December PV starting off crappy again.

[nesswill]

Well here in the UK it was the worst December for Sun in 50years (for some only getting 4h for the month).
Got 237KWh.
Used 276KWh.


From 22Kw of Solar & 1KWh Wind turbine. (Wind production is included in the Solar Production)

Glad i have a genny picked up the slack...

 

[SupraSPL]

(NY) Switched back to the grid most days to run heat pump instead of burn oil or wood since it was relatively warm so overall the clouds probably helped.

 

[ksmithaz1]

Hmmm,

December . . .



So according to the inverters in December I sucked in 1746KWH worth of PV and pushed out 1508KWH. So about 86% efficiency, which includes battery charge / discharge conversion losses. I have no other frame of reference for what to expect, but I'm not sure it matters, I just need about another 4KW of panels and 30KWH of batteries to hit three-nines.

Panels first, struggling to fill the batteries at this point. Total used at the house was 1777 so 270 odd KWH from the grid. Not complaining, need to get my ground mounts done.

 

[OffGridForGood]

From 22Kw of Solar & 1KWh Wind turbine. (Wind production is included in the Solar Production)

any idea how much of the split is wind-energy? (curious)

 

[DougfromdaUP]

Here in the cloudy, frozen hole of upper Michigan, my 10.1 kW of panels produced 239 kWh this December.

Not much, but a big (31%) increase over December 2022's 182 kWh.

 

[timselectric]

For December, my system used 832kwh. And produced 596kwh.
Which left a deficit of 236kwh.
Yup, December sucked. lol

 

[42OhmsPA]

December sucked for solar in PA.

 

[SupraSPL]

Z

 

[nesswill]

any idea how much of the split is wind-energy? (curious)

about 14kWh. (or 295A @48v according to the Wind Controller)
as I am off-grid I only generate what I use.

 

[Zwy]

For December, my system used 832kwh. And produced 596kwh.
Which left a deficit of 236kwh.
Yup, December sucked. lol

I used 98 Kwh from grid in December.

Less than 20 bucks, economically it doesn't make sense to go completely off grid, 20 bucks in December doesn't justify a generator either. I am adding some more PV due to the cheap pallet of panels many of us bought. Not so sure on battery yet.

 

[Madcodger]

Generator
53.0 kWh

Consumption
67.9 kWh

Solar
34.4 kWh

December with my little "shed" system, that includes a 10'x20' exercise building, 10'x16' office, and 8'x16' sauna. The office is the big user, while the sauna takes almost nothing (wood fired). Propane provides the heat for the exercise studio and office. "Generator" is really an AC line run from the garage. I'm guessing the ~20 kwh not accounted for were used to recharge the batteries, but it does leave me scratching my head about where it went. Wishing for a return of the sun, and that's a long way off, here in Maine.

After factoring in AC used, at $0.28/kwh, I saved about $5 for the month, compared to what I would have paid to just supply all power from the grid. But I didn't even notice when the power went out, or have to worry about electronics being damaged by the many brownouts and surges we saw for the rest of the property (gee, thanks, CMP). And, I had a lot of fun. On to January, which is starting off about the same.But at least our rates for power went down by a few cents on Jan 1. There's always a silver lining, as they say.

 

[Mattb4]

My elec Co-op has updated their online website to give daily usage information. I noticed that even on days that the December sun provided enough PV to carry all my loads that I still had ~2kWh being pulled from grid. Took me a while to figure out where it was going until I recalled that the garage and out buildings are still on grid and I have battery maintainers on my Truck, Tractor and Mini Ex. They must be the cause of the grid pull. Without knowing for sure what each needs to simply maintain themselves 24 hours a day if I guess somewhere near 25w ea for all 3 would put the usage at 75w. For 24 hours that adds up to 1800wh of 1.8kWh

Rather amazing what a small constant draw can add up to.

 

[Zwy]

I used 98 Kwh from grid in December.

Less than 20 bucks, economically it doesn't make sense to go completely off grid, 20 bucks in December doesn't justify a generator either. I am adding some more PV due to the cheap pallet of panels many of us bought. Not so sure on battery yet.

January is worse than December.

I am already at 36Kwh from grid in the last two days. Just endless stretches of no sun here. Des Moines had great sun yesterday, I got about 30 miles from the Minnesota border and it was cloudy all day yesterday except for the 15 min of blazing sun after the morning burned off.

 

[Sigunas]

Well here in the UK it was the worst December for Sun in 50years (for some only getting 4h for the month).
...

According to meteorologists, this December 2023 was also the least sunny for us. A couple of cities, including the capital, had less than 3 hours of clear sun. A bit better in my city, but 7 kW array produced only 31 kWh.

 

[Brett V]

My solar production in Pennsylvania was the worst December since I got in to this about 6 years ago.

 

[GXMnow]

This was my 5th December since my system was installed back in late July, 2019. And as bad as the production looked, it was my second best Dec. so far.

December, 2019 really does not count. I had 3 tall palm trees across the front of my house which put major shadows across the panels for most of the day. I knew they were going to be trouble. My production that year was only 269 KWHs for the whole month.

2020 was my best year. We had milder weather, and those trees were removed. Production hit 456.5 KWHs.

2021 was down a chunk due to weather, and my 2 remaining palm trees grew a bit. The shadows were not bad, but they did start hitting the panels just before sun down. The total was 361 KWHs.

2022 dipped a little bit more with the trees growing a bit more, but it was close at 343 KWHs.

2023 was a serious roller coaster. We had really bad days, and the trees cast even more shadows. But when the sun did come out, it was intense with cold air keeping the panels efficient. The total hit a nice 372.7 KWHs. A few less days of clouds, and it would have topped 400.

To get back over 450, I would need to cut down, or at least heavily trim, those 2 trees.

 

[ksmithaz1]

The Earth has tilted back, the mornings in the northern hemisphere have begun to start a bit sooner every day, the latest sunrise of the new year (1/8) is past, and the worst should be over. To that end I sucked in over 70KWH yesterday. Things should only get better, except it seems to get colder until Feb.

 

[timselectric]

My system will be happy again, in March.
I can't hold my breath that long. lol

 

[Kenny_]

My system will be happy again, in March.
I can't hold my breath that long. lol

That's why we have battery-powered Scuba gear!! Don'tcha know!

 

[Zwy]

The Earth has tilted back, the mornings in the northern hemisphere have begun to start a bit sooner every day, the latest sunrise of the new year (1/8) is past, and the worst should be over. To that end I sucked in over 70KWH yesterday. Things should only get better, except it seems to get colder until Feb.

Sun here in last 3 weeks: 20 minutes

I charged battery bank up overnight close to 100% with the snowstorm and high winds forecast. Lights were blinking this morning on grid power, but it warmed up enough the ice fell off the power lines. More snow on Wednesday and Friday. Mostly cloudy Thursday.

I could have 1.21GW of array but it wouldn't give me enough power if the sun doesn't shine.