6Kw going in soon in Aliso Viejo

[Alisobob]

Suggest you don't get too frazzled if you're off the spec. sheet temp. coeff. by some.

I'm not frazzled.... just throwing out what I see going on with my system.

Was most interesting that the increased temp hindered output enough to eliminate the clipping I usually see on a cloudless day.

Life goes on......

[rwb1921]

Today has been a solar nightmare Hot temps and no sun. Production down 30%, surprised got as much as I have today. But the A/C has been nice even without the sun. Really helps. Now just have to make it up on the sunnier days.

[bcroe]

Today has been a solar nightmare. Hot temps and no sun. Production down 30%,
surprised got as much as I have today. But the A/C has been nice even without the sun. Really helps. Now
just have to make it up on the sunnier days.

Solar owners on the left coast are pretty spoiled; we in the cloudy mid west see 30% down and much worse
on a pretty regular basis. Handle your situation and mine with the right system design. Bruce Roe

[Alisobob]

A TOU Update....

solar112.JPG

solar113.JPG


The big news for me is that I am now on the "Summer " SCE TOU-D-T billing schedule. Everything pretty much stays the same as the winter billing rates, except for "Peak Generation" rates, nearly doubled on June 1st.

Had my whole month been on these rates, my monthly credit would have been about $40 greater.

As my consumption during "Peak " is very small, due to the TOU-D-T scheduling, there is little downside to this rate increase.

Things continue to go well..... heading into summer.

I am looking forward to having a freezing cold house, every ( 100% off peak) weekend!

[Mojave]

Wow..... (wow, wow, wow)

I took the boards advice, and contacted a small, local company with nothing but 5 star reviews on Yelp. No Russ..... I wont say the name.

This is their deal....
24 , 270 watt Solar World MONO panels ( 6480 watt total)
24 Enphase Inverters
Envoy monitoring with life time web access
Attic run electrical, nothing on roof
Move v ents as needed
R/R all Roof Tile under solar panels to repaper roof.
25 year warranty for all parts and labor. If product supplier goes out of business, they will pick up the remainder of supplier warranty
4 year maintenance agreement ( Wash panels, inspect wiring, etc..etc.. 2 x per year) after 4 years, service is $150 per year if so desired
NO PANEL UPGRADE NEEDED! They will flip around some circuits to make the panel "End Fed" which will satisfy the building inspector without replacing the panel.

All permits and HOA paperwork included

Price: $23,291 ( 3.59 per watt installed)

-30% Tax Credit $16,303 ( $2.51 per watt installed)

It looks like this is the way I'm going to go.....

Thanks everyone. Bob

Your regular updates and all the replies have been a great learning experience. Thanks! Could you please PM me who you contracted? Unless they are only local to your area -I'm in San Diego.

I was also wondering if you have results from a consistently cloudy day (admittedly, I have not read every single page of this thread)? I'm interested because I do live fairly close to the coast and May Gray/June Gloom have me worried I'll get nearly 0 generation for the many weeks of marine layer in these two months.

[J.P.M.]

Your regular updates and all the replies have been a great learning experience. Thanks! Could you please PM me who you contracted? Unless they are only local to your area -I'm in San Diego.

I was also wondering if you have results from a consistently cloudy day (admittedly, I have not read every single page of this thread)? I'm interested because I do live fairly close to the coast and May Gray/June Gloom have me worried I'll get nearly 0 generation for the many weeks of marine layer in these two months.

Run PVWatts for North Island (Coronado) and Miramar for comparison. They're about a dead heat - w/in ~ 1%. Conditions will change daily. Those are long term estimates over many years.

[Alisobob]

Some of my neighbors have east facing panels... and when the marine layer is in effect, they put out nothing. Then, around 11am, the layer burns off,and the south facing panels work, as do the west facing in the late afternoons / evenings.

solar105.JPG

This is a typical June Gloom day..... as described above.


It is... what it is... but you can see how east facing panels are worthless on days like this.

[sensij]

There are days where west facing are worth less too. J.P.M.'s suggestion to run PVWatts will help... the model is based on historical weather patterns (including "typical" May gray and June gloom), and you can test out different orientations to see how it might affect your output.

[Alisobob]

I live 5 miles from the beach.... the days where its cloudy in the evening ( west facing) and clear in the morning ( east facing) are outnumbered about 1000:1

[J.P.M.]

I live 5 miles from the beach.... the days where its cloudy in the evening ( west facing) and clear in the morning ( east facing) are outnumbered about 1000:1

I heard a meteorologist say that probably the toughest thing about being a TV weatherman in San Diego was trying to figure out how to say "cloudy til 10 then sun" and keep it interesting. Pretty benign and predictable most of the time, Near the coast, SWAG/1st cut approx. for initial design: Face an array at ~ 210 deg. & iterate.

[SunEagle]

I heard a meteorologist say that probably the toughest thing about being a TV weatherman in San Diego was trying to figure out how to say "cloudy til 10 then sun" and keep it interesting. Pretty benign and predictable most of the time, Near the coast, SWAG/1st cut approx. for initial design: Face an array at ~ 210 deg. & iterate.

Based on how the weather changes in SD maybe some type of E - W tracking system would be beneficial for ground mounted systems.

[J.P.M.]

Based on how the weather changes in SD maybe some type of E - W tracking system would be beneficial for ground mounted systems.

Actually, IMO, the weather is only slightly less predictable around here than Phoenix for the most part. The weatherman was anecdotally pretty much spot on in his comment, especially near the coast. Cloudy till 8 at my house about 20 miles inland.

Pretty much anything's possible in design. For the added complexity of tracking --->>> lower reliability, higher maint./cost in tracking, I'd just optimize the tilt/azimuth of fixed arrays if/as much as possible, and size the array for the most cost effectiveness. I'd balance any loss in revenue as the cost of the increased probability of fewer hassles and less time spent farting around w/the machinery.

[josefontao]

And no one likes to fart with the machinery...

[J.P.M.]

And no one likes to fart with the machinery...

More complexity == more hassle. KISS.

[SunEagle]

More complexity == more hassle. KISS.

Amen to that policy.

Although I have been watching a tracking system made in MA that is pretty simple to run and maintain but is really only good for flat surfaces like a roof.

There is also another one being used by Utility MW systems that include a solar panel to power the tracking system which is not much more than a single motor that slowly rotates a shaft connected to long ground based array and adjusts to seasonal (Winter / Summer) changes of the sun's path.