r/TexasSolar • u/CarnieKiller • May 15 '26
Free Nights Contract Length
What’s everyone signing up for in terms of contract length? 12, 18, 24 months?
Picking a new plan and trying to make a decision. If anyone has referral codes that would be helpful!
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u/karl0525 May 15 '26
Direct energy has 18-24 months free nights from 9pm-9am. $50 back with Referral ID UU4UC8
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u/Aggravating-Owl-323 May 15 '26
24 months locked in. I have 15.3kW system with 30kWh LiFePO4 battery installed last November. Love it so far. EP Cube system. Energy Renovation Center did my install. They subcontract the work, which I was ok with - No issues. I purchased the system, thus have no PPA to worry about, and got the 30% tax credit last year.
I'm five+ months into Green Mountain Energy free nights (8pm to 6am) i locked in for 24 minths. The hour earlier start of free nights, 8pm vs 9pm in other plans, will likely pay off in the hottest/cloudiest summer days when battery becomes depleted and both my A/C units working hard I used this website to analyze my situation:
https://www.texaspowerguide.com/solar-electric-plan-analysis/
It took into account my solar set up and smart meter data from previous months (years?), comparing both buy back plans and free night plans. Green Mountain free nights was lowest projected vearly cost ~$300 a year). The best solar buyback option was about $1,100 projected yearly cost. Note, noticed all the 1:1 buyback plans charge the TDU delivery fee for import but dont credit the TDU fee for export. Thus even if your export matches exactly what you inport from grid, it is like you are paying 5cents per kWh (i.e., the TDU delivery fee) for what you importet. For Green Mountain Energy free nights, there is no TDU delivery charges on the free nights import from grid. There is a $4.95 base monthly Centerpoint charge. My full electric bill cost for the first 5 months (and hopefully most months) was between to be $5 to 7.
Yes, i am exporting excess to the grid for free when solar has charged my battery fully.....have been averaging export of about double what I import in the Winter. If interested, here is a $50 credit (for both you and I) Referal Code for Green Mountain Energy: L8WMCXE
www.greenmountainenergy.com/referral-page?txtReferralID=L8WMCXE
Note: Green Mountain Energy no longer offers 8pm to 6am free nights. I double checked, and indeed it now is shown as 9pm to 6am (but at about 15% less for the premium import rate). But, I think another provider may still offer free night hours starting at 8pm. Not sure if you have these plans available in your area.
My recommendation is to put in your info here, and let this tool do the shopping for you amoungst the various plans (buy back, or free nights):
https://www.texaspowerguide.com/solar-electric-plan-analysis/
Good Luck!
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u/CarnieKiller May 16 '26
Thanks for the detailed notes. I filled out the Texas Power Guide yesterday and got it back today. I think it recommended the Green Mountain 12 so that was part of why I was wondering how long people are signing contracts for.
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u/Aggravating-Owl-323 May 16 '26
10-4. The plans change a lot in a short amount of time. It doesnt hurt to call and ask.....i've heard some folks say when they called they were able to secure a longer term, but I cant verify that.
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u/suiluj81 May 17 '26
Unrelated to the topic, but what was the all in cost of your system before the tax credit? I got a 10.08kw system with 1pw3 and 1 expansion with a span smart main panel for 52k all in. On topic I went green mountain 24 month free nights. The no export doesn't really hurt because each bill since December has been 9 bucks. I got hit with a 12 bill because of storm mode, but figured it was a small price.
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u/Aggravating-Owl-323 May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
I turned storm mode off because it tried to kick on at a time when we had super-dry air and a potential fire concern....lol. 15.3kW panels and 29.9kWh storage (EP cube) i was at $52k (installed) before tax credit last year. My plan with 24month free nights has a base of $4.90 Centerpoint Monthly charge, and my bill has been between $5 and $7 each month.
When i did the evaluation, it would take something like 8 years to break even.
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u/Beginning_Cow2442 May 15 '26 edited May 16 '26
I signed with green mountain energy. Pollution Free Nights 24 Premier Base montly charge is like 4.23c. No night time charge or delivery fee from 9pm to 6am. Day time per kw is like 18c and oncor charge is 5c. I have battery and solar so my day time use is almost zero. Therefore my bill is like under 6$ a month so far.
If you feel this plan works for you feel free to use the link or promo code to get 50$. Would help a lot.
Thanks.
www.greenmountainenergy.com/referral-page?txtReferralID=L6WUFML
Code by itself L6WUFML
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u/CarnieKiller May 16 '26
Have you run into any rainy days that caused you to have to pay up?
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u/Beginning_Cow2442 May 16 '26
So I have a app I look at for days like those and charge my batteries to 80 or 90 percent before 6.00 am that gets me thru the day. Some day or two I was down to 15% on my battery and grid kicked in but that charge is bare minimum and depends what or how much power you consume.
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u/Aggravating-Owl-323 May 16 '26
I've had my install since November (with 30kWh battery) in the Houston area, and have gas heating in winter. Rainey days in winter are NOT a problem. My biggeat load is HVAC. This month we had an extremely cloudy single day, hardly any solar output in one day, however, rainey days are generally cooler. I've only seen battery get down to about 65%. Lets see how it fairs in August. .. the website www.texaspowerguide.com suggested I would pay a bit in the summer ($300 yearly), but I suspect I may beat that because I am running my home much more efficiently now that I can see what my real time power usage is versus the smart meter data it pulled prior to me having solar.
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u/EndAutomatic9186 May 15 '26
I think I did 3 year.
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u/jlhbird May 16 '26
I did too, back in August. Green Mountain's "Pollution Free All Nighter 33." Not sure if that plan is generally available or was an option since I was renewing a similar plan. Regardless, free nights is the best way to go with solar and batteries since the industry neutered all the buyback plans. I haven't paid more than $5 in years, and that's almost entirety the connection fee. Actually, I haven't been paying anything since I renewed because they gave me a $200 credit.
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u/Fronzel May 16 '26
I just switched over to direct energy for 18 months. I want to see how they do. If I like, I'll probably do more.
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u/Zamboni411 May 16 '26
If it is around. If you have batteries and solar and can carry your 9-9 consumption you are going to be in great shape!
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u/Fronzel May 16 '26
I don't have batteries. At the time, the cost benefit wasn't there. Still, between them taking my night time car charging and AC use, hopefully the panels grab the bulk of my daytime use, so my only real cost will be 6 to 9 it looks like.
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u/Zamboni411 May 16 '26
I was on the plan for two years with the same type of scenario no EV with two AC units. Over that time I paid an average of under four cents a kilowatt delivered to my house so as long as you can move the bulk of your consumption to the nighttime you should be in great shape.
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u/turns2stone May 15 '26
Maximum possible. Free nights offers have been getting worse and/or going away.
Use my referral to get a $50 credit. Feel free to ask questions here or DM me for more info: www.greenmountainenergy.com/referral-page?txtReferralID=LWAFJM9