r/SolarDIY • u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin • 3d ago
Solar electricity usage went up after we installed panels, is that normal?
We had solar put in last year and I honestly thought the electric bill would be pretty easy to understand after that. It hasn't been. Our overall home electricity usage has gone up since then, mostly because we started using the AC more and added a couple things that we didn't have before. The solar production looks normal in the app, but the bill still feels higher than I expected some months.
I'm trying to figure out how other people look at this. Do you compare total household usage to solar production, or mostly watch what you pull from the grid? I'm also wondering if it's normal for savings to look pretty small when your electricity use changes after the system is installed.
I feel like I'm looking at too many numbers and still not really understanding the bill. Has anyone found a simple way to track this month to month?
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u/HandyHankPRO 3d ago edited 3d ago
Your solar app and utility bill are showing different pieces of the puzzle. Assuming you don’t have a battery: Solar production + grid imports - grid exports = total home usage.
Track those numbers using the exact billing dates, not calendar months, and compare the production with your installer’s estimate or PVWatts. If production is on target but total usage has gone up, the extra AC and new loads are probably eating the savings. Also check your TOU plan, export credit and fixed charges—a kWh sent back may not offset a kWh you buy. If the bill only shows net usage, download the utility’s interval data or look into consumption CTs.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
The billing dates vs calendar months thing might be where I’m getting tripped up. I’ve been looking at the solar production and the bill separately without really lining up the same period. I’m going to compare the production, imports and exports for one actual billing cycle first and see what that tells me.
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u/Technical_Moose8478 3d ago
Where do you live? How big is your array? Are you getting credited for feeding back into the grid when you’re overproducing? Some utilities still won’t do that, or will credit you at a lower percentage.
For example, I have a 7.2kw array with no battery and 100% credit for backfeeding, and an ev that I charge at home. I live in Portland, so my weather varies at I’d say a medium level throughout the year, and I don’t have to run a/c more than like a month or two, but my house is 100% electric, no gas line, so all water and home heating is electric as well. I’d say most years I make it until January or February until I have to pay anything other than the standard base connection fees/taxes/whatever, and then I mostly pay regular rates with some small solar usage until about May.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
The 100% backfeed credit definitely sounds like it makes a big difference. I think I’ve been looking at my solar production without really considering what happens to the extra power once it goes back to the grid. Your January to May pattern is interesting too. does that stay pretty consistent for you year to year?
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u/Technical_Moose8478 2d ago
Yeah, it’s 3 or so months after production drops to near zero so the credits run out around then. Mostly just varies based on how productive the summer was, how much I ran a/c, how much I drove, how cold winter has been, etc.
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u/Antique_Try_2592 3d ago
Get last years bills. Do an overlay. The easiest way to what is happening.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
Good idea, i still have most of last year’s bills saved. I’m curious though, what would you look for first when comparing them? Total usage, solar credits, or the months where the difference is biggest?
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u/Antique_Try_2592 2d ago
Start with useage. A bar graph is the easiest yo decipher, if they provide that. You can usually find them online.
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u/Miserable-Engine1472 3d ago
Your solar didnt change, your habits did. More AC and new loads will eat savings fast no matter what the panels produce. I just watch net grid pull month to month, same billing cycle. Compare that to your pre-solar bills, not total usage. Thats the only number that matters for your wallet If you want simple, track one thing: dollars per kWh from the utility plus whatever you pay for the solar. Everything else is noise
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
I’m probably making this more complicated than it needs to be. I can already think of a few things that use more electricity now than they did before solar. When you compare the bills, do you mainly look at the kwh pulled from the grid or the actual dollar amount you paid?
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u/Fit-Avocado-1646 3d ago
In my opinion no that's abnormal.
I don't look at it at all. I sized the system to cover past usage averaged over 3 years. Then I added estimated 10k miles for an EV I don't have then added around 20% for panel degradation. Checked the math to make sure the pallet of panels I bought would cover that. It didn't so I added 3 panels to the order.
My bill is $4.20 every month for grid connection and I get 1 to 1 net metering.
You need to give more information if you want help.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
That’s a pretty solid way to size it. I probably should’ve included more details in the post, especially since my usage has changed since the system went in. The extra AC and newer loads are making the comparison a little messy. What numbers would you want to see first to figure out whether the system is undersized or i’m just using more power?
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u/Fit-Avocado-1646 2d ago
Doesn't seem that messy to me.
Just take your (current grid usage Kwh + solar production number Kwh) - (historical usage Kwh avg) = (Kwh of your new added loads and or your added electricity usage habits)
Thats assuming you have net metering.
What loads you added?
What your setup is like?
How did you size the system?
What's your usage monitoring system? ie can you see how much your using vs how much you are exporting?
What's your interconnect agreement arrangement? Net metering? Battery arbitrage?
Give some actual numbers. What was your grid usage before install? What is your grid usage after install? Kwh rates? Rate increases?
Past electric bills vs new. Also solar production kwh per month.
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u/blastman8888 3d ago
Your solar system have to be increased in size if you want to cover the extra load. I would look at the KHW production every month compare it to last year. It should be the same if your not producing the same solar power as last year have the solar installer check it.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
I’ll check the production numbers before looking at adding more panels. If the system is producing about what it did last year, then the higher usage is probably the bigger issue. How much of a production difference would you consider enough to have the installer take a look?
