacing the batteries every 7 to 10 years) and doesn’t rely on external factors like fuel delivery.
But if you invest in a solar solution, why not make it work harder by using it to make a dent in your power bills? That’s exactly what we did to help this client lower their SCE bills AND keep their well pump and irrigation system working throughout outages.
The situation
The client has a passion for horticulture and irrigates 24/7/365. However, their powerful well pump and extensive irrigation system are power hogs, costing them hundreds in monthly SCE bills. Meanwhile, the increasing frequency and duration of outages caused anxiety and frustration.
The situation has worsened in recent years as SCE becomes more “trigger finger happy” — turning off power at first sight of high wind, extreme heat, and/or wildfire risks. While safety is paramount, the client was tired of paying for the services and getting stranded with no electricity for days.
A long-time Caliente resident, this client has wanted to install solar power since they moved here over thirty years ago. However, they hesitated because the state of battery technology didn’t allow for a maintenance-free and worry-free implementation. Until now: Lithium battery technology has hit the sweet spot.
The solution
Our approach kills two birds with one stone. It lowers SCE bills on normal days and provides backup power during outages.
First, we used our proprietary device to measure the well pump’s power consumption. The data was essential for right-sizing the solution because we would not have guessed the amount of power the pump pulls based on specs provided by the manufacturer!
The client’s pump has very high surge power and requires a sizable system with 12 utility-grade solar panels and substantial battery capacity to jolt it into action. With our advice, the client upgraded to a 6000W inverter, which provides sufficient capacity to run some household appliances, the well pump, and the irrigation system during outages.
To support the backup use case, we ran a cable from the solar equipment in the pump shed to the house’s electrical sub-panel, where the solar system interacts with the existing electric circuit via a generator inlet. We set up a manual switchover interface to eliminate back-feeding risks when the client goes from grid to solar during outages.
We also advised this client to use a ground-mounting system for the panels to optimize solar production and minimize maintenance efforts. We calculated the site’s solar trajectory and provided a customized frame design blueprint with the optimal orientation and inclination based on their usage pattern.
The client specifically wanted a worry-free, maintenance-free solution. Therefore, we custom-built a high-endurance battery pack for the solution. The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry is intrinsically safe, while the battery management system (BMS) automatically balances the cells, so the system is truly “set it and forget it.”
Our off-grid solar solutions put you in charge. There are no corporate brokers and paper-pushers to add to the expense. Nor will there be anyone who doesn’t understand what it means to live the ranch life selling you cookie-cutter solutions not designed for our environment.
Learn more about our Resiliency Packages or contact us to get started.
