Our solar production

[wsbca]

32.89kWh today. Best day so far since the system went live.

mwalsh, I note your signature states your PV is 6.2 DC. Does that mean the 32kWh day's output is DC? or do you read one, one-way, and one the other. The reason I ask is because our 7.2kWh AC rated PV just hit 30kWh yesterday & today for the 1st time this year . . . and so I'm trying to reconcile the #'s.

hill, if it helps, our 5.16 DC system logged 27 kWh yesterday here in Irvine. That's 27 kWh AC.

Or 6.01 solar hours using the formulas in my post above, exactly the same as Jimmy (Oceanside) and mwalsh (also OC) - excellent results.

Today is not looking so good down here (Sorrento Valley)

 

[Boomer23]

which is just enough power to rebuild our $450 surplus money (was over $500) that SCE is going to have to pay us for our growing surpluss.

hill, how do you figure that SCE will pay you at that rate? I have a $230 surplus going into month 12 of my net metering calendar, with about 1700 kWh surplus, but from what I've been reading, SCE may pay at some wholesale rate like 5 cents per kWh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . snip

I called SCE to ask them if the dollar amount on the bill is based on the rate that SCE expects to pay us. As you know . . . the monthly bill (or running tabulated surplus) shows a bar graph, with differing months as usage or surplus - see a piece of an old bill that I scanned :

hill, I understand what SCE is telling you regarding the way we build up credits by pumping power into the grid at peak times, etc and how net metering works for the 12 month net metering year. But my question was about whether SCE will actually pay us at that rate. If I end my net metering year with 1700 net excess generated kWh and a surplus of dollar credits totaling $250, will I get paid the $250 or some other amount? From what I've been reading, I may get paid 5 cents per kWh, equal to $85 in my example.

 

[mwalsh]

Coincidentally, I got a new report from my system yesterday. I don't know I was supposed to be getting one of these all along, of if I inadvertently tweaked something yesterday that triggered sending them:

Daily Production: 32.89 kWh
Daily Power (max.): 4.77 kW
Daily Revenue: 14.15
Daily CO2 Reduction: 23.02 kg

(The revenue figure isn't going to be accurate, because I know I didn't plug in any actual energy costs.)

 

[wsbca]

Coincidentally, I got a new report from my system yesterday. I don't know I was supposed to be getting one of these all along, of if I inadvertently tweaked something yesterday that triggered sending them:

Daily Production: 32.89 kWh
Daily Power (max.): 4.77 kW
Daily Revenue: 14.15
Daily CO2 Reduction: 23.02 kg

Is this in the form of an email? I don't receive anything like that nor do I see a way to configure it on the Sunpower website which has the flash-based graphs. Maybe you have a different monitoring setup.

(BTW to confirm the discussion above - On the LCD display, the current output has the label "Pac" which stands for "AC Power - actual" - and the E-today and E-total displays are also AC kWh)

 

[DaveEV]

However, I was told by the manufacturer that the AC output would be about 80% of the DC output.

Peak AC output is highly variable depending on weather (temperature, wind), panel mounting angle and time of year.

Typical peak AC output on a clear 75*F day with little to no wind is often around 80% of the DC rating at solar noon if the panels are perpendicular to the sun within about 10 degrees.

One must remember that the DC rating of a panel is under standard test conditions (STC) where the panel is held at 25*C (77*F) and 1000 W/m2 is shining on it.

In directly sunlight with little wind the panel will heat up to 30*C over ambient easily. Panel output typically goes down about 0.5% with every degree rise in panel temperature so that is 15% loss in output right there.

California uses it's own test conditions (CEC) which are more representative - 68*F ambient, 1 M/w wind. Under these conditions panels are typically rated around 85-90% of their STC rating.

In cold, windy conditions one can easily exceed STC numbers, especially if it is a dry day and you are at altitude. On a hot, muggy, windless day near sea level it's not uncommon to see 70% STC numbers.

The effects of heat is one reason why it's a good idea to mount your panels as high off the roof as possible to allow for more airflow under the panels to keep them cooler.

 

[garygid]

My Sharp panels (225 watt, I think) are in three strings of 11, for 33 panels x 225 = about 7400 watts DC. On a good day in the Spring or Fall, my SunnyBoy 7000 watt Inverter will generate 7050 watts AC (its maximum output) at "sun-noon", or so it reports. That would seem to be close to 95% of the DC rating ... which seems rather (at least sufficiently) good.

Running 25 months with no issues. Just grinning each time i see the SDG&E meter spinning madly backwards.

This week, SDG&E installed a Net-Metering Smart meter (not TOD, just remote reading). It shows inbound kWh, outbound kWh, and the net power flow. Also, date and time are displayed.

With this simple net metering, I can charge any time I want with no penalty, and use the PV generation to directly offset the EV charging.

Presumably, under TOD rates, SDG&E will not credit enough for a "Peak" kWh to even pay for ONE "Super-Off-Peak" kWh.

 

[mwalsh]

Coincidentally, I got a new report from my system yesterday. I don't know I was supposed to be getting one of these all along, of if I inadvertently tweaked something yesterday that triggered sending them:

Daily Production: 32.89 kWh
Daily Power (max.): 4.77 kW
Daily Revenue: 14.15
Daily CO2 Reduction: 23.02 kg

Is this in the form of an email? I don't receive anything like that nor do I see a way to configure it on the Sunpower website which has the flash-based graphs. Maybe you have a different monitoring setup.

Yes, in the form of any email. Bummer though.....it looks like it was a one-off, apparently due to the SunnyPortal web site being unavailable. Pity, I rather like getting the figures that way.

