My best production so far

[Woodsplitter67]

Just hit spring. This is my first spring with solar. My production wad 85.939kw yesterday... so stoked.. my production is starting to go through the roof.. looking more like im not going to have an electric bill in my future... im so happy not to have any utility bills..... ever....

 

[peakbagger]

The sweet feeling when the investment start to pay off. . Typically it will peak sometimes between now and June 21st as the higher outdoor temps will offset the extra house of daylight. After June 21st usually lines up with higher AC load so the next few months is usually the sweet spot.

Of course I got 10 " of snow dumped on mine two days ago so production is not so good until one of my arrays that I cant easily get to melts off

 

[Wickets]

Just hit spring. This is my first spring with solar. My production wad 85.939kw yesterday... so stoked.. my production is starting to go through the roof.. looking more like im not going to have an electric bill in my future... im so happy not to have any utility bills..... ever....

do you have any plans to invest in batteries?

 

[SpaceBus]

My power company has thoroughly pissed me off, so I'm thinking about going with an off grid setup. Good to see such great numbers! I can't remember how big your system is.

@peakbagger I just saw your signature for the first time, what solar water heater do you have? We were thinking about the hybrid heat pump tanks available now, especially with the rebate, but propane on demand sounds even more appealing. The solar contactor sold us on the propane unit. There's an old accumulator on our roof that wouldn't be too bad to replace. We could potentially use very little energy to heat water if I can get a wood cook stove with DHW coil in here before next winter.

 

[peakbagger]

I have a standard flat plate SHW system. The only tricky parts are; I have a hot water tank with a set of built in heat transfer coils so no need for an external heat exchanger.I also have a March DC circulator pump hooked to a PV panel with a basic controller. It works pretty well for three seasons but it only heats water to 80 F over the outdoor temp. I use it direct for 9 months a year and then use it for preheat for a hot water system that runs off a zone of my heating system. It could just as well work as preheat for a on demand propane system. Most folks have gone away from SHW systems and went to heat pump hot water heaters. I expect for off gird flat plates may still be worth maintaining existing systems.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

do you have any plans to invest in batteries?

No im grid tied and net metered.. no need

 

[SpaceBus]

I have a standard flat plate SHW system. The only tricky parts are; I have a hot water tank with a set of built in heat transfer coils so no need for an external heat exchanger.I also have a March DC circulator pump hooked to a PV panel with a basic controller. It works pretty well for three seasons but it only heats water to 80 F over the outdoor temp. I use it direct for 9 months a year and then use it for preheat for a hot water system that runs off a zone of my heating system. It could just as well work as preheat for a on demand propane system. Most folks have gone away from SHW systems and went to heat pump hot water heaters. I expect for off gird flat plates may still be worth maintaining existing systems.

Our well water is absurdly cold, especially when is really cold out. It makes sense to have some sort of accumulation/pre treat tank. I figure with a wood cook stove with DHW coil and a SHW we won't use much propane at all. I'm hoping to keep the tank in a second floor closet for natural circulation for the DHW coil and then to feed downstairs to the on demand heater.

Thanks for answering all of my questions. This is basically the only social media I use.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Our well water is absurdly cold, especially when is really cold out. It makes sense to have some sort of accumulation/pre treat tank. I figure with a wood cook stove with DHW coil and a SHW we won't use much propane at all. I'm hoping to keep the tank in a second floor closet for natural circulation for the DHW coil and then to feed downstairs to the on demand heater.

Thanks for answering all of my questions. This is basically the only social media I use.

This is a good place.. i like it here..im not much into social media....

 

[SpaceBus]

This is a good place.. i like it here..im not much into social media....

I stopped using Facebook last summer when we looked at our house before making an offer. I didn't have cell service, so I used the opportunity to break myself of Facebook. I don't even have a data plan anymore.

 

[kborndale]

Just hit spring. This is my first spring with solar. My production wad 85.939kw yesterday... so stoked.. my production is starting to go through the roof.. looking more like im not going to have an electric bill in my future... im so happy not to have any utility bills..... ever....

Impressive, thats about what I get on a nice summer day, right now I am averaging about 50kwh on a sunny day with my 10kwp system. Last year i produced just over 12mwh. How big is your array?

 

[Brian26]

I think his array is quite large. I recall it being 15 kw.

I have been having great production with my 5.4 kw system with many 30+kwh days.

 

[SpaceBus]

I think his array is quite large. I recall it being 15 kw.

I have been having great production with my 5.4 kw system with many 30+kwh days.

That seems like all the system I would ever need, especially with propane appliances. If remember correctly you do not have storage, correct?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I think his array is quite large. I recall it being 15 kw.

I have been having great production with my 5.4 kw system with many 30+kwh days.

Its a 17.4Kw.. but not at the perfect angle ... i got stuck with a roof mount.. wanted ground mount..it is what it is.. looks like the production is going to be good enough..

 

[SpaceBus]

Its a 17.4Kw.. but not at the perfect angle ... i got stuck with a roof mount.. wanted ground mount..it is what it is.. looks like the production is going to be good enough..

Why were you forced to go ground mount?

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Why were you forced to go ground mount?

I was forced to do roof mount I wanted ground mount

 

[SpaceBus]

I was forced to do roof mount I wanted ground mount

My mistake, I meant roof mount. I would prefer ground mount as well. Why were you forced to go with roof mount?

 

[jebatty]

Our system is 12.3 kW, and at the time of install produces more kWh than we use, but now with two BEV autos, our usage will exceed production. We went bigger than we needed in 2013 with the first array and 2015 with the expanded array because we felt quite certain we would be getting an electric car in the future, and the future has now happened.

If there is room for more solar, I suggest planning with cabling, etc. to make it larger to accommodate that future expansion because that likely is much less expensive than putting in additional cable.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

My mistake, I meant roof mount. I would prefer ground mount as well. Why were you forced to go with roof mount?

I was going to a 40 pannel ground mount. The problem being the size and my property not being completely square. 40 pannels is big. I have a 150 acre farm field at the back of the property. But the one side has a neighbor. The neighbor didnt care if i put it up, i was even going to put in a plant buffer, but the town though is was to big and wanted me to make.it smaller and what they were proposing didnt sit well with me .. so i told them to go f@!k them selves and put a larger system on the roof... i was up front with them and told them that im going to install a system thats going to cover my electric fully...

 

[SpaceBus]

I was going to a 40 pannel ground mount. The problem being the size and my property not being completely square. 40 pannels is big. I have a 150 acre farm field at the back of the property. But the one side has a neighbor. The neighbor didnt care if i put it up, i was even going to put in a plant buffer, but the town though is was to big and wanted me to make.it smaller and what they were proposing didnt sit well with me .. so i told them to go f@!k them selves and put a larger system on the roof... i was up front with them and told them that im going to install a system thats going to cover my electric fully...

Wow, I didn't see anything about needing permits for panels for my town, but now you have me wanting to double check. My panels won't be visible to anyone besides me, so I don't forsee it being an issue regardless.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Wow, I didn't see anything about needing permits for panels for my town, but now you have me wanting to double check. My panels won't be visible to anyone besides me, so I don't forsee it being an issue regardless.

It sucks because i live on the very rural side of town and the town ordinance still apply to me..