Our solar production

[Yanquetino]

One year anniversary as of today. Total production for the last 365 days - 10,213kWh.

That's great, Mike! My one-year anniversary is tomorrow, and as of yesterday my array has produced 13,833 kWh. Unfortunately, I don't have my Leaf yet, but I am glad that you have been able to enjoy all those zero-emission miles!

 

[Boomer23]

Congratulations on your solar birthday, Mike. For reference, my solar panels produced 8,458 kWh over the same one year period. That's exactly the proportion of the relative sizes of our solar arrays, so at least our systems are equally as efficient.

 

[Yanquetino]

Okay! Today is the first year anniversary of my 8,280 watt solar array. It produced a total of... 13,850.25 kWh. That's an average of 1,154.19 kWh per month, 37.95 kWh per day.

 

[SilverLeaf]

Has anyone upgraded their original system?

I have a 5.52 kW system and am so happy with my production that I am planning to add an additional 920 or 1,380 watts to the system. My inverter is s 7kW unit, so I have available capacity.

I planned to replace 100 percent of my On-Peak usage, and that's what I am getting.
I now plan to move some off-peak usage to on-peak and have that covered as well.

Any personal experience with system upgrades will be greatly appreciated.

My original installer will be performing the upgrade.

 

[N952JL]

One year anniversary as of today. Total production for the last 365 days - 10,213kWh.

My 18 month anniversary will be Jan 2 2012. (System went on grid July 2, 2010.) As of today, my plant has produced 22,347.11 kWh https://www.sunnyportal.com/Templates/DefaultPage.aspx?pageOID=ac639798-8cf8-4ea2-8b35-273b9aa78599

Since I'm using SunnyBoy inverters, I also purchased the "web" interface so I can track it online. That was installed Nov 2010. Last March and April I broke 75 kWh in one day. Dec is my worst month and today will only be about 38kWh.

Had my leaf for two weeks. I don't think I've used more than 50kWh in charging. I do not charge daily as I put less than 30 miles a day.

 

[HighDesertDriver]

Has anyone upgraded their original system? . . . Any personal experience with system upgrades will be greatly appreciated. My original installer will be performing the upgrade.

I have considered upgrading our system, and the greatest challenge is ensuring that the new panels electrically match the existing ones as closely as possible. The older the system, the more challenging this becomes because, as is true in our case, the exact panels may no longer be in production.

Ideally, you would add a complete new string which matches the voltage but not necessarily the kW of the existing strings. Adding a new panel to an existing string presents three possibilities: (1) if an exact match, you get the advertised increased kW, (2) If of a lower wattage, it will drag down the existing string to its own level in a manner similar to shading, or (3) if of a higher wattage, it will perform only at the level of the existing panels. The bottom line: if you can't get more of the panels you already have, get something of marginally higher capacity. Anything more is a waste of your money unless you can put them all in a single string which matches the voltage of your current strings.

Good luck, and report back on your decisions.

 

[SilverLeaf]

Has anyone upgraded their original system? . . . Any personal experience with system upgrades will be greatly appreciated. My original installer will be performing the upgrade.

I have considered upgrading our system, and the greatest challenge is ensuring that the new panels electrically match the existing ones as closely as possible. The older the system, the more challenging this becomes because, as is true in our case, the exact panels may no longer be in production.

Ideally, you would add a complete new string which matches the voltage but not necessarily the kW of the existing strings. Adding a new panel to an existing string presents three possibilities: (1) if an exact match, you get the advertised increased kW, (2) If of a lower wattage, it will drag down the existing string to its own level in a manner similar to shading, or (3) if of a higher wattage, it will perform only at the level of the existing panels. The bottom line: if you can't get more of the panels you already have, get something of marginally higher capacity. Anything more is a waste of your money unless you can put them all in a single string which matches the voltage of your current strings.

Good luck, and report back on your decisions.

I'll be adding the same panels as originally installed. Not sure yet how they'll be configured. The Tigo Maximizer adjusts for any voltage mis-match. I'll provide an update when I sign the contract (and again after installation).

 

[stanley]

Wow! I did not think that one could generate that much electricity as you guys indicate. How much of an area of your roof or ground installation in feet do you respective panels cover. I live in Southern Ca. so there is plenty of sun exposure. As you can tell I know very little about solar.

 

[stanley]

Wow! I did not think that one could generate that much electricity as you guys indicate. How much of an area of your roof or ground installation in feet do you respective panels cover. I live in Southern Ca. so there is plenty of sun exposure. As you can tell I know very little about solar.

 

[HighDesertDriver]

Wow! I did not think that one could generate that much electricity as you guys indicate. How much of an area of your roof or ground installation in feet do you respective panels cover. I live in Southern Ca. so there is plenty of sun exposure. As you can tell I know very little about solar.

Figure on about 15 sq ft per panel and 175-230 watts per panel, depending on what you choose. There is a "sweet spot" for every installation which maximizes kW/$ when one includes installation and related equipment. This is where your designer/installer really earns their money. Search got "PVWATTS" to find the DoE calculator to learn more about your possibilities.

