Went live today!

Ahead of schedule our grid-tie system is up and running. 24 Solar World 265w panels, enphase micro inverters. 12 on the house, 12 on a new shed. National Grid (I'm in NY) flipped the switch so to speak around noon, for the day 15kw production, 8kw banked (at least as of 6pm… I'm sure it will be less than that by tomorrow morning). I took a picture of the new meter… it started at 00000 and then went backwards:)

Comments

  • Blackcherry04
    Blackcherry04 Solar Expert Posts: 2,490 ✭✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    Felt good didn't it ......... I have 2,700 KWH banked to try to burn up over the winter, at least I'll be warm.
  • sunbunny
    sunbunny Solar Expert Posts: 59 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    Congratulations !!
  • couchsachraga
    couchsachraga Solar Expert Posts: 84 ✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    It does. I'm curious to see how much we produce the next 3 months vs. our usage, knowing that in upstate NY this is definitely the worst 3 months for solar. And how much we bank next summer for the end of the year.

    I don't have access to the monitoring program yet (not home when the install was completed), but I'm curious to see how the enphase software works and what the different readouts are. I'm sure I'll drive my wife crazy (I already do checking the temperature of our hot water tank on sunny days (solar thermal set up last year and working very, very well).

    Next up is finishing the update for my off-grid system at my "camp".
  • SkiDoo55
    SkiDoo55 Solar Expert Posts: 414 ✭✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    Good feeling to watch the meter count backwards:D
    GT3.8 w/4600W Trina 230W, TX5000 w/5000W ET-250W, XW4024 w/1500W ET-250W, 4 L16, 5500W Gen. (never had to use) Yet!!
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    congratulations! i'd be interested as to the angle you have them set at too.

    btw, you meant kwh not kw.
  • NorthGuy
    NorthGuy Solar Expert Posts: 1,913 ✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    Congratulations!

    I also have 24 SW panels, except that mine are 255, not 265. Very good panels.

    Have 30kWh banked. All that fits my batteries :D
  • solar_dave
    solar_dave Solar Expert Posts: 2,397 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    Yeah it is a nice feeling, got my October bill today online. $26.02 for the fees minus $7 for off peak electric.

    We have just ended our major consumption season, I load shifted a bunch of stuff back onto the on-peak period and we still have 1132 kWh banked. I think next season we will shift less to off peak. Assuming we bank another 1000 kWh before year end true up we should have about a $65 credit, enough to cover the fees through February or March.
  • couchsachraga
    couchsachraga Solar Expert Posts: 84 ✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    You are correct… I meant to type kWh, not kW…

    Both sets are mounted on the same plane as the roof- 5/12 pitch - call it 23 degrees. Their thinking is to maximize for summer (more sunlight) as we're grid inter tie. Up north (small (1kw) off grid system) I'll likely set them around 36 degrees, or better yet be able to change the angle for winter and summer (mostly to keep the snow off in winter). Hopefully I'll get that done before we get too much snow as winter access is via ski or snow machine.

    I have access to the Enphase website for our little system and I must say it's nice. I might even finally convince my wife we DO need to take the oak tree near the house down:)
  • Ralph Day
    Ralph Day Solar Expert Posts: 1,019 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    "I might even finally convince my wife we DO need to take the oak tree near the house down:)"

    If the oak is shading after 11am, then consider it. If it's earlier, you're not getting a lot of consequential harvest while it's shading. My eastern exposure shades my array until 9:30am in the summer, later in the winter...you can see the difference on the MX60 display...it's not a lot of accumulation before 11am or after 4pm (depending on the season).

    Consider the asthetics of the tree vs the possible extra solar gain if it's gone. Unless the tree's going to damage the house if it falls, or it's dead or dying, or you need the firewood.

    Ralph
  • couchsachraga
    couchsachraga Solar Expert Posts: 84 ✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    It is SE of the array - in the summer (when it's leafed out) I suspect it won't shade at all. This time of the year, however the sun comes up further to the south and the branches shade a bit. I'm going to try some selective trimming to start out with (I've been meaning to do that anyway).

