The Reality Check: Why That CFE Bill Can Feel Like a Tax on Comfort
Living in Cozumel is a dream.
It’s the daily scuba trips, the lazy afternoons, the sound of scooters zipping by. It’s the feeling of that warm, humid air wrapping around you. But that thick, beautiful air is also the reason air conditioning isn’t a luxury here; it’s a flat-out necessity.
And that’s when the dream collides with reality.
For any homeowner in Cozumel, there’s a boogeyman that shows up every two months. It’s a small, white-and-green piece of paper. It’s the CFE bill.
We have a home here, and for a while, our bills were… reasonable. But we were always looking over our shoulder. We were creeping closer and closer to the limit of something called DAC.
If you don’t know what DAC is, count yourself lucky. If you do, you know the feeling of dread I’m talking about. It’s the “high consumption” pricing tier; a penalty box you do not want to be in.
So, in an effort to be smarter with our money and, frankly, better to the planet, we decided to make the jump into solar. And what we learned didn’t just save us money; it changed how we live in our own home.
So, What’s the Deal with the CFE Bill Anyway?
Before you can fix the problem, you have to understand it. CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) is the only game in town. It’s the government-run utility for all of Mexico.
Now, the CFE system is actually built on a pretty decent idea: helping people who can barely afford electricity get it at a fair price. It’s a social subsidy. If you’re a local family in a small home, you probably have a few lightbulbs, a small fridge, and maybe a washing machine. You’re not running three A/C units and a pool pump.
For that kind of basic use, CFE sets the electric tiers so you’re paying maybe 5 cents (USD) per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
But that’s not you or me, is it?
We’re in homes with more lights, more electronics, and the big one: air conditioning. CFE’s system is designed to charge us a lot more to subsidize the lower tiers. As your usage increases, your average rate climbs fast; from 8 cents to 21 cents, or even 30 cents per kWh.
It’s not uncommon for a “comfy” home or a vacation rental to get slapped with a 60-day bill for 25,000 pesos. That’s over $1,350 USD.
And then there’s DAC.
DAC (Tarifa de Alto Consumo, or High Consumption Rate) is what happens when you average more than 2,000 kWh every two months over six months. If you look at your bill and the Tarifa (rate) says “DAC” instead of “1D,” you’re in the penalty box.
In DAC, there are no tiers. There are no subsidies. It is just expensive, flat-rate electricity.
It’s a monster. And we decided it was time to fight it.
The Math on Solar Has Changed
Here’s the good news. While CFE bills keep climbing, the cost of solar has absolutely fallen off a cliff.
Ten or fifteen years ago, going solar was a nice idea, like owning a boat. It was mostly for eco-warriors or people with a lot of cash to burn. A system that might have cost you $10,000 back then could easily cost just $3,000 now.
This is even more true in Cozumel. It used to be tough even to find a qualified installer here. The import costs alone were a deal-breaker.
Today? The pricing is only a little more than you’d pay in the States, which is one of the cheapest solar markets in the world.
When you weigh the high cost of CFE against the low price of solar, the math becomes undeniable. The payback on a properly designed system here isn’t ten years. It’s not even five.
We found out the payback is often around two years.
After that, you are literally getting free electricity from the sun. You’re doing your part for the environment, and you’re taming that CFE bill for good.
It’s Not Just About the Money (Unless You Have a Rental)
Look, “going green” is a great reason all by itself. But for many of us, it’s also a business decision.
If you have a vacation rental, going green is becoming essential. We’re in our 40s and 50s; we’ve seen the “eco-friendly” label go from a niche buzzword to a primary search filter. More and more renters are actively looking for environmentally friendly options.
Being able to tell your prospects that your home is “eco-friendly” and “powered by solar” can be the single thing that makes them book with you over the condo next door.
In that case, it’s a pure win-win. You get the payback in a drastically lower electric bill and more bookings.
Our Solar Journey: Finding Someone I Could Trust
So we were sold on the “why.” The “how” was a lot harder.
As is my nature, I spent months digging in. I’m the person who reads the entire CFE tiering structure (which is… an experience). I researched solar systems. I started asking around for local installation companies.
You never quite know what you’ll get in Cozumel. We’ve all heard the contractor horror stories. I was skeptical, to say the least.
After extensive research, we finally settled on SolarSplit. The owner, Ricardo Domingo Pech, lives right here in Cozumel. That was the first green flag.
I called him. He speaks perfect English and Spanish, and I was immediately impressed. This wasn’t some slick sales guy just trying to make a commission. This was an engineer. Ricardo has a huge solar installation on his own house. He lives this stuff.
The Big Secret: You Don’t Need to Go 100%
Here’s the part that really sold me.
The first thing Ricardo did was ask for a copy of my CFE bill. Not just one, but a history. He wasn’t there to sell me a pre-made package. He was there to do the math.
His goal, he explained, was not to sell me a system that covered 100% of my consumption (unless I really wanted that).
His goal was to sell me a system with the best possible return on investment.
I liked that.
He pointed out that the first few hundred kWh of every CFE bill are, in his words, “dirt cheap, practically free.”
From a purely financial standpoint, it makes zero sense to buy thousands of dollars in extra solar panels just to offset electricity that costs you pennies. The real goal is to generate just enough solar to kill the expensive tiers and, above all, stay out of DAC.
He used my bills and did the math on my historical usage, then came back with an estimate. He then conducted a site visit to determine where the gear could go and to look for any issues.
With that, he gave me a quote for enough solar to cover our immediate needs. This will keep us safely out of DAC and only cost around $3,000 USD.
This was so much less than I had expected.
Ricardo provided all his calculations. He showed me my projected savings, per bill and per year. He was able to give me a projected ROI of 2 years and 1 month.
(Of course, this was based on my needs. Your needs will dictate your system size and cost. But the ROI will almost certainly be just as great.)
The Install: Hurricane-Proof and Worry-Free
So, no red flags yet. But the install is where things can go sideways. I was still holding my breath.
I had nothing to worry about.
Once the panels were on the way, Ricardo and his team were ready. The biggest fear on an island is, of course, hurricanes. You can’t just screw panels to a concrete roof and hope for the best.
His team was surgical. For each footing, they first dug deep into the roof to reach the structural cement. They installed stainless steel bolts into the structure and secured them with a powerful epoxy compound. Then they added another layer of a different epoxy to guarantee strength and, just as important, water-tightness.
The equipment showed up a few days later, and that same afternoon, his crew got to work.
The attention to detail was fantastic. They involved me in decisions, like the exact placement of equipment. I have rarely had a contractor work on my house without being terrified of the possible outcome.
With SolarSplit, I had no worries. I was actually excited to see what they did next. It was clean, professional, and solid.
The New Reality: Running the A/C Guilt-Free
The final step was obtaining CFE’s blessing. They sent an engineer to verify that the system was installed correctly and wouldn’t pose a risk to the CFE line workers.
With that done, they reprogrammed our electric meter to run bidirectionally.
I can’t quite describe the feeling of looking at your app on your phone in the middle of a sunny day and watching produce power. You’re not just using energy; you’re creating it. You know your air conditioner is running purely on light.
And it helps us sleep better at night, in every sense of the word. We can run the A/C when we’re hot. We don’t have to check the bill with one eye closed.
So if you are anywhere in Cozumel and think solar might be right for you, now is the time.
I would also highly recommend that you save yourself the months of hassle and research and reach out to Ricardo Pech at SolarSplit. He’ll review your CFE bill and give you a real, detailed analysis of what you need, how much you can save, and how fast the system will pay for itself.
You can reach him at ricardo@solarsplit.mx or on his Mexican cell at (987) 115-4526.
