PTO received - system up and running

[jordgubbe]

That looks very interesting. What is the source of your consumption and production data? Last twelve months of actuals or some sort of historic average?

[macaddict]

That looks very interesting. What is the source of your consumption and production data? Last twelve months of actuals or some sort of historic average?

My consumption is the average consumption for that specific month for the last 3 years (that's how long I've been in the house). The production are the estimates that the SE Designer (or PV Watts) gives me based on my system size, orientation, location, etc.

[sunpoweredev]

Lost power yesterday around 12:30PM until 6:30.

Do you guys know if there's a deadline for the one chance to change the anniversary date with JCP&L? I know the idea is to have the reset date with the minimum number of banked kWh which is around March for most. In my first full month of solar production in August, I have banked 280kWh. August being a prime month for air conditioning use, plus I average 1600 miles a month in the Tesla Model 3, I'm a bit surprised we banked that much. Per the consumption meter, the Tesla consumes 25-35kWh when we plug it in every 2-3 days. It's much easier to tell now that I have it scheduled to start charging at 1AM. My guess is that even with an EV, March would still be the ideal month for New Jersey, though if possible, I'd like to have 2-3 more months of full production to see how it goes before resetting my anniversary date with JCP&L.

[macaddict]

[QUOTE=sunpoweredev;n404689]Lost power yesterday around 12:30PM until 6:30.

Do you guys know if there's a deadline for the one chance to change the anniversary date with JCP&L?

I don't think there is a deadline. If you don't do anything, the anniversary will be when you received the PTO. If I remember correctly, I called them to change my anniversary month in the fall.

[jordgubbe]

I was playing around with macaddict's calculator last night, and it showed pretty starkly that March is the optimal anniversary month for us based on almost three years of actual consumption and PVwatts data. Of course, the one thing I've had trouble quantifying is shading and weather variation, which I don't think will have a large influence on the anniversary month conversation, but is a big question mark for actual production.

We have a small secondary array on the garage due to plumbing vents on the main roof (same tilt and azimuth, slightly lower height), which introduces partial shading in the morning from a stand of maples. The bottom row of panels on the main roof also has a small amount of partial shading from some other trees. I assume that the leaves falling will make this less of an issue in winter, even accounting for the lower angle of insolation.

All of which is a long-winded lead in to asking if it's worth asking GPE for their detailed production estimates. They gave a rough annual number once, which was slightly lower than PVwatts, and I assume factors in their shade modeling in a way I'm not equipped to deal with. Has anyone gotten this level of data or would it be considered proprietary in a way they would be reluctant to share?

[Ampster]

I was playing around with macaddict's calculator last night, and it showed pretty starkly that March is the optimal anniversary month for us based on almost three years of actual consumption and PVwatts data. Of course, the one thing I've had trouble quantifying is shading and weather variation, which I don't think will have a large influence on the anniversary month conversation, but is a big question mark for actual production.

...

The biggest variation will be weather from year to year. Because I have relatively clear skys from May through September I would prefer a Tru Up in mid summer. I have a lot of control over my consumption but none over the weather. I have had Tru Ups in February and it is frustrating to see a big NEM credit disappear in December and irregular production in January to get to break even. Of course it all depends on your goals.

[sunpoweredev]

First little preview of production drop off. It appears ~65kWh is the absolute max production in a single day on my system this time of year as seen on this perfect graph on a perfectly cloudless day, down from ~76kWh from August which was my first month of the system. Is production higher from around May to July? Just curious if I'll ever see more than ~76kWh in a day.

Very interesting from 5-6PM it hangs on a bit before dropping further. This happens every day. Any guesses as to why?

Edit: perhaps it's shadowing from the trees? Those trees don't cast shadows until well into the evening in early summer. As Fall approaches it will get earlier and earlier. Still, it's strangely flat from 5-6PM.

9-17.JPG

[NJturtlePower]

First little preview of production drop off. It appears ~65kWh is the absolute max production in a single day on my system this time of year as seen on this perfect graph on a perfectly cloudless day, down from ~76kWh from August which was my first month of the system. Is production higher from around May to July? Just curious if I'll ever see more than ~76kWh in a day.

Very interesting from 5-6PM it hangs on a bit before dropping further. This happens every day. Any guesses as to why?

9-17.JPG

Well, guess I'll have to wait until next season to see my max days, but sure enough 4 of the past 5 days have been my best in my 16-day run.

Been a few smooth production curves this week with yesterday being my best... so far

Strange that my SolarEdge portal production is slightly off from the PVoutput data...they are being fed the same API inverter data

SolarEdge Portal - 62.79 kWh
PVoutputPro App and Online - 63.20 kWh

B2655182-4459-4FE0-99F2-9CEDDE9522EE.jpeg

[macaddict]

First little preview of production drop off. It appears ~65kWh is the absolute max production in a single day on my system this time of year as seen on this perfect graph on a perfectly cloudless day, down from ~76kWh from August which was my first month of the system. Is production higher from around May to July? Just curious if I'll ever see more than ~76kWh in a day.