    I always thought (incorrectly?) that the maximum was generally 10am to 2-3pm, at least for panels facing due south. And I do know what you mean by not a lot of accumulation outside those times - I have "full" sun on 1/4 of my panels right now (at a ridiculous angle… that array is due south) and very little output.

    So far I'm a big fan of the enphase micro inverters and the software that comes with it - it's great being able to check production and keep an eye on the panels.
  • NorthGuy
    NorthGuy Solar Expert Posts: 1,913 ✭✭
    Re: Went live today!
    It is SE of the array - in the summer (when it's leafed out) I suspect it won't shade at all. This time of the year, however the sun comes up further to the south and the branches shade a bit. I'm going to try some selective trimming to start out with (I've been meaning to do that anyway).

    Keep in mind that this changes dramatically with the time of the year. It may be different a month from now.
  • couchsachraga
    couchsachraga Solar Expert Posts: 84 ✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    Well, almost 3 weeks in and right now we're producing about 2/3 the power we need this month… which I think is pretty good for November. I'll be very curious to see where things stand a year from now (have we "banked" enough for winter from the summer (2014). I suspect we're better at turning off lights now, and the solar hot water is helping too (electric hot water heater is offline for the most part now).

    For those of you in the Northeast US - realizing that each installation is different, how does your November production match up with your usage (assuming you are about break-even year round)?
  • DanS26
    DanS26 Solar Expert Posts: 264 ✭✭✭
    Re: Went live today!
    Well, almost 3 weeks in and right now we're producing about 2/3 the power we need this month… which I think is pretty good for November. I'll be very curious to see where things stand a year from now (have we "banked" enough for winter from the summer (2014). I suspect we're better at turning off lights now, and the solar hot water is helping too (electric hot water heater is offline for the most part now).

    For those of you in the Northeast US - realizing that each installation is different, how does your November production match up with your usage (assuming you are about break-even year round)?

    In my experience PVWatts does a pretty good job of predicting production.

    This is version 2: http://pvwattsbeta.nrel.gov/

    Some people like the old version better: http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/calculators/pvwatts/version1/
    23.16kW Kyocera panels; 2 Fronius 7.5kW inverters; Nyle hot water; Steffes ETS; Great Lakes RO; Generac 10kW w/ATS, TED Pro System monitoring
  • DanS26
    DanS26 Solar Expert Posts: 264 ✭✭✭
    Re: Went live today!

    Oh and if you are really into watching things and driving your wife batty, get the TED system. You can watch production and usage in one place. Compare with utility bill and with micro inverter reports. You can set TED up to do TOU to see if it makes sense to change billing, etc. Download data to spreadsheets and go wild with analysis and charts. Watch for voltage spikes coming in from utility and monitor voltage loss in your wiring system, etc.
    23.16kW Kyocera panels; 2 Fronius 7.5kW inverters; Nyle hot water; Steffes ETS; Great Lakes RO; Generac 10kW w/ATS, TED Pro System monitoring
  • Blackcherry04
    Blackcherry04 Solar Expert Posts: 2,490 ✭✭✭
    Re: Went live today!
    Well, almost 3 weeks in and right now we're producing about 2/3 the power we need this month… which I think is pretty good for November. I'll be very curious to see where things stand a year from now (have we "banked" enough for winter from the summer (2014). I suspect we're better at turning off lights now, and the solar hot water is helping too (electric hot water heater is offline for the most part now).

    For those of you in the Northeast US - realizing that each installation is different, how does your November production match up with your usage (assuming you are about break-even year round)?
    Every year is different, but your production is about where I would be for November 's production vs Use ( 2/3rds ). I banked 2,700 KWH over the summer.

    I don't know how you heat, but with solar hot water heater you have you might be able to add a hydronic coil to your furnace for a couple hundred bucks and save some more. With the KWH I have banked I am always looking ways to use it with a good ROI. This company sell's systems, , not to expensive, but you can do it on the cheap for less than $500. With the added heat I can take my heat pump down to 10-15 degrees outside and still be comfortable, mine adds about 6-8 degrees to the exiting air.

    http://www.aquecoil.com/support/files/AQUECOIL_HHU_Std_Pbg_201212.pdf