Solar System Install and Performance

[Dawizman]

I'm curious how much your system generates this time of the year. My company has several off grid solar installations that run our infrastructure. The last 30 days has been pretty bad for solar in our area.

I just looked at one system which has 1.8kW of array. In the last 30 days it has generated approximately 70kWH of energy. The site consumes approximately 2.5kWH of energy per day, so we are at a deficit, and that doesn't take in to account the inefficiency of charging & discharging batteries. Summer time we generally produce enough energy to run the system for the day in the first 2 hours, but this time of the year is pretty tough.

Just curious what your production has been in the same period.

 

[ABMax24]

Mines been pretty low the last 30 days, panels covered in snow for most of that time:

 

[Rene G]

Thanks.

^^spam^^

 

[Caper11]

Wow your place is efficient.... my monthly consumption ranges from 1000 - 2700 kw/hr I'm running about 10x your usage.

Holy crap! Are you heating with electricity???

My highest bill ever was last month during the heat wave and it was less than 1000kw/h consumed.
My average is 500/600 kWh.

 

[Bogger]

Holy crap! Are you heating with electricity???

My highest bill ever was last month during the heat wave and it was less than 1000kw/h consumed.
My average is 500/600 kWh.

Natural gas heating but multiple furnaces in multiple buildings.

I'm guessing my electricity consumption comes mainly from lights, appliances, hot tub & AC

I just looked again and we are way down on usage year over year.... It's just the wife and I at home now so a lot less consumption, that said she has been working from home and running the AC in the barn as well - over the past 12 months we've averaged about 1100kw/h as high as 1500 and as low as 900. My most recent bill was 1018kw/h and that was in June with little to no AC

I guess I was wrong, that was July with a chit ton of AC..... so better than I thought

 

[ABMax24]

We had a central AC unit installed middle of June (albeit a fairly efficient one) and used 373kwh for July, which is our highest ever month by 100kwh. Our solar panels generated 426kwh for July, still making us better than net zero for the month.

 

[Bogger]

We had a central AC unit installed middle of June (albeit a fairly efficient one) and used 373kwh for July, which is our highest ever month by 100kwh. Our solar panels generated 426kwh for July, still making us better than net zero for the month.

Ours isn't a built in central air..... We run 2 window units in the house and a portable in the barn/wife's office.

My house is obviously not very efficient. Every light switch in our house turns on a minimum of 4 bulbs and we are also appliance heavy... 3 refrigerators, 2 water coolers, deep freeze, continuous air purification x 2 , cameras, yard lights, Tv's, computers etc. etc. - We are definitely part of the world consumption problem.

I'm looking forward to selling the big house/property and getting into a smaller townhouse/condo and shedding all the utilities/maintenance that come with...

 

[Caper11]

Ours isn't a built in central air..... We run 2 window units in the house and a portable in the barn/wife's office.

My house is obviously not very efficient. Every light switch in our house turns on a minimum of 4 bulbs and we are also appliance heavy... 3 refrigerators, 2 water coolers, deep freeze, continuous air purification x 2 , cameras, yard lights, Tv's, computers etc. etc. - We are definitely part of the world consumption problem.

I'm looking forward to selling the big house/property and getting into a smaller townhouse/condo and shedding all the utilities/maintenance that come with...

Cool, Your consumption sound a lot better than your previous post, considering what you have, it’s not that bad actually.
I installed dimmers on a lot of our multi light applications, there are 7 in our bathroom alone.
PITA to only need one light and 4 turn on.

 

[rknight111]

In BC, part of my Homeowner Builder Authorization course I am currently taking says It is a requirement to make provisions on a new build for solar panels on the roof. This is on my plans as well. They claim they are ahead of the entire country on setting these and many more standards.

 

[ABMax24]

Ours isn't a built in central air..... We run 2 window units in the house and a portable in the barn/wife's office.

My house is obviously not very efficient. Every light switch in our house turns on a minimum of 4 bulbs and we are also appliance heavy... 3 refrigerators, 2 water coolers, deep freeze, continuous air purification x 2 , cameras, yard lights, Tv's, computers etc. etc. - We are definitely part of the world consumption problem.

I'm looking forward to selling the big house/property and getting into a smaller townhouse/condo and shedding all the utilities/maintenance that come with...

