By Karen McConnaughey
Bill and I had been checking out solar energy for about two years now. We
were really interested, but it was so expensive at that time…it was about
$20,000 for what we needed. So you can imagine how excited I was to read the
solar energy article on Judy King’s website, written by Carol Bowman, which
stated “The total cost of materials was $10,920 US plus another $9,500 pesos
installation or about $11,746 US total which includes the transformer to
convert to 220 plus the 2500 Watt inverter.”
Wow…now that was something we could consider. Our electric bills continued
to go up because of the costly DAC rating. For those who don’t know what we’re
talking about, here’s a brief explanation on how your electric bill in Mexico can
change dramatically based on consumption level and why.
CFE Electric
Bill and Rates
In Mexico
your electric bill comes from la Comisión which is how locals refer to La
Comisión 
Federal de Electricidad or CFE. The rate structure is complex.
Electricity in Mexico is either very cheap or very
expensive depending on how much you consume. Pricing is done on a complex
sliding scale that favors small users with low rates and substantial government
subsidies. It penalizes heavy users with very high rates. It is a very
complicated pricing process that is also based on the climate zone you live in,
in Mexico.
I don’t pretend to understand it!
DAC stands for “De Alto Consumo” which translates
to “of high consumption.” The rate system has a number of elements designed to
make power affordable to even poor families. There are three price levels:
Basico, Intermedio and DAC.
- The basic level is relatively cheap; it is
roughly 8¢ per kilowatt (KW). The CFE loses money producing power at this
price, but they are charged with providing basic power to the poorest Mexicans.
- The second level, intermediate, is 12¢ per KW.
- The third level, surplus (DAC), is considered a
luxury level. CFE assumes if you can afford equipment that uses this level of
power, you can afford to pay over 26¢ per KW.
To get out of the DAC rate structure you have to
fall below the 500 kWh per month for a 12 month period and your bill is
supposed to get readjusted back to the more economical rate structure. That is 500 kWh per month NOT per billing period, which is two months
(Jan-Feb, March-April, May-June, July-August, September-October,
November-December).
Bill and I came from Kansas City,
Missouri, so we were used to
furnaces and air conditioning, and expected $150-$200 a month electricity bills
eight years ago. But here in Lake
Chapala, we have neither
and love the fact that most of our doors and windows are always open. We didn’t
know about the DAC and electricity levels for a long, long time…and once you
reach the DAC level, it is very hard to get off of it.
Our last bill, which sent us over the edge was $3770 pesos (a little over
$300 USD for two months). With the installation of our new solar system, we
should be able to get that down to around $25 USD a month. Bill and I should also see a significant drop
almost immediately because we closed our current account that was in my former
name since we purchased the house before we were married. We opened a new CFE
account in both our names.
After reading the article by Carol Bowman, we contacted two companies: eSun
Energy in Ajijic, and e2 Energias in Guadalajara. We had a good initial visit
with the representatives from both companies. We eventually went with eSun,
because we just seemed to have a connection with them. And, the light bulb went
off for me during our meeting. We still had a small IRA in the United States.
I HATE taking money from it…that’s for emergencies ONLY. But during our meeting
with eSun and talking about return on investment, I realized that instead of
losing money from an IRA that was only getting about 7% return a year, I could
be making money having our electric bill go from around $150 a month to $25 a
month. Now that was something I could live with. When I wrote to Dain-Rauscher
to get the money and told them why, my advisor Kevin said, “Well, that’s a
no-brainer!”
As an FYI, eSun requires a 50% down payment, while e2 Energias does not
require any down payment.
Jason from eSun gave us a very extensive proposal showing a cost analysis of
the Solar Electric “Photovoltaic” System. A simple explanation of PV energy is
“Solar electricity systems capture the sun's energy using photovoltaic (PV)
cells. The cells convert the sunlight into electricity, which can be used to
run household appliances and lighting. PV cells don't need direct sunlight to
work - you can still generate some electricity on a cloudy day."
We also got some advice from others who have gone down this path. One of
them, Greg Ochs, replied:
I am happy to tell you of my
experience with E2. I must say everything went exceptionally well.
The workers did a good job and I was pleased with the final product. I
did "hover" over them watching every detail. That's just the
way I am and I did redirect them a couple times. They were happy to
comply. I am quite amazed at the after-market service I am getting.
