Sun hours

[DanS26]

Dan that 72 panel array sounds huge. Have you posted any pictures of it?

IMG_0087.JPG

Front array 36 Kyocera 235 Black panels and the rear array 36 Kyocera 245 Blue panels.

[DanS26]

IMG_0671.JPG

I clean the snow off with this.

[SunEagle]

I clean the snow off with this.

Nice snow sweeper. Thanks for the pictures.

[harleydee]

sun

Nice snow sweeper. Thanks for the pictures.

I would be intrest in this as I got my first quote out of 7 so far that mentioned sun hours

[bcroe]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8100[/ATTACH] I clean the snow off with this.

I made a snow pusher pretty much like that one. This winter will be testing the gap between upper
and lower panels, to see if the snow will drop through after being pushed only half as far.

They look pretty close to the ground at one end. Here those would be blocked by snow before
long. As it is I still have to run the snow blower in front later in the winter. I think you made
them perfectly straight and level. The ones I built follow the hill, which means they are not level
from end to end. But they are straight, because I used a laser to align things. Bruce Roe

[DanS26]

I made a snow pusher pretty much like that one. This winter will be testing the gap between upper
and lower panels, to see if the snow will drop through after being pushed only half as far.

They look pretty close to the ground at one end. Here those would be blocked by snow before
long. As it is I still have to run the snow blower in front later in the winter. I think you made
them perfectly straight and level. The ones I built follow the hill, which means they are not level
from end to end. But they are straight, because I used a laser to align things. Bruce Roe

After much trial and error I have determined this method is the best and fastest way to remove snow from my arrays.

1. Push the top 2/3 of the top row off the back. Yes, I'm pushing the snow upward and backwards.
2. Now pull the 1/3 of top row down over the next two rows.
3. Third pass to clean off the bottom row.

Using my new and improved snow broom assembly, it is fast and efficient.

[DanS26]

I made a snow pusher pretty much like that one. This winter will be testing the gap between upper
and lower panels, to see if the snow will drop through after being pushed only half as far.

They look pretty close to the ground at one end. Here those would be blocked by snow before
long. As it is I still have to run the snow blower in front later in the winter. I think you made
them perfectly straight and level. The ones I built follow the hill, which means they are not level
from end to end. But they are straight, because I used a laser to align things. Bruce Roe

I used the plumb bob/solar noon method to perfectly align to due south. Then used a laser level to finish the job professionally. Arrays are within 1/8 inch dead level and due south. Array tilt is 32.5 degrees.

A good friend of mine is a contract mason and he was kind enough to let me use his professional tools.

I used the golden ratio wherever possible. That ratio makes for a pleasant design and is pleasing to the eye as the Egyptian, Greek and Roman builders were aware.

[Alchete]

I just got panels a week ago, so I haven't gone through my first winter yet.

My installer implied that the panels naturally shed the snow, presumably between the smooth glass and the dark profile. Is this generally not the case?

[bcroe]

I just got panels a week ago, so I haven't gone through my first winter yet.

My installer implied that the panels naturally shed the snow, presumably between the smooth glass
and the dark profile. Is this generally not the case?

It will depend on temperatures there. The dark color doesn't do much, when its covered with snow.
Cleaning up an overnight storm here is a 90 minute job, and later in the season I need to blow the
snow piles farther away. I think installers don't like to talk about snow and clouds.

My lot isn't squared, and the installer didn't bother to do anything precision on my solar either. Good
thing it really doesn't affect production much. It shows on the satellite view. Esthetics are pretty bad,
good thing its out of sight. Next time will be different. This summer I spent some time establishing a
rectangular grid on the back acre that is squared off, and possibly accurate to 1/4". Bruce Roe

[J.P.M.]

I just got panels a week ago, so I haven't gone through my first winter yet.

My installer implied that the panels naturally shed the snow, presumably between the smooth glass and the dark profile. Is this generally not the case?

Maybe yes, maybe no. It depends. sometimes snow will slide of, sometimes not. Beware of snow slides.

[Mike90250]

Here's an illustration of "sun hours" (Image below) at my location, in mid November. I looked back through my logs to find a good day without much cloud cover, which makes a really messy chart.
Follow the blue line, as it is battery voltage, and as the sun comes up, it climbs just a bit, but about 3 hours after dawn, it really takes off as the sun lines up on the array. Even a 1Kw load (red line) when my pump comes on, barely twitches the volts. Then about 3pm, it starts to crash as the sun drops off (note - this is a NiFe bank, not a lead acid)SunHoursExample.jpg

[DanS26]

Probably my problem isn't your problem. I looked at the display cable on my 7.5, but nothing was loose
or burned. But wires should not be discolored from heat. Lets see what develops with your repair.
Bruce Roe

Well I repaired my Fronius 7.5 yesterday.

Replaced the display board that is mounted on the door. Fronius tech support said the problem is definitely at the ribbon connection on the door side of the display panel. There is little cobalt/steel? oblong ring situated right at that connection. Fronius is aware of the problem...even had one of their factory mounted inverters with the same problem.

Bruce I suspect your problem is/was the same. It is intermittent and you may go months/years before it will appear again, but most likely it will appear sooner or later.

If you do replace the display board you have to make sure the brain board version matches the display version. Fix takes about twenty minutes all under warranty.

[bcroe]

Well I repaired my Fronius 7.5 yesterday.

Replaced the display board that is mounted on the door. Fronius tech support said the problem is definitely at the ribbon connection on the door side of the display panel. There is little cobalt/steel? oblong ring situated right at that connection. Fronius is aware of the problem...even had one of their factory mounted inverters with the same problem.

Bruce I suspect your problem is/was the same. It is intermittent and you may go months/years before it will appear again, but most likely it will appear sooner or later.

If you do replace the display board you have to make sure the brain board version matches the display version. Fix takes about twenty minutes all under warranty.

Good to know, thanks for the update. I think it won't be fixed before spring, but may run this
by my installer. Bruce

[SunEagle]

Winter is here.

Bruce

Based on the weather forecast you may have to use your snow sweeper this weekend.

[bcroe]

Bruce
Based on the weather forecast you may have to use your snow sweeper this weekend.

You are so right. I am more worried about wheeling out the 27 hp, AWD snow blower. The temps
have finally dropped below freezing; we still had blooming flowers this morning. I started using
partial resistance heat at night, so the heat pump doesn't have to work so hard (I might have a
big energy surplus this winter). Still having decent PV production about half the days; hope it
doesn't go 27 days in a row without seeing the Dec sun like last year. With the snow, only did
30 KWH today.

Just Tuesday I finished setting up the upper-lower panel gap, so that when I push the snow
(pretty much as DanS26 described), I will only need to push half as much, half as far, to the
nearest gap. Only 2 wires now cross each gap to the upper panels now, each securely tied
to a main support. Needed a couple short MC4 "extension cords" to do the extra distance.
Bruce Roe