Very interesting from 5-6PM it hangs on a bit before dropping further. This happens every day. Any guesses as to why?

9-17.JPG

That is really strange. Looking at your PVOutput data, it seems that you have it reporting every 15 minutes. Try changing it to every 5 minutes. I wonder if the 2 sets of panels is causing this...

Also, is your inverter going into "sleep mode" at night? It seems to keep reporting production even though it is 0.

[sunpoweredev]

I'm hearing a sort of clunking/clicking sound in my bedroom around 10:30-11:30 at night. I notice it each time I happen to be in bed around that time, though it could be going on all day and I'm just not there to notice it. Just a quick single clunk/click sound, once of twice in that time frame.

From above my bedroom is the junction box that the outside conduit connects to. Are there additional electronics in that junction box, perhaps some relays that turn off at night? That would be my only guess, but why so late? Production ends at 7PM now.

[NJturtlePower]

That is really strange. Looking at your PVOutput data, it seems that you have it reporting every 15 minutes. Try changing it to every 5 minutes. I wonder if the 2 sets of panels is causing this...

Also, is your inverter going into "sleep mode" at night? It seems to keep reporting production even though it is 0.

I'm seeing 5-min interval data under his daily logs, but yeah I see what you mean about the extended reporting.

Mine seems to go into "sleep" about 2 to 2 1/2 hours after the first 0 reading every night.

macaddict I also noticed yesterday was your best of Sept. so far as well AND we're neck in neck at about 670 kWh total for the month although that's minus 4-days for me.

[sunpoweredev]

Well, guess I'll have to wait until next season to see my max days, but sure enough 4 of the past 5 days have been my best in my 20-day run.

Been a few smooth production curves this week with yesterday being my best... so far

Strange that my SolarEdge portal production is slightly off from the PVoutput data...they are being fed the same API inverter data

SolarEdge Portal - 62.79 kWh
PVoutputPro App and Online - 63.20 kWh

B2655182-4459-4FE0-99F2-9CEDDE9522EE.jpeg

Close enough. I learned not to let those little discrepancies (between SolarEdge portal, the SREC meter, and the utility meter) bother me or else I'll never be at peace lol.

[sunpoweredev]

That is really strange. Looking at your PVOutput data, it seems that you have it reporting every 15 minutes. Try changing it to every 5 minutes. I wonder if the 2 sets of panels is causing this...

Also, is your inverter going into "sleep mode" at night? It seems to keep reporting production even though it is 0.

I tried changing PVOutput to 5 minutes when I first signed up, but it keeps changing itself back to 15. I assumed that's a feature for users who have donated.

I'm not sure about the inverter going to sleep. How can you tell? And what do you mean it keeps reporting production when it is at 0, where are you seeing that? I haven't ventured that deeply into PVOutput.

Also, I actually have 3 arrays, 15+12+10, but AFAIK PVOutput only lets me enter two, so I did 18+19 to most closely match it up.

[NJturtlePower]

I tried changing PVOutput to 5 minutes when I first signed up, but it keeps changing itself back to 15. I assumed that's a feature for users who have donated.

I'm not sure about the inverter going to sleep. How can you tell? And what do you mean it keeps reporting production when it is at 0, where are you seeing that? I haven't ventured that deeply into PVOutput.

Also, I actually have 3 arrays, 15+12+10, but AFAIK PVOutput only lets me enter two, so I did 18+19 to most closely match it up.

Like I said, I'm seeing 5-min data on your daily logs but it seems that it only updates/uploads to PVoutput every 15-min which is the same as mine. Although your graph shows steps and mine is smooth so I dunno, maybe it is different.

As far as the inverter sleeping or extended reporting... see how my log for yesterday (Left) stops after 9:05pm but yours (Right) keep showing 0w straight through midnight?

Untitled.jpgUntitled2.jpg

There are two places I see 5-min data selected under my account, see if you can match with a non-donated account. Your "Direction" tab should be different due to your extra meter though...


Untitled3.jpg

[sunpoweredev]

Yeah I tried changing the poll interval to 5 minutes since I originally signed up. As soon as I click save it goes back to 15 minutes. I'll make a donation and see if it goes to 5 minutes. I imagine the 15 minute update interval is what's causing the stepped appearance.

Now I see what you guys mean by the inverter not sleeping. It seems to sleep at 12am rather than when production drops to 0, and wakes up at 6:35am. Is this data pushed to PVOutput by SolarEdge or PVOutput is pulling?

Is there something I can do to make it sleep as soon as solar production goes to zero? My guess is no. Can ButchDeal shed a light on this?