First full day of sunny solar production...

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HX_Guy
HX_Guy Solar Expert Posts: 296 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
Had the first full sunny day with zero cloud cover today, pumped out 47.88kWh which is a bit on the low side for a 12.4kW system but expected due to shading issues from a neighbor's house.

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You can see the effect of shading on the panels all along the bottom row. Unshaded those panels would have produced around 1.6kWh each but due to shading, they range from 72Wh to 1.39kWh. Sucks but again, expected and it's only in the winter months...past March they will all produce equal power.

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There's also some other cool stuff available to view in the SolarEdge monitoring...

Max AC current for the day was at 33.08A
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Max AC Energy
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Max AC Power
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  • HX_Guy
    HX_Guy Solar Expert Posts: 296 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #2
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...

    AC voltage was steady all day around 244VAC
    229.jpg

    And DC voltage is regulated around 370VDC by the inverter, with a spike to 392VDC at the start of the day to "wake up" the inverter.
    230.jpg
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  • Vic
    Vic Solar Expert Posts: 3,208 ✭✭✭✭
    #3
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...

    Hi HX_Guy,

    Congratulations !! You have a lot of skin in this game.

    So, assume that even if you passed your Final Inspection, that, generally, the Utility would take some days or weeks to Inspect the system, and upgrade the Meter, etc ... but perhaps your Utility is really on top of things.

    Have you been given the Green Light to put power onto the Grid?

    I have not ever done any GT systems, but have read here, that if the meter has not been upgraded, that it is quite common for the Utility to bill the customer for any power that he/she places on the Grid, as if it was actually consumed, not "generated' by that customer.

    You are probably familiar with this, to the extent that it applies in your situation. FWIW, Vic
    Off Grid - Two systems -- 4 SW+ 5548 Inverters, Surrette 4KS25 1280 AH X2@48V, 11.1 KW STC PV, 4X MidNite Classic 150 w/ WBjrs, Beta KID on S-530s, MX-60s, MN Bkrs/Boxes.  25 KVA Polyphase Kubota diesel,  Honda Eu6500isa,  Eu3000is-es, Eu2000,  Eu1000 gensets.  Thanks Wind-Sun for this great Forum.
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  • HX_Guy
    HX_Guy Solar Expert Posts: 296 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...

    Vic, thanks for the info, I was actually not aware of that. The utility has not upgraded the meter, I'm just using a test meter and wanted to see how the system would do.
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  • Vic
    Vic Solar Expert Posts: 3,208 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...

    Hi HX-Guy,

    I know nothing from personal experience ... just from what I have read here ... others will know what your utility generally does.

    But, you must be very satisfied, and hopefully, your installer has learned much from your efforts! Have Fun, Vic
    Off Grid - Two systems -- 4 SW+ 5548 Inverters, Surrette 4KS25 1280 AH X2@48V, 11.1 KW STC PV, 4X MidNite Classic 150 w/ WBjrs, Beta KID on S-530s, MX-60s, MN Bkrs/Boxes.  25 KVA Polyphase Kubota diesel,  Honda Eu6500isa,  Eu3000is-es, Eu2000,  Eu1000 gensets.  Thanks Wind-Sun for this great Forum.
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  • CDN_VT
    CDN_VT Solar Expert Posts: 492 ✭✭✭
    #6
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...

    Nice to see the build process .
    TY for the time to post & show us your power Dance .
    Do keep us informed , because nothing is straight forward anytime

    VT
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  • KozmoK
    KozmoK Solar Expert Posts: 42 ✭
    #7
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...

    I need to call and unlock my monitoring - I can't chart like you did on the inverter they only show me this:

    Taken this morning at 9:30 AM
    Attachment not found.

    HX_Guy is now a PRO at solarEdge - I remember the first post he made here :) CONGRATS!

    HX_Guy wrote: »
    Had the first full sunny day with zero cloud cover today, pumped out 47.88kWh which is a bit on the low side for a 12.4kW system but expected due to shading issues from a neighbor's house.
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  • HX_Guy
    HX_Guy Solar Expert Posts: 296 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #8
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...

    Yeah Kozmo see if you can get setup with SolarEdge as an "installer" for your system, there is a lot more info. You can see all those charts for the whole system, per string, or even per panel.
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  • HX_Guy
    HX_Guy Solar Expert Posts: 296 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #9
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...
    Vic wrote: »
    Hi HX-Guy,

    I know nothing from personal experience ... just from what I have read here ... others will know what your utility generally does.

    Hmm, now I'm confused on this because I just checked my usage online with the electric company and obviously the solar use put a big dent in yesterday's usage...

    231.jpg

    According to this, they are reporting I only used 5.2kWh all day yesterday...so did they even see the rest or is the house using it up before the electric company is even seeing the generated power?

    That 5.2kWh off peak cost us about 31¢. Compared to the day before, where the system was off, we used 38.5kWh total with 31.7kWh off-peak and 6.8kWh on peak for a total electric cost of about $6.75. Pretty cool. :)

    And we are not yet on a net metering plan, so the extra energy we produced was basically lost, otherwise it would have been "banked" to erase even that 5.2kWh that was used and the rest would have been used the next day or later this week/month/year.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #10
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...

    All the utility sees is power flow to or from your house; not what comes from your inverter. As far as they are concerned your house either consumes power or generates it, which it views as negative consumption. That means the solar offsets loads during production hours and possibly produces a surplus which offsets loads in non-production hours. The utility can tell the difference in the course of a day; it only totals it up.

    And of course if the metering isn't set up right production can be tallied as consumption.
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  • westbranch
    westbranch Solar Expert Posts: 5,183 ✭✭✭✭
    #11
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...

    It all depends on what your loads were during the 'production period'. Since you use such a large amount relative to your production , at this time, it may be possible that your meter would not actually spin in reverse even if it is a smart meter..???
     
    KID #51B  4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
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    Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
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    Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
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  • HX_Guy
    HX_Guy Solar Expert Posts: 296 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #12
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    All the utility sees is power flow to or from your house; not what comes from your inverter. As far as they are concerned your house either consumes power or generates it, which it views as negative consumption. That means the solar offsets loads during production hours and possibly produces a surplus which offsets loads in non-production hours. The utility can tell the difference in the course of a day; it only totals it up.

    And of course if the metering isn't set up right production can be tallied as consumption.

    So what does this mean in respect to me not yet actually being setup on net metering? Will I be billed for these test hours of generation?
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  • HX_Guy
    HX_Guy Solar Expert Posts: 296 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #13
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...
    westbranch wrote: »
    It all depends on what your loads were during the 'production period'. Since you use such a large amount relative to your production , at this time, it may be possible that your meter would not actually spin in reverse even if it is a smart meter..???

    The smart meter on the house's service panel is frantically flashing "backwards" (to the left) vs the normal forward arrow. I should probably kill it before it raises some eyebrows. :p
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #14
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    Re: First full day of sunny solar production...
    HX_Guy wrote: »
    So what does this mean in respect to me not yet actually being setup on net metering? Will I be billed for these test hours of generation?

    Only the utility can answer that.

    You're not actually supposed to fire these things up until everything is ready, including the power company.
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