Our solar production

[RegGuheert]

Like April, May 2014 was the lowest May for our system, producing 34 kWh less energy than the peak year 2013.

I don't think any production records were set in May 2014.

After five months in 2014 we are now 427 kWh behind the pace of our record year of 2012.

Here are all our numbers for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014:

Month     2011   2012   2013   2014  Units
------------------------------------------
January    669    869    822    857   kWh
February   158   1085    866   1054   kWh
March        0   1350   1152   1113   kWh
April        0   1465   1495   1338   kWh
May          0   1477   1491   1457   kWh 
June         0   1478   1368          kWh
July       595   1395   1406          kWh
August    1347   1447   1333          kWh
September  910   1295   1414          kWh
October    931    981   1034          kWh
November   949   1041   1018          kWh
December   803    612    669          kWh
------------------------------------------
Totals    6362  14495  14068   5819   kWh

Since installation, our system has produced 40.744 MWh as of the end of May 2014.

 

[camasleaf]

One year tomorrow morning since the production meter was installed: 6725 kWh. It is a 5.7 kW DC system with no monitoring, I use the production meter installed and read by the utility company:

Date Days kWh kWh/Day
05/21/14 30 770 26
04/21/14 31 690 22
03/21/14 25 380 15
02/24/14 32 290 9
01/23/14 34 200 6
12/20/13 28 220 8
11/22/13 32 310 10
10/21/13 28 420 15
09/23/13 33 720 22
08/21/13 30 870 29
07/22/13 31 970 31
06/21/13 17 490 29

 

[smkettner]

I have been treading water for weeks. Summer TOU rates kicked in on Monday and my bill drops $5 for the one day
If this keeps up I will be having an awesome Summer.

 

[pchilds]

March 2014, 529.6 kWh
April 2014, 554.6 kWh
May 2014, 606.8 kWh
June 2014, 584.0 kWh

 

[RegGuheert]

June 2014 set an all-time high record for single-month production of 1521 kWh! This is the first time our system has passed the 1.5 MWh mark within a single month. Less than 5 kWh of this was from the array expansion which was first turned on June 30. OTOH, we lost about 15 kWh on June 29 because I accidentally left about 14 microinverters turned off for most of the day.

After six months in 2014 we are now 384 kWh behind the pace of our record year of 2012.

Here are all our numbers for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014:

Month     2011   2012   2013   2014  Units
------------------------------------------
January    669    869    822    857   kWh
February   158   1085    866   1054   kWh
March        0   1350   1152   1113   kWh
April        0   1465   1495   1338   kWh
May          0   1477   1491   1457   kWh 
June         0   1478   1368   1521   kWh
July       595   1395   1406          kWh
August    1347   1447   1333          kWh
September  910   1295   1414          kWh
October    931    981   1034          kWh
November   949   1041   1018          kWh
December   803    612    669          kWh
------------------------------------------
Totals    6362  14495  14068   7340   kWh

Since installation, our system has produced 42.265 MWh as of the end of June 2014.

Next month will include the production from nine additional microinverters starting today and hopefully a total of 12 more before the end of the month.

 

[drmanny3]

Wow that is a large system. How big is the home?
Manny

 

[RegGuheert]

Wow that is a large system. How big is the home?
Manny

The house is not big, but it is all electric except for the propane cooktop that my wife loves. I want to be done purchasing propane!

You can see a picture of the house if you click on the link in my signature and then click on the tab with the photos.

 

[SilverLeaf]

Production from my 33 230wDC Sunpower Panels via Sunnyboy (SMA) 7000US Inverter (7.59kW DC)

2014 AC Production
Jan 1048
Feb 977
Mar 1347
Apr 1438
May 1476
Jun 1413

2013 AC Production
Jan 910
Feb 1105
Mar 1328
Apr 1444
May 1474
Jun 1447
Jul 1284
Aug 1230
Sep 1280
Oct 1050
Nov 955
Dec 1005

2012 AC Production
Mar 1228
Apr 1217
May 1416
Jun 1325
Jul 1189
Aug 1168
Sep 1118
Oct 603
Nov 970
Dec 851

Link to my Solar Production - http://pvpwrev.webs.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[apvbguy]

what can someone expect to pay now a days for a similar <10 kw system? I just had a salesman in and after the fed tax rebate the quote was about $31k.
also what kind of annual maintenance costs could be expected?