 

[hill]

hill, I understand what SCE is telling you regarding the way we build up credits by pumping power into the grid at peak times, etc and how net metering works for the 12 month net metering year. But my question was about whether SCE will actually pay us at that rate. If I end my net metering year with 1700 net excess generated kWh and a surplus of dollar credits totaling $250, will I get paid the $250 or some other amount? From what I've been reading, I may get paid 5 cents per kWh, equal to $85 in my example.

What SCE told me, is only "over the phone". No, SCE has NOT yet put into writing that the full dollar amount of credit shown on monthly statements will in fact be exactly the same. SCE is SAYING it will be that statement amount, but that is only verbal so far. The PUC is allowing them a couple more months before CA utility companies have to put in writing, the cost per kWh they'll be paying us. But wouldn't that be weird? . . . For SCE to verbally claim, "YES ... That's the money you'll get" ... only to then later in writing, set the kWh value at some lesser amount . . . that would really put their integrity in the crapper.

You wouldn't be towel drying OUR panels unless you want to climb on a 22 degree steep tiled roof and break your legs and arms when you slip and fall. So which do you think would be better (least spotting) to use for me, regular tap water or the water softened water?

Whether water is softened via (RO) reverse osmosis or water softening salt, there's definitely less spotting/mineral build-up that OUR tap water (Irvine Water District) causes ... but other water sources may be better or worse. I'd rate Irvine Water district as an 8 out of 10 ... 10 being VERY mineral-free. Our MT well water is so bad (I'd rate it a 'ONE') that the water will turn rust color within 10 minutes, w/out being water softened. If after (say) a half dozen "air dry" experiences you find things are looking sorta nasty, you'll simply have to get busy and:
a) stop washing all together,
b) continue, and let the deposits worsen,
c) get some form of water softener (RO or water softening salt) system
d) get a nice long 22 foot extension for your squeegee drying chore

Yes, you do NOT want to be on a steep roof, without a safety harness.

 

[DaveEV]

Had my highest production of the year so far today - 15.9 kWh thanks to clear skies, cool weather and freshly washed panels thanks to the rain last night. Beat previous year's best set last Tues the 22nd at 14.8 kWh. I'm sure that others had great days as well, so lets hear it. I expect that some of you guys got close to 40 kWh today.

 

[Boomer23]

29 for me today. Perfect solar weather. Best day for me since mid-September.

 

[occ]

Yup, my best day since Sept also: 20.64kwh (4kw dc system)

Here's some quick tally:

drees: 15.9kwh on 3.24 kw dc system : 4.9hrs avg insolation (Encintas)
boomer: 29kwh on 5.16 kw dc system : 5.62hrs avg insolation (Irvine)
occ: 20.6kwh on 4.00 kw dc system : 5.15hrs avg insolation (Tustin)

Interesting drees, do you have a bit of clouds today, or is yours not all facing south, or different inclination setup?

Irvine and Tustin is pretty damn close, boomer, you've got a pretty efficient system there!

 

[Boomer23]

Thanks, occ. My roof faces slightly west of south. I haven't been able to figure out the exact compass direction. I cleaned the panels last August and they've stayed pretty clean with the rains.

 

[mwalsh]

I'm sure that others had great days as well, so lets hear it. I expect that some of you guys got close to 40 kWh today.

34.75kWh here! :mrgreen:

 

[occ]

I'm sure that others had great days as well, so lets hear it. I expect that some of you guys got close to 40 kWh today.

34.75kWh here! :mrgreen:

Nice! You're up there with boomer!

My panels are in top of a two story house, so it's hard to wash them. It does get a bit dusty, but the current rain helped a lot (and the temp stayed pretty low lately).

drees: 15.9kwh on 3.24 kw dc system : 4.9hrs avg insolation (Encintas)
boomer: 29kwh on 5.16 kw dc system : 5.62hrs avg insolation (Irvine)
occ: 20.6kwh on 4.00 kw dc system : 5.15hrs avg insolation (Tustin)
mwalsh 34.75kwh on 6.2 kw dc system: 5.60hrs avg insolation (Garden Grove)

 

[wsbca]

Yep, yesterday was quite good - we made 18.39 kWh, also our best day since Sept. (system is 3.44kW DC, 2.987kW CEC-AC). The low temperature really makes a difference.

 

[Gonewild]

Partly cloudy I got 29.52 Yesterday.

 

[DaveEV]

Interesting drees, do you have a bit of clouds today, or is yours not all facing south, or different inclination setup?

The roof my panels are mounted on is nearly flat (about 3* to the west). I'm sure most of the others are mounted around 20* towards the south accounting for the difference.

Since the sun only gets about 49* degrees over the horizon this time of year (use the sunrise calculator on timeanddate.com to view the sun's altitude at various times of the year), that hurts my system's output more in the winter months.

I estimate that if my system were angled 20* south it's output would be about 20% higher right now (so 15.9 kWh yesterday would have been about 19 kWh). That would have my system matching the output on a DC watt basis of the other systems you ran the calcs for.

 

[cinmar]

Yesterday got 24.54 here in Stockton. Our system is mounted on 3 sides of a hipped roof, with the middle hip facing SW.

 

[Azrich]

Wow! 39.16 kWh today !

This is our highest production since the system was installed in October. I guess the rain on Sunday morning washed off the dust.

 

[ERG4ALL]

Na Na Na Na Ya! 54.5kWh today!
The cool temperatures really make a difference. Our system is only rated at 6.6 kW, but with a cool day and at this time of year our panels are almost perpendicular to the sun. The recent weather has cleaned them off with soft water (rain and snow).