I saw Alberto from E2 at the Organic Market on Tuesday and mentioned that
a roof tile had been broken during the installation. I figured the ball
was in my court but today I had a note on my gate that Alberto and Guillermo
had stopped by to check out the broken tile. Now, I have NEVER had a
Mexican company take the initiative to solve a problem. It is always me
calling again and again to get someone out to look at a problem so I was pretty
impressed with them.
I know Jason Mills at ESun pretty
well. We have been friends for about four years. I have spoken with
Bill and Dianne Pretty who had Jsun install their system and they too are very
pleased. I don't think you can go wrong with either. One point to make,
however, with regard to the thin film panels…the type installed by E2.
Thin film panels have been around for many, many years and are proven
technology with as good if not better warranty than silicon crystal, the type eSun
sells. The advantage of Jason's silicon crystal panels is that you
use fewer panels than thin film so if you are space constraint, Jason’s product
takes less space. If you have plenty of roof space, as I do, then the
thin film panels from E2 are less expensive.
Bottom line, either company will
give you good products and good service.
Take care,
Greg
It just took a couple of days to install
our new system of 10 panels at a cost of $10,705, and the 
workmen were as nice
as any I have encountered in Mexico…and we have encountered plenty in our eight
years here! However, because we live in Ixtlahuacan, we have had trouble
getting CFE out to install the new meter! About a week ago, CFE told eSun they
were coming out that afternoon, so it was okay for Eric and his workers to
unhook the meter! But CFE did not show up. Therefore, since we closed one
account and opened another with the electric company, we are not paying
anything for electricity right now! You gotta love Mexico! In fact, I had been saving
up laundry to do after the solar energy kicked in. However, I was able to get
it all done without paying anything at all for it. How fun is that?
Not that we’re planning on moving, but I know adding solar to
our house has got to improve our chances of selling should we ever decide to do
so.
And, I simply loved the information on eSun’s proposal
regarding “Lifetime Environmental Savings & Benefits”:
- 100,477 Kilowatt Hours Produced
- 204 Barrels of Oil Not Burned
- 178,598 Equivalent Car Miles Avoided
- 142,678 Tons Greenhouse Gasses Avoided
- 342 Equivalent Trees Planted
Wow, we’ve reduced our carbon footprint. I’m
excited. The good news is that there are plenty of things that we can do to
reduce our carbon footprint. The key word is reduce. We can greatly
lessen our impact on climate change by using the planet's resources more
responsibly. For lots of ways you can help, see article in this newsletter “Reduce Your Carbon Footprint.”
For more information or to receive a quote from either of
the companies mentioned here, email a scanned copy of your electric bill to get
the process started.
'eSun Energy' or 'e2
Energias' will take it from there.
eSun Energy: email Jason
Mills at info@esunenergy.com or call
(376) 766-2319. The office is located in the strip mall west of Walmart at
Carretera Chapala-Ajijic, Plaza La Floresta #32.
e2 Energias: email Alberto
Galvez at ventasgdl3@e2energias.com
or Guillermo Corona
at gcorona@e2energias.com or call
01 (33) 3673 5499. The office is located at Calle Flor 206, Colonia Agricola,
in Zapopan.
Eric Nápoles, foreman and Mac Rodriquez were fearless
as they tossed things up the ladder to the roof.
Eric Nápoles, foreman for eSun
.jpg "The ladder")
These guys were fearless!
Up go our first panels. We are so excited.
They look as if they know what they're doing...
I think they've done a few of these lately according to our friends that we've talked to!
Bill decided to chat with them. I can't believe he's doing that
Everything's ready for CFE...so we just have to wait for them...and wait...and wait!
Eric and Mac look over the finished job.
Bill checking out the Inverter Box...the heart of our solar energy program.
Bill checking out the reading on our new digital meter.
Jose (our gardener) had the box made for us.
Digital meter shows that since the meter was finally installed yesterday
that we have only used 6 kw of power from CFE.
Sources:
jaltembajalapeno.com/foreign-residents/utilities-cfe-bills-water-etc/cfe-electric-bill-rate-calculation/
energysavingtrust.org.uk/Generate-your-own-energy/Solar-electricity
mexico-insights.com
breathingearth.net/
freesunpower.com/inverters.php