 

[RegGuheert]

what can someone expect to pay now a days for a similar <10 kw system?

I can purchase a complete kit on eBay for about $18,000 that will provide more than 10 kW and install the entire thing myself for less than $20,000 total, all before any tax credits or rebates.

The installation is quite a bit of work, so paying someone will cost quite a bit more.

also what kind of annual maintenance costs could be expected?

I expect to replace an inverter about every 6 years. So far I have replaced one after 3.5 years. (Another problem inverter was "fixed" via a firmware update.) My analysis of the existing data says the newer microinverters have a lower failure rate. Maybe expect one failure each ten years on a 10 kW system.

I do not do any cleaning of my panels, but they get scrubbed in the wintertime by sliding snow and/or sleet. You may need to clean them sometimes, though your afternoon thunderstorms may do an admirable job.

 

[08Wee]

We have 40x250W Canadian solar panels with two SMA Sunny Boy inverters (3000 TL and 5000 TL).
The system was started in February this year but monitoring started in April:

Apr 14 1149.534
May 14 1427.214
Jun 14 1456.153

Here in Ontario there is a feed in tariff for up to 10kw systems that pays 39 cents/kwh for 20 years.

 

[RegGuheert]

We have 40x250W Canadian solar panels with two SMA Sunny Boy inverters (3000 TL and 5000 TL).
The system was started in February this year but monitoring started in April:

Apr 14 1149.534
May 14 1427.214
Jun 14 1456.153

Your production numbers look very good for a 10 kW system in Ontario! What is the pitch of your roof? Also, do you have any pictures?

Here in Ontario there is a feed in tariff for up to 10kw systems that pays 39 cents/kwh for 20 years.

Wow! :shock: And I'm guessing that is on top of net-metering, or instead of it? At that price, you could repay a self-installed system in five years and everything after that is just extra income!

 

[08Wee]

Your production numbers look very good for a 10 kW system in Ontario! What is the pitch of your roof? Also, do you have any pictures?

I have no idea what the pitch is, sorry. As to the pictures, I'll go get some and post them here. My house is a side split, 24 panels face west on the "high roof" (the roof covering the second floor), 16 face south. This is why I have two SMA inverters.

Wow! :shock: And I'm guessing that is on top of net-metering, or instead of it? At that price, you could repay a self-installed system in five years and everything after that is just extra income!

It is instead of net metering. There is a separate meter that measures the production which goes directly in the grid. he utility calculates a 3% loss on the amount of kwh produced.
Solar systems here in Canada tend to be more expensive (as everything else really). My system was around 38k installed, so I am hoping to pay it back in 8 years.

The price per kwh was greatly reduced (I should have installed earlier but my finances did not allow). When it was launched in 2011 the price was 84 cents/kwh

Money aside, it feels great to produce one's fuel

 

[kaikara]

I am in Ontario under the MicroFIT program also. I have a 9KW system and my System went live November 2013. My Setup is 7KW on the South Facing Roof and 2KW on the West. I am setup with Mircoinverters because of early day shading issues caused by a tree in the front yarf. My Production for 2014 has been as follows

Jan 268
Feb 495
March 967
April 1102
May 1268
June 1382

I was lucky as I squeaked in under the previous rate so I am getting paid 54.9c per kwh produced. The other benefit of the MicroFIT program is you can register it as a business and claim back all of the sales taxes paid on system and install. In Ontario we pay 13 percent HST which meant a significant chunk of change on the system. The downside of the MicroFIT program is that you have to go through and approval process. It took from March of 2013 until November 2013 to get approved. There is also content requirements to get in the program - a certain portion of the panels, racking, etc have to be produced in Ontario. It causes the system costs to be higher but since the kwh amount paid is so high you get payback quite fast. For my payback on the system should be about 5.5 years.

