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diy solar

Going net-neutral (not off-grid) in 2021

67BGTEV

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Joined
Sep 24, 2020
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My current PV system is a 4.857WK with 15 x 325W Q Cells driving SunnyBoy 5.0, which was installed in Sept 2020.
My roof top orientation:
  • ARRAY PITCH: 30.3° (7:12)
  • ARRAY FACING: 258° (WSW)
  • SITE LATITUDE: 37.56°
I also have a 2KW GTI with Battery pack of 10KWh. which gets charged between 11AM and 3 PM and powers the entire house between 3PM and midnight. On an average it produces about 3.8KWh and my draw from utility is nearly nothing.

Before going solar, my annual usage from PGE is between 6.5 MWh to 8.2MWh. With my current PV system, estimated production is 6.9MWh. I may be net zero at the end of the year.

House runs on:
I've a gas for heating purposes and no AC.
  • Gas for heating 22 therms/mo, which is 132 Therms for 6 months that is an equivalent of 4MWh electrical energy.
  • Cooking is Gas range and I'm estimating it to be 8 therms/month, 96 therms/year - 2.5MWh electrical equivalent.
  • Water Heating is Gas tankless WH and estimating it to be 8 therms/month, 96 therms/year - 2.5MWh electrical equivalent.

I want to change the appliances this way, in my order of preference:
  • Gas range to Induction Range
  • Gas furnace heating to Ducted split phase heat pump 56K BTU
  • Gas tankless to Hybrid Heat-pump
In order to support these changes, I'm starting with adding 6 more panels to 4.875KW PV system upgrade to 6.825KW. I'm planning to add another 10 panels 4.25KW system with an hybrid inverter to be able to be self reliant where there is grid outage.
I'm planning to add 6 more Q Cells 325W panels (3 each on existing 2 strings) for a total of 6.825KW, with same 5KW inverter. I understand there will be arcing, but overall production will be better. With estimated increase of 2.6MW for a total of 9.586MWh.

I know induction cooking and heat pumps are more efficient than their Natural gas counterparts. Above therms to electrical energy may not make sense.

If you have changed your appliances, what was your experience in terms of energy usage?
 
I haven't changed mine, but if you look at the manufacturers data you should be able to find some information on the wattage.

This paper says:
With this technology, up to 90% of the energy consumed is transferred to the food, compared to about 74% for traditional electric systems and 40% for gas.
Don't forget, you need a pure sine wave to run and induction cooktop.
 
Thank you Svets. Just ordered a Induction range and waiting for it to be delivered. Yes, My inverters are pure sine wave inverters and should work fine.
I'll share my gas and electric usage before and after switching to Induction cooking.
 
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