SolarHead
50% of people are below average. (Its a statistic)
I've been wondering something, not sure there's an answer but thought I would ask here. Something I didn't understand about a year ago when I was a complete newbie (still a newbie) was that solar panels only put out the amount of power that they are called up to produce. It all seems to be based on the load(s) at which are you trying to cover using your solar system. Before getting into solar, I kind of assumed a 300 watt panel put out 300 watts when there was sun. What I found out is, they basically sleep until called upon to produce power. Makes sense because you wouldn't want to bring a lot of power into the home if it's not needed. The inverter doesn't want the extra power unless the home is calling for it. So anyway, my question is below.
Say I have a 10kw solar panel array. Say its a semi cloudy day, not bad, you look at your inverter and it shows your load is 2,000 watts and the solar panels are producing 2,000 watts, so your array is covering the loads, great. But, its semi cloudy day, you wonder, does my array have any more capacity, that is, room to increase its output, or is it maxed out based on the clouds? So the wife starts bread in the toaster, now you're using 3500 watts total, you look at your inverter and its making 2,000 watts, and the 1500 extra is having to be pulled from the grid since there's not enough solar power. Then, next day, say you're load is 4,000 watts, and its a bright clear sunny day and you look at your inverter is covering (producing) 4,000 watts and covering the load. You can imagine there's probably another 5,000 or 6,000 watts you could pull from your solar panels if needed. What I'm getting at is, is there a way to see what your solar panel array is doing,,,if it's maxed out at the time you look at things, or is it simply covering the loads but has capacity to do triple what its being asked to do. I guess I'm thinking it'd be great to have a "capacity meter" or something, but it would probably require some type of sun irradiance sensor or meter installed out at the array which tells you through your inverters reports, what the max capacity is at the moment. You are pulling 2000 watts from the panels, but your load is 4000, you can imagine the array is maxed out at 2,000. Sunny day, you're load is 4,000, array is covering it by producing 4,000 , but your capacity meter says you got another 5000 watts to go before your maxed out based on the sun power you are getting at the moment. Sorry for lengthy post, just trying to get my point/question across. Some might ask why does it matter and I get that. But what if you're thinking a report to see exactly how much power you're kind of letting pass you by without capturing it. Then you would know if you could get more batteries, or send excess power to a water heater, or something like that. I even thought if I had excess power I could send it to an electric baseboard heater in my basement. Whatever excess sun power I get, it goes to helping heat my house since heat rises. It wouldn't be a guaranteed thing , but at least I would be using all the solar that's coming my way and not letting any power go to waste if this makes sense.
I have a Sol-Ark 12K and 10kw of solar panel array, and use PowerView Plus for reports. I don't see a way to get available capacity that is over and above what I'm consuming/producing and not sure if that's even possible.
Say I have a 10kw solar panel array. Say its a semi cloudy day, not bad, you look at your inverter and it shows your load is 2,000 watts and the solar panels are producing 2,000 watts, so your array is covering the loads, great. But, its semi cloudy day, you wonder, does my array have any more capacity, that is, room to increase its output, or is it maxed out based on the clouds? So the wife starts bread in the toaster, now you're using 3500 watts total, you look at your inverter and its making 2,000 watts, and the 1500 extra is having to be pulled from the grid since there's not enough solar power. Then, next day, say you're load is 4,000 watts, and its a bright clear sunny day and you look at your inverter is covering (producing) 4,000 watts and covering the load. You can imagine there's probably another 5,000 or 6,000 watts you could pull from your solar panels if needed. What I'm getting at is, is there a way to see what your solar panel array is doing,,,if it's maxed out at the time you look at things, or is it simply covering the loads but has capacity to do triple what its being asked to do. I guess I'm thinking it'd be great to have a "capacity meter" or something, but it would probably require some type of sun irradiance sensor or meter installed out at the array which tells you through your inverters reports, what the max capacity is at the moment. You are pulling 2000 watts from the panels, but your load is 4000, you can imagine the array is maxed out at 2,000. Sunny day, you're load is 4,000, array is covering it by producing 4,000 , but your capacity meter says you got another 5000 watts to go before your maxed out based on the sun power you are getting at the moment. Sorry for lengthy post, just trying to get my point/question across. Some might ask why does it matter and I get that. But what if you're thinking a report to see exactly how much power you're kind of letting pass you by without capturing it. Then you would know if you could get more batteries, or send excess power to a water heater, or something like that. I even thought if I had excess power I could send it to an electric baseboard heater in my basement. Whatever excess sun power I get, it goes to helping heat my house since heat rises. It wouldn't be a guaranteed thing , but at least I would be using all the solar that's coming my way and not letting any power go to waste if this makes sense.
I have a Sol-Ark 12K and 10kw of solar panel array, and use PowerView Plus for reports. I don't see a way to get available capacity that is over and above what I'm consuming/producing and not sure if that's even possible.