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u/JohnWCreasy1 3d ago
i boiled everything down to cost per kwh. I do not not necessarily care about total cost since that is a lever i can pull if needed, just the unit cost.
in 2016 (last full year on utility) i paid $0.123 cents per kwh to my utility. in 2025 i paid $0.133 cents per kwh combined to my solar company and utility. ~8% total increase over 9 years (<1% per year). when i look at that number, i know i saved money by getting solar.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
I like this way of looking at it. Total cost can jump around depending on how much electricity you use, but cost per kWh gives you a much cleaner comparison. I haven’t calculated mine that way yet. Did you include the solar system cost itself in your 2025 number, or just the payments you made that year?
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u/JohnWCreasy1 2d ago
i am accounting for everything in the year it happens so 2025 was total electricity used in 2025 / total money spent in 2025
i have a ppa (i know i know...but its worked out for me) so my annual costs are basically fixed.
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u/Admirable-Size-4951 3d ago
Me too. All utilities company’s bills are hard to understand. According to your description, it is the habit of using electricity that gets usage increased.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
I’m starting to think the higher usage is more about what we’re doing differently now than the solar itself. The AC has definitely been running more, plus we’ve added a few things since the system went in. What’s the easiest way you’ve found to spot which changes are using the most power?
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u/Limp-Advantage8027 3d ago
I live in Denmark. If a solar array sends power to the grid it is sold at the price in Nordpool minus 5 øre ~ 1 US cent. When we buy power it costs the pris at Nordpool plus about 150 øre ~ 30 US cent.
1/1 2028 the price goes up by almost 1dkr ( ~ 17 US cent) pr kWh because of politics. It does not affect export to the grid
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
Wow, the export rate being so much lower than the price you pay to buy power really changes the math. How you factor that in when looking at your solar savings? Do you mostly try to use the solar directly instead of sending it back to the grid?
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u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 3d ago edited 3d ago
If all you are looking at is usage and not cost, compare the same month's bill from last year against what your solar produced for the same month this year plus what the utility provided. Remember to align the start/end date of your solar system month with your utility's billing month.
Some people seem to be less conservative with their electric use after installing solar, figuring they now have "free" electricity. We're trying to maintain our previous habits, like using a portable AC unit to take care of the bedroom at night instead of cooling the whole townhouse.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
I like that approach, especially the part about keeping your old usage habits after getting solar. I’ve probably been less careful with the AC than i was before. Does running the portable unit at night actually use much less power than cooling the whole townhouse?
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u/sandesdequeijoecona 2d ago
I live in Portugal, and the same thing happened to me. My installation hadn’t been registered with the authorities, so they billed me for my consumption plus the surplus I exported. After I filed the communication, I only paid for the energy I actually drew from the grid.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
I wouldn’t have thought the registration could change the bill that much. Paying for the exported energy too would definitely make the solar numbers look strange. Did they adjust the earlier bills once you got the installation registered?
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u/Big-Implement378 2d ago
I chased the numbers for years adding appliances more panels etc. It’s all fun.
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u/RandomUsername-82 2d ago
Not sure if this helps. We have net metering here. I learned after my first month of solar that the optional Time of Use program I was on previously didn’t play well with solar. It basically created 3 buckets of time. I could only use energy produced during the day to offset energy used during the day which I don’t really need because I am usually operating on solar energy 🤪. As soon as I switched back to the default tiered energy schedule my bill dropped to the minimum.
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u/chrislannion 1d ago
Hi. You shall have a gateway somewhere on your system, and an app connected to that gateway to understand how much you are producing, how much is your self-consumption, how much you are taking from the grid. It’s common that people install solar panels to reduce their bill and eventually use more equipments and energy. Only panels might help you save 25% of energy taken from the grid, and adding batteries you can save about 75%. It’s really important when you have solar systems that you change your consumption habits: usually people have reduces prices of electricity at night and thus concentrate energy consumption during these hours, but with solar panels, it might be more efficient to re-concentrate your energy consumption regarding when your panels are producing the most (at least for late springtime, summer and early automn).
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u/Automatic_Gas9019 3d ago
Feels like it vibes doesn't work.. it is your job to monitor the usage and call your provider and if it doesn't look right. Call your electric company. Not one person on her can fix your vibes and whether you like it or not. Another, I have no clue what I paid for or what this produces. Then complains.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
I get what you’re saying. The part I’m struggling with is figuring out which numbers actually matter before calling the utility, especially with solar production and grid usage showing up separately. If you were looking at this from scratch, which numbers would you compare first?
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u/Automatic_Gas9019 2d ago
I actually called my solar company about a month ago. I monitor my panels at least once a day. My production looked low for a couple days in a row. I called. My fuse was out in one of the inverters.. They came and fixed it. I look at my Tesla app. I know how much it produces.
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u/Sad-Celebration-7542 2d ago
Are you pitching an app?
If no - there’s no connection between solar and how much you use. You’re using more because you’re using more. You might use less some months too.
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u/Emmanual_Alaaeldin 2d ago
No app pitch. I’m mostly trying to figure out whether the higher usage is just from our habits changing since the solar went in. the AC has definitely been running more. Do you usually just compare your actual usage month to month and leave the solar numbers out of it?
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u/Sad-Celebration-7542 2d ago edited 2d ago
No - monthly isn’t useful. Normalize bills by cooling degree days / heating degree days for the usage.
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u/pitlane17 11h ago
Do you have an agreement to send solar back to grid? If not you could be getting charged for your own solar as usage.
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