50 MWh!!!

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RegGuheert

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 19, 2012
Messages
6,419
Location
Northern VA
In just under 3.5 years of operation (it was shut down for over 5.5 months in early 2011), the Guheert PV array has produced 50.0 MWh of electricity!

50_MWh_30_Nov2014.png


Since the array is now larger than its original size, I expect to produce over 18 MWh each year going forward. As such, the system should produce each additional 50 MWh in less than three years. That means it should cross the 100 MWh mark sometime in 2017.

Now that electricity has gone up to $0.12/kWh here, this system currently produces about $2200.00 worth of electricity each year.

Up next should be Tony Williams, currently at 47.9 MWh (unless I missed someone else).
 
Those are some pretty impressive number Reg. How much is your monthly bill from the utility ?
 
KJD said:
How much is your monthly bill from the utility?
It just went up 66% on August 1 from $6.85 to $11.40! I don't mind paying the higher fee since I could never rent a 4 MWh battery to store energy collected in summer for use in the wintertime for anywhere near that price.

The last three big changes to our energy consumption were:
~3 years ago: Added LEAF = +2 MWh
~2 years ago: Replaced water heater with a heat-pump water heater = -3 MWh
~0.5 years ago: Added PV production = -4.5 MWh

With these changes, I am hopeful that we will be energy neutral for our nearly-all-electric home (cooktop is propane). It may not quite work out this winter because the new PV was installed a bit too late to save up as much as we likely will need. As such, we may need to pay a couple of power bills in February and March. But hopefully future winters will work out with no additional bills.
downeykp said:
The best money I ever spent.
I feel the same way! Unlike some people's experiences with early-generation PV systems or early-generation electric vehicles, nearly everyone which recent-generation PV systems is pleased with the purchase. I think they have really come into their own.

Still, the adoption rate for PV is quite a bit lower than I would expect. A self-installed grid-tied system works out to around $0.05/kWh these days, assuming a decently-pointed roof with little or no shading. That's less than half the going rate for electricity here.
 
Your post got me to add up my production. Not surprisingly you're way ahead of me but I have generated 11.498 MWh over the last six years. Which isn't bad for four years of 700 watts and a bit over two years of 2170 watts.

For the last couple of years my electric bills have been the $16 monthly service charge plus a tiny county sales tax on usage. Works for me!


Several months ago I persuaded my local library board of trustees, of which I am a longtime member, to buy 40 235 watt panels in our power co-op community solar array (I also donated one, so we have 41) to offset some of the library electricity usage. The ROI is 6.5%, which is way better than what we are earning on our reserve funds. My picture of the community solar array here:
15739015099_32b022935c_c.jpg
 
Our array came online about a half dozen years ago. Back then our electric bill (over the prior 2 years) averaged $225 a month. Of course SoCal Edison has jacked the rates up every year since then so I'd hate to think how much our electric bills would have been without solar. Even after adding the leaf to the equation - with our PC array we still get between $100 and $200 a year cash back for our surplus. SCE has been whining about all the solar being pushed onto their grid lately. They want to blame solar producers for their antiquated grid needing to be upgraded . . . as if it wouldn't need to be upgraded otherwise. You know ... like building more power plants?
:roll:
 
Have to check...

I am running a SMA 5000 and SMA 6000 and our system is 11.5kw system.

We originally started with a 4000 and 5000, but the new sma inverters are REALLY efficient and they were flat topping all the time. Since swapping the 5000 for a 6000 and swapping the 4000 to a 5000, we are no longer flat topping...

With a Volt, a Leaf, and a Cmax Energi, we might have to add more solar :D
 
I'd be quite happy to lease a PV system despite our hydro-sourced power, because of the cost savings, but we have a slate roof and no one will put one on our South wall, despite an excellent exposure there...
 
If I follow your path of 3.5 years I'll be just at 50mwH but I've got a little something else now! :D

A whole garage filled with Unirac, Fronius inverter and all the trimmings and all the goodies to hook it up.. and a NICE BIG pallet of Solarworld 245 mono's that are supposed to be delivered here shortly. So is 90140 and Phil.. we all went in together.

So I'm adding another 3kwH to my setup..(Remember 14.3mwH is my 1year output)
96bc9514030fb92984424d1ea6dd73b3.jpg


I really wanted to do Enphase but they are too damn pricey now. Even QueenBee tried to help out! ;)

Damn CA taxes and such
 
JasonA said:
If I follow your path of 3.5 years I'll be just at 50mwH but I've got a little something else now! :D

A whole garage filled with Unirac, Fronius inverter and all the trimmings and all the goodies to hook it up.. and a NICE BIG pallet of Solarworld 245 mono's that are supposed to be delivered here shortly. So is 90140 and Phil.. we all went in together.

So I'm adding another 3kwH to my setup..(Remember 14.3mwH is my 1year output)

I really wanted to do Enphase but they are too damn pricey now. Even QueenBee tried to help out! ;)

Damn CA taxes and such

Exciting! It's been too long since I've installed any solar PV. A year since my last upgrade and now I'm producing more than I consume so I've having to work hard to convince family friends that they need PV too.
 
I'm at 47.6 MWh -- 37.6 MWh on the system I installed in 2004, and 10.0 MWh combined on two sets of Enphase-connected ones (see link in my sig). I figure I'm currently at about 11 or 12 MWh/yr with 38 panels total (the 20 old ones are less efficient and smaller than the 18 Enphase-connected ones).

-Steve
 
QueenBee said:
It's been too long since I've installed any solar PV. A year since my last upgrade and now I'm producing more than I consume so I've having to work hard to convince family friends that they need PV too.
PV withdrawal symptoms.

:twisted: MUST. HAVE. MORE. POWER! :twisted:
 
RegGuheert said:
As such, the system should produce each additional 50 MWh in less than three years.
After 17 months, 11 days, the system has now crossed over 75 MWh:

75_MWh_10_May2016.png

RegGuheert said:
That means it should cross the 100 MWh mark sometime in 2017.
Since the last 25 MWh took 17.5 months with only one summer, I expect the next 25 MWh to take about 16 months, meaning the system will cross 100 MWh in early September next year.
 
RegGuheert said:
Since the last 25 MWh took 17.5 months with only one summer, I expect the next 25 MWh to take about 16 months, meaning the system will cross 100 MWh in early September next year.
Right on schedule, the system crossed the 100 MWh threshold today:

100_MWh_5_Sep2017.png

We should be crossing 200 MWh around July 2023.
 
Love this thread.
My PV array is modest like dgpcolorado's and new to boot but it is over-producing our home and EV consumption.

Just like 90% of the residential buildings in the country should.
 
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