smkettner
Well-known member
jimbo69ny said:Thanks to the idiotic company I used to install the pv system I am only going to be producing maybe 80 of what I use.
80%? Do you have any optional TOU rate plans?
jimbo69ny said:Thanks to the idiotic company I used to install the pv system I am only going to be producing maybe 80 of what I use.
smkettner said:jimbo69ny said:Thanks to the idiotic company I used to install the pv system I am only going to be producing maybe 80 of what I use.
80%? Do you have any optional TOU rate plans?
I drive about 7400 miles a year. And, yes, I heat with gas (used to be propane until gas lines got installed in this remote rural area). Water heater is on-demand (tankless) gas. I designed my house to be "sun tempered" so I get a lot of heat from the sun on sunny days in the fall and winter. And I dress warmly and keep the thermostat fairly low in winter: 62ºF mornings and evenings and 52ºF at night.QueenBee said:How many miles do you drive? That is some serious conservation! You obviously have gas for space and water heating?
It takes a 17.9kW system (east/weast/south facing with lots of shade) to produce about 13.5 kWh annually for space/water heating, driving ~10k miles, and the rest of my electricity needs.
ToU (or TOU) = Time of Use. Rates typically vary depending on time of day, day of the week and/or season, usually between peak and off peak, sometimes adding a super-off peak rate as well. ToU availability varies depending on the utility, and not all offer it.jimbo69ny said:I'm not sure what TOU means. I live in Central NY. Our electric is already quite cheap. Currently its around $.12/kwhsmkettner said:80%? Do you have any optional TOU rate plans?jimbo69ny said:Thanks to the idiotic company I used to install the pv system I am only going to be producing maybe 80 of what I use.
QueenBee said:How much more output do you expect to achieve based on that extra tilt? I presume the extra spacing help keep the wind loads limited significantly?jimbo69ny said:Im pretty happy with my set up.
I agree with a high tilt for the solar hot water, since that prevents collecting WAY too much heat during the summertime. They look like about 60 degrees, which is about right.jimbo69ny said:There are two PV systems and the panels on the right are solar hot water.
jimbo69ny said:Thanks to the idiotic company I used to install the pv system I am only going to be producing maybe 80 of what I use. Probably less actually. I used a local company called Solar Liberty in Ithaca NY and they were a bunch of idiots!
It appears from the picture that the entire available roof space is covered with PV. Is there space for more PV that I am not seeing?jimbo69ny said:The PV systems are 3 kw and 5 kw I believe.
This might be an issue. I'm going to guess that the upgraded meter contains ALL the PV, but if you have a duplex, assumedly you have two houses using power. If you are on a net-metering arrangement, then you might find that one house gets no benefit from the PV and the other house only benefits until you produce more than was used. In other words, you will be giving free electricity back to the power company if the 8 kW array produces more electricity over the course of the year than you use in the ONE house. This is because most net metering arrangements do not pay you net electricity rates beyond what you use.jimbo69ny said:One of the meters was upgraded to a "smart" meter but they left the other one the basic meter with the dial. I assume because the pv system on the smart meter was a larger system but I dont know. Like I said, it was all a mess.
JasonA said:We should talk... I'm using what's called a "blackout breaker" to trip once the grid goes dark.. then my APC 10kw Smart-UPS backfeeds into the whole house via one of their isolation transformers.
It keeps the micros happy and I can even keep power feeding into the APC with the gen for ext periods if nec (earthquake, etc). I've already tested charging the Leaf and Rav.. no issues.
Best way is just with a big UPS :lol:
Sorry, but snow is extremely unlikely to collect on any tube system with a 60-degree elevation angle. But the proof is in the pudding. Here is a side-by-side comparison in Ithaca, NY, (Where you live, right?) between a 64-sqft flat panel array and a 51-sqft (46-sqft active) tube collector on the same roof connected to identical systems. (Click on the link at the bottom-left of the page.) Note that the evacuated-tube system collected MORE heat last December than the flat-plate system which has 25% more area:jimbo69ny said:Tubes suck. People always think they are better in colder climates because they deliver a hotter temp but they collect more snow in the winter. Flat plates are more reliable in colder temps and thats a fact.
is not accurate, even in Ithaca, NY.jimbo69ny said:Flat plates are more reliable in colder temps and thats a fact.
That's because they are cheaper and many like you believe they are less efficient in snow and cold when in fact they are more efficient in those situations.jimbo69ny said:Sorry man, come to NY almost all of the systems sold are flat plate.
Perhaps if you mount them flat on the roof. But not in the tubes in the comparison I showed or any steeper installation. Here is a plot from that system during the Nor'easter on December 18 and 19, 2009. Note that only the flat panel production goes to zero during the storm, but the tubes do not go to zero because the snow does not block the light.jimbo69ny said:Fact; snow gets stuck in the tubs.
This demonstrates how inefficient they are. Better not to accumulate the snow in the first place.jimbo69ny said:Fact; flat plate collectors get hot and melt the snow off
Yep, as I noted previously.jimbo69ny said:Fact; flate plate are cheaper
Good deal!jimbo69ny said:Personal fact; I got a killer deal on the systems I bought. I purchased the remaining inventory from a defunct company so I bought a ton of equipment for a fraction of its value. So for me this was a no brainer.
...and some of those reasons were flawed.jimbo69ny said:Either way, I never even considered tube collectors for many reasons
JasonA said:We should talk... I'm using what's called a "blackout breaker" to trip once the grid goes dark.. then my APC 10kw Smart-UPS backfeeds into the whole house via one of their isolation transformers.
It keeps the micros happy and I can even keep power feeding into the APC with the gen for ext periods if nec (earthquake, etc). I've already tested charging the Leaf and Rav.. no issues.
Best way is just with a big UPS :lol:
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