 

[RegGuheert]

I am in Ontario under the MicroFIT program also. I have a 9KW system and my System went live November 2013. My Setup is 7KW on the South Facing Roof and 2KW on the West. I am setup with Mircoinverters because of early day shading issues caused by a tree in the front yarf. My Production for 2014 has been as follows

Jan 268
Feb 495
March 967
April 1102
May 1268
June 1382

Given the large difference between January and June, I'm guessing your panels (roof?) are fairly flat. 1382 kWh is a big number for a 7 kW system! Just about 70 kWh shy of 08Wee's 10 kW system!

I was lucky as I squeaked in under the previous rate so I am getting paid 54.9c per kwh produced. The other benefit of the MicroFIT program is you can register it as a business and claim back all of the sales taxes paid on system and install. In Ontario we pay 13 percent HST which meant a significant chunk of change on the system. The downside of the MicroFIT program is that you have to go through and approval process. It took from March of 2013 until November 2013 to get approved. There is also content requirements to get in the program - a certain portion of the panels, racking, etc have to be produced in Ontario. It causes the system costs to be higher but since the kwh amount paid is so high you get payback quite fast.

I think I could deal with the approval process for 54.9c/kWh!

If you have Enphase inverters, do you have a public website you can share for your them?

 

[kaikara]

The system is a 9kW system not 7kW. 7kW is on the south facing roof and 2kW is on the west. The pitch of the roof is not as steep as it should be for optimal so the winter numbers will be lower. Not that you lose that much though. There is a 10kW system on PVoutputs that is local to me that produced 299kWh this December.

 

[08Wee]

If you have Enphase inverters, do you have a public website you can share for your them?

Here is my public site for the system (via the SMA inverters):
http://www.sunnyportal.com/Templates/PublicPageOverview.aspx?page=f1062546-7685-4ef0-bcc2-52a57d1015cd&plant=d0deac02-9061-4e7f-819a-c0ac81f789ea&splang=en-US" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Petecomp1]

We have an Itek (Washington state made) 9,600 watt array with "Blue Frog" micro's. Haven't the time to do a month-by-month table but last year's production was 14,462 kWh. The WA incentive is .54/kWh with a $5,000 cap. The first check arrives next week which feels really good. This contractor-installed system cost us $58,000. Payback will be about 9 years, best guess. Last 2 months electric bills were "zero" which also feels great! Much better ROI than a risky investment! Array is ground-mounted on a south facing slope, which was a major factor when buying our property. Located in sunny Eastern Washington state.

 

[QueenBee]

We have an Itek (Washington state made) 9,600 watt array with "Blue Frog" micro's. Haven't the time to do a month-by-month table but last year's production was 14,462 kWh. The WA incentive is .54/kWh with a $5,000 cap. The first check arrives next week which feels really good. This contractor-installed system cost us $58,000. Payback will be about 9 years, best guess. Last 2 months electric bills were "zero" which also feels great! Much better ROI than a risky investment! Array is ground-mounted on a south facing slope, which was a major factor when buying our property. Located in sunny Eastern Washington state.

Wow, way oversized if one is trying to maximize breakeven! Were you sold on in state components or just didn't want to complicate the design and electrical system to use in state and cheaper out of state components?

Do you have shade on your ground mount or just preferred micros to central?

 

[Petecomp1]

Oversized? You mean in terms of cost I suppose. I'd have put in twice the capacity if I could have afforded it, because I just like making my own electricity and the more the better! In-state components maximize the incentive so we used them. No shade on array; it is sited on a nice bare south facing slope. Using micro inverters because of a lengthy cable run from the array to the house. All specifications including sizing were provided by the contractor. One could spend much less for this but there are a lot of reasons we were unable to DIY this job.