You are wrong on "Yet in one I will now be charged $4.90 a month, and the other I won't.". The charge is based on the rating of the photovoltaic array and to power only a refrigerator would be less. A 1 kilowatt array will be only $0.70/month for the new fee. However, none of the coverage of this mentions another 'Feature' of the APS rates, there is also a minimum Renewable Energy Surcharge presently set at $2.78/month for any residential solar system. This fee does not go to APS, but into a fund to support solar rebates, etc.

The main article of this thread covers only one aspect of this subject. Over the years Arizona Public Power's (APS) regulated rate structures, developed while solar electric was not a main consideration, evolved such that most fixed costs were monetized into part of the variable (energy) price. Maybe a little too ideal for solar. This balance is likely to get shifted in the next general rate case. Solar has two impacts on the utility, mostly it directly reduces the total customer purchased energy, and secondarily has the utility act like a free battery if there is net metering. Both of these impact the utility revenues and costs. These can be sort of measured by careful accounting. There are also benefits to both the utility and the public, but they are harder to quantify. APS claimed that they see few benefits, but do see costs. Not surprising as you have to look harder and many of the benefits (lower pollution) accrue to the public. APS's main complaint was that this represents a shift of fixed costs from solar users onto the non-solar users because any non recovered costs will be simply added on to the future base rate. No credit is being mentioned that the solar users are investing in a cleaner environment to the benefit of the non-solar users. That is the stated objective of the Renewable Energy Portfolio that Arizona has adopted.

I took a USA HP WinXP laptop to the UK last summer and had automatic updates enabled. Big problem. Windows downloaded and installed an update that must have been the UK version and then Windows Genuine Advantage decided that the Windows was not licensed for the region it was in and started all the fuss with the black screen, etc. Restoring Windows to before the trip did not help. Updating in the USA after return did not fix the problem. HP Tech Service recommended running the repair CD, then going through the steps to register a new license, but just using the old license code. That worked. Check on the hotel you are intending to stay in, many charge 10+ pounds per day for access. I found that an unsecured hub was available (Doctor's Office) if I had a room on the North side of the hotel we stay in.

Seems simple enough. Combine a solar PV module, battery, and DC light. Works at first. You will not be happy unless the components are selected for the intended (and actual) load (such as a light), its use, and the location (sunshine varies as well as the sun position). The weak link is the battery. Batteries can be damaged by under charging (not enough charge during the day to make up for useage), over charging, and by not selecting the correct battery. To help ensure long battery life, use a battery charge controller that will prevent over charging and limit damage caused by under-charging by disconnecting the light. Even this is not enough to prevent battery damage due a light left on. That will cause the battery to cycle from low to partial statesof charge and this is damaging to a battery. Better to use some sort of timer switch. The selection of battery size and PV module size is not simple. First determine the daily energy required in watt-hours per day (lamp watts x hours of operation) or ampere-hours per day (lamp amps x hours of operation) for the time of year with the lowest available sunshine. If load varies by month, do it for each month (spreadsheets help). Add 15-205 safety factor for battery efficiency and safety of design, err on the high side. Then select a battery that has a capacity at least 5 times this amount (easier to do if calculation is in amp-hr). You can make a rough calculation of ampere-hours by dividing the watt-hours by the nominal battery voltage. Now you need PV module data in the form of rated watts or amps at maximum power voltage, and sunshine data reduced to the form of kW-hr/m^2 per day for your location. Google this, I do not have my references with me. You want the sunshine on a surface tilted towards the equator at a tilt equal to latitude for a lighting load. Available kW-hr/m^2 per day x module(s) amps at maximum power voltage = available amp-hr/day. Compare to requirements. The problem is that excessive PV on a system has no extra value, too little fails and damages the battery. One size fitts all generally fits no one well. Consult a local PV dealer if possible, or see what has worked well for others in your area.