PreppenWolf
Solar Addict
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2022
- Messages
- 932
200kWh collected for January. Consumed 1000kWh 
December PV starting off crappy again.
- Thread starter Nobodybusiness
- Start date
GXMnow
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2020
- Messages
- 2,723
For the full month of Jan. my 2,000 watt Victron system managed to pull in 164 KWHs 82 sun hours
And my Enphase system with 4,800 watts of panels pulled in 428.1 KWHs 89 sun hours
Total produced 592.1 KWHs
Total consumed about 740 KWHs
I had to buy about 150 KWHs from the utility.
And my Enphase system with 4,800 watts of panels pulled in 428.1 KWHs 89 sun hours
Total produced 592.1 KWHs
Total consumed about 740 KWHs
I had to buy about 150 KWHs from the utility.
shadowmaker
Solar Addict
1,25MWh January so over three times what PVWatts predicted out of my 44kWp system. Still had to buy 4,5MWh to get through.
Total yield so far 39,5MWh so pretty confident to break my original yearly target of 40MWh as there's two whole months still to go.
Total yield so far 39,5MWh so pretty confident to break my original yearly target of 40MWh as there's two whole months still to go.
Brucey
Solar Wizard
Wonder how it came out to so much more than estimated. Historically sunny weather or pvwatts can't factor in for the albedo from all the snow on the ground on the bifacials?
Nobodybusiness
Collecting the leftovers of the Great Sky Reactor.
Dang. That sucks..
Nobodybusiness
Collecting the leftovers of the Great Sky Reactor.
You used 5700 kW In January?
Am I reading that right?
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
January 677 Kwh used, 161 Kwh from grid. The first week and a half was where it was used.
Tulex
Solar Wizard
As bad as January was, the 31st was a first for me.
Had first bank of 14 panels up since May. Added second bank of 14 in November.
Yesterday was the first time I saw production higher than the peak of the first bank in the summer.
Yeehaw!!!!!!
Had first bank of 14 panels up since May. Added second bank of 14 in November.
Yesterday was the first time I saw production higher than the peak of the first bank in the summer.
Yeehaw!!!!!!
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Tulex
Solar Wizard
Solar for me wasn't to save money. It was about having a whole house UPS, being able to survive if grid goes down long term, and then last, saving some money. Those who are selling back can build enough credit to cover winter, so you can save money along with those other benefits.
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Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
If it only about ROI, then no, it may not make sense unless you will change your lifestyle to limit usage.
I've done well with only 8420W of panels, 58Kwh of battery. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/d...om-grid-in-less-than-a-year.77436/post-989439 I will be adding one more 14Kwh battery this year in the house. I've found usually no sun periods in winter last about 6 days and we can do 5 days. One more battery and it should eliminate most range anxiety and power us thru to the next sunny day. We can cut usage to 7 Kwh per day if necessary.
I'm also adding another 4 Kw of PV. This will allow more house heating capability in addition to charging the battery bank faster.
These 2 small additions should make the house almost grid free unless we have 4 continuous weeks on no sun.But even if it cost me $50 for the grid power during that time, the money spent on my system will be well worth it. We keep the house warmer now, we can run AC in summer. Have backup power, we don't worry about bad weather causing power failures. That extra comfort is the added bonus.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
I looked at my system as a hedge against rising energy costs when I started 2 years ago.
Those rising energy costs are now reality with my utility raising rates per Kwh by 20%. With the tax credit and now that extra 20%, I'm pretty certain it was a good move on my part. I get my ROI back 20% sooner now. If ROI was for example 10 years, it now becomes 8 years.
With the tax credit my system cost me $28K net, that included some of the parts for my truck camper which is my second home. $28K x 5% is $1400 per year. I use more than $1400 in electricity per year. Our usage increased 12% over the prior year and I expect before the 1 year anniversary is complete, it will be over 15% increased usage. This is due to the shift in house heating, we are using more electricity to heat the house cutting down on propane. This shortens the payback period.
shadowmaker
Solar Addict
Well, 5700 kWh, but yes. Also sold little over 300kWh when spot rates were ridiculously high (up to 2,35e/kWh). First two weeks were cold, so keeping 1500m2 (16000sqft) of old buildings warm using ground source heat pump with -25C to -37C (-13F to -35F) outside takes its toll.
Nobodybusiness
Collecting the leftovers of the Great Sky Reactor.
That’s a lot of space..
Big place..
shadowmaker
Solar Addict
Might be just an overly sunny January. I pretty sure PVWatts takes albedo into account, but maybe it doesn't realize my panels can't be covered with snow?
B-Mod
Solar Enthusiast
B-Mod
Solar Enthusiast
Feast of famine in the winter in Wisconsin.
Subdood
Photon Wrangler
There was a strange large yellow orb in the sky today, don't know for sure what it was, but at the end of the day, I ended up with 3.6KWh. Heard rumors that for the next week it'll be visible more, so that's good to know..
Everything is perspective, I guess. Here in Maine, two nights ago it was 1F and we have about 6-8 inches of snow on the ground. My entire 1.7 miles of road to the house is covered in packed snow and ice (sanded it twice last week). But in the past 24 hours I've heard my wife, my well driller, and another guy who does excavation work in the area all say, "We don't get winter anymore." My wife is unhappy that the pond doesn't have a foot or more of ice because we can't have an "ice party" out there (it's maybe 4-5" thick) and there's not enough snow to snowshoe. My well driller and I are unhappy that the ground isn't frozen 2-3 feet down because that would make it easy to get the well rig where we want it. And my excavation friend is overall happy because he hasn't stopped working all winter. Oh, and for sun, all these clouds are keeping it warmer than usual, screwing up solar, and still not giving us snow. I guess it all depends on what you're accustomed to. Hard to keep us humans happy!
PreppenWolf
Solar Addict
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2022
- Messages
- 932
If the weather were perfect we'd complain it was too predictable 
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