-
-
A friend said, "The more stuff you have, the harder it is to keep it all working!". I have
spent a lifetime gathering stuff, and he is right. Everything is serviced with an eye to
minimizing future repairs. Stainless steel exhaust systems, etc; no trackers.
If you have consistent good sun, the tracker has more justification. Clouds, etc, not as
much. Instead try adding a few (trouble free) panels.
East facing panels will give an early boost any time its clear. South facing panels may
also come on, but at considerably reduced efficiency because of the extreme incidence
angle. The proportion of power generated gradually shifts from the E to the S during
the day. And same in reverse for a West facing array. A tracker can do all that, you
say. Yes, HOWEVER....
When clouds, etc interfere, output drops, but it is NOT NOTHING. It is still SOMETHING,
and if you have enough E & W panels, it could be up to 2 X SOMETHING, because the
dispersed light works on any orientation. A tracker can do NOTHING in this situation.
All this becomes a lot more economical with string inverter systems, because the same
equipment is shared by differently oriented arrays over the day. With panels at 0.$75
a watt and installed systems around $3.50 a watt, just increasing panels is actually
relatively inexpensive, even if their performance isn't optimum. Of course, your results
will vary.
A single axis tracker might have more justification than a 2 axis. Bruce RoeComment
-
solar114.JPG
Solar can be so weird....
Rained in the morning, cloudy all day, sun broke through around 2pm... kinda' scattered clouds the rest of the day.... pretty much a throw-a-way day... Right?
Wrong... it was a 30 KwH day.
Go figure...Comment
-
Looks like having panels on two sides really works good. I had total of 23.8 today, with a peak of 5.17. But my panels are all facing south. 6480 vs 5985 (mine) system. Still not a bad day. Covers my use and more without A/C running. Thanks for posting your results today Bob.Comment
-
Mine are all south facing as well..Comment
-
Comment
-
24.JPG
This is my layout.... 24 panels, all south facing.
In a earlier post I said east facing panels would be a disaster where I live, not that I have them.Comment
-
Yesterday was a milestone day...
I had both good solar output.... 41 KwH's...
solar117.JPG
AND...
Record SCE Consumption.... 30 WhH's....
solar116.JPG
I guess keeping the house at 72 degrees, around the clock.. does come at a price.
I got solar to save money, The wife likes the green aspect of it.... but we both like being comfortable, whenever we like, without breaking the bank like we used to.
Looks like I've started to use up my stored SCE credits, its anybodys guess on how many (if any) will remain by the end of summer...
i_love_solar_power_heart_custom_personalized_sticker-r00c3c178ad7344fca8015c4e64ef80fd_v9wth_8by.jpgComment
-
Lot's of A/C, plus lots of baking for Fathers Day goodies....Comment
-
It was more like low 80's, but really humid.
Plus the baking, plus the kids are out of school and the TV/ Computers ran all day... plus..plus...plus.
We are pretty high summer consumers..... which is what started this whole solar odyssey.Comment
-
Scaling that day out to a full month:
TOU-D-A: $204
TOU-D-B: $197
TOU-D-T: $211
Rate D: $209
Without the contribution of solar (so, 69.9 kWh of consumption), scaled out to the full month:
TOU-D-A: $618
TOU-D-B: $446
TOU-D-T: $682
Rate D: $631
When calculating the cost avoided by installing PV, it is probably worth looking at whether or not you were on the right rate plan to begin with. It is possible that TOU-D-B might have been a better plan all along, making your monthy savings a bit less than it seems. (Edit... to be fair, TOU-D-B wasn't available until Jan 1 of 2015)
Again, for anyone considering solar serves by a utility that offers TOU rates, it would be a good idea to look at the hourly consumption history for the past year and see how the different rate plans stack up both with and without the PV system installed.CS6P-260P/SE3000 - http://tiny.cc/ed5ozxComment
Tweet
Comment