Edit: Corrected typo to "kW/$"

 

[stanley]

Thank You!

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

One year anniversary as of today. Total production for the last 365 days - 10,213kWh.

congrats Mike!! it is kinda weird, because when i saw your post, the only thing i could think was "wow! thats like 37,890 Leaf Miles!!"

 

[SilverLeaf]

Has anyone upgraded their original system? . . . Any personal experience with system upgrades will be greatly appreciated. My original installer will be performing the upgrade.

I have considered upgrading our system, and the greatest challenge is ensuring that the new panels electrically match the existing ones as closely as possible. The older the system, the more challenging this becomes because, as is true in our case, the exact panels may no longer be in production.

Ideally, you would add a complete new string which matches the voltage but not necessarily the kW of the existing strings. Adding a new panel to an existing string presents three possibilities: (1) if an exact match, you get the advertised increased kW, (2) If of a lower wattage, it will drag down the existing string to its own level in a manner similar to shading, or (3) if of a higher wattage, it will perform only at the level of the existing panels. The bottom line: if you can't get more of the panels you already have, get something of marginally higher capacity. Anything more is a waste of your money unless you can put them all in a single string which matches the voltage of your current strings.

Good luck, and report back on your decisions.

I have decided to add six (6) SunPower 230w panels (same manufacturer, same model) to my system bringing it to a total of 6.9kW. I expect the install to be done in January. All of my panels are dead on South for maximum production. You can view my layout and production numbers at: http://www.tigoenergy.com/site.php?PVPwrEv" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[SilverLeaf]

9.83 MwH in 2011 (March 3 - December 31). Excellent production and expecting even more in 2012. I'll be increasing my system by 25% (adding 6 panels, 1,380 watts). Wishing you all Sunshine in 2012.

 

[TonyWilliams]

You can view my layout and production numbers at: http://www.tigoenergy.com/site.php?PVPwrEv" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not on an iPad / iPhone.

I ended 2011 with 6.68megs sine the July install. Hopefully, I can do the same Jan through June, for about 14meg total for the year. The house uses 11, so 3megs are available for the EVs.

20,000 miles per year with 3.0 miles/kWh from the wall is 6.66megs.

 

[N952JL]

Ended the year with 22.746 mWh That's a 1.26455 mega Watt Hrs per month adverage per month over it's 18 month life. It's not enough to heat and cool the over 4500 sq feet I maintain for both my home and my Mother's addition (and the pool). Within the next several years I plan on adding Geo-termal heat pump replacing my current 11 year old electric heat pump. Without the heat/cool bill I sell energy back to flint electric. (they only pay me 4.5 cents kWh). :mrgreen:

 

[dhanson865]

9.83 MwH in 2011 (March 3 - December 31). Excellent production and expecting even more in 2012. I'll be increasing my system by 25% (adding 6 panels, 1,380 watts). Wishing you all Sunshine in 2012.

What's the story on panel B3? It stopped producing on Dec 20th or thereabouts.

 

[Yanquetino]

I have compiled and posted the entire year stats for 2011. It was a Happy Old Year for my solar array:

My back-of-the-envelope estimate is that the surplus generated would give me about... 10,000 miles of zero emission driving per year. If I had my Leaf. :?

Not too shabby!

 

[dgpcolorado]

My 700 watt array was the smallest grid-tied system the local solar installer had ever put in, but my household electricity usage is fairly low (~4.2 kWh/day)—I'm at the 99th percentile on the energystar household energy use calculator. Until last year, my array covered about 75% of my power use; since then I've added a DVR (20 watts 24/7) and a TV antenna amplifier (7 watts 24/7), which increase my power use significantly (0.65 kWh/day).

Year 1: 1129 kWh (3.1 kWh/day average)
Year 2: 1174 kWh (3.2 kWh/day average)
Year 3: 1144 kWh (3.1 kWh/day average)
Year 4: in progress (my solar year begins on September 19)
[I adjust the pitch of my array ten times a year, from 15% summer to 65% winter, in an attempt to optimize my solar power generation.]

Now that I have the LEAF I hope to increase my system by 150%, or another 1050 watts (6 panels). That ought to handle my driving plus most of my household use. The local power co-op limits net metering to 120% of annual usage, which is why I couldn't increase my system before getting the EV. (Since there is no AC used here in the mountains, midday power generation is "off peak" and of little value to them.)

For those of us in snow country, I find that a window squeegee on a long painter's pole works well for pulling the snow off the panels, and for washing them after mud rain/snow (from dust storms originating in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, thanks to ORV use and overgrazing). FWIW.

 

[SilverLeaf]

9.83 MwH in 2011 (March 3 - December 31). Excellent production and expecting even more in 2012. I'll be increasing my system by 25% (adding 6 panels, 1,380 watts). Wishing you all Sunshine in 2012.

What's the story on panel B3? It stopped producing on Dec 20th or thereabouts.

Either the connector is loose or the maximizer is defective. Tigo is scheduling my installer to come out and repair it. It goes out daily once it hits a certain wattage.