Prior to central air we used to use a portable unit for our master bedroom, they're not overly efficient, it pulled 1400watts to cool one room, our 2 ton Lennox unit including the furnace blower pulls 2000-2200 watts depending on the outside air temperature and cools the entire house.

Lighting doesn't use a bunch of power, unless you're stilling running incandescent bulbs, you can run about 10 LED's on the same amount of energy as 1 incandescent. I'd suspect most of your usage lies elsewhere, motors and heating elements are usually the bulk of the load.

If your septic tank has an aerator that can be a huge draw of power. A family member also has high power consumption on an acreage, about 900kwh/month, about 300kwh of that goes just to the aerator, it runs 30 minutes every hour and pulls just over 800 watts. I'm not sure how it would effect the septic system, but running it instead for 10 mins every hour would significantly reduce power usage. The previous owner also installed heat trace on the output from the septic tank to the mound, presumably due to freezing issues, that appears to pull another 150kwh/month.

 

[ABMax24]

In BC, part of my Homeowner Builder Authorization course I am currently taking says It is a requirement to make provisions on a new build for solar panels on the roof. This is on my plans as well. They claim they are ahead of the entire country on setting these and many more standards.

What are the requirements? Wiring to the roof and ensuring the trusses can support the extra load? There really isn't much to a roof mounted solar PV system otherwise.

 

[X-it]

Make sure and check for leaks after any install, never assume it is fine.

 

[deaner]

If a guy did decide to look at solar, is the playing field fairly uniform, or are some companies quite a bit better than others? Just wondering what to look for or stay away from

 

[ABMax24]

If a guy did decide to look at solar, is the playing field fairly uniform, or are some companies quite a bit better than others? Just wondering what to look for or stay away from

Can really be all over the map. Depends on a lot of factors, one guy might quote a string inverter, another might quote microinverters.

Depending on size of the system and other factors you're looking in the $2-$3.25/watt range. Empower Energy did my install, and they expanded into BC and have been operating there for a few years now, I was happy with them. Really though a good electrician can install a system, as long as they have experience doing it, the code is pretty particular on Solar PV and is constantly changing.

As for components there are some differences, any good installer will give the make and models of what they are quoting, and you can do research from there.

 

[lilduke]

Is there any residential solar panel grants available right now?

If so, whats the deal?

 

[ABMax24]

Yes there are, or coming shortly as I don't think the money is being given out yet.

$1000/kW of installed capacity. Coming from the federal government. Which would cover roughly 1/3 of installed cost

The kicker is you need an EnerGuide pre install inspection and post install inspection by a certified inspector, which of course costs money, but there is also a grant for that from the federal government.

Best to check into the details here:

Canada Greener Homes Grant

We want to help Canadians make where they live more energy efficient.

www.nrcan.gc.ca

 

[JayT]

Yes there are, or coming shortly as I don't think the money is being given out yet.

$1000/kW of installed capacity. Coming from the federal government. Which would cover roughly 1/3 of installed cost

The kicker is you need an EnerGuide pre install inspection and post install inspection by a certified inspector, which of course costs money, but there is also a grant for that from the federal government.

Best to check into the details here:

Canada Greener Homes Grant

We want to help Canadians make where they live more energy efficient.

www.nrcan.gc.ca

I'm assuming this would not apply to an off-grid solar install on a new-build? It seems they really want you to tie into the grid if you do solar

 

[ABMax24]

I'm assuming this would not apply to an off-grid solar install on a new-build? It seems they really want you to tie into the grid if you do solar

I can't find wording that would confirm or deny this, but that would be my assumption as well.

I think the theory behind it is in a grid tied setup if the energy isn't used within the home it is put back to the grid and still utilized by another consumer.

 

[JayT]

I can't find wording that would confirm or deny this, but that would be my assumption as well.

I think the theory behind it is in a grid tied setup if the energy isn't used within the home it is put back to the grid and still utilized by another consumer.

The crappy thing about that is, if the power goes out you still don't get to have power from your own solar system. So it does you no good in a grid down situation

 

[ABMax24]

The crappy thing about that is, if the power goes out you still don't get to have power from your own solar system. So it does you no good in a grid down situation

That's right, but a separate part of that grant is money towards a battery backup for those situations. My grid connection has been very reliable thus far, but I have a 3100 watt generator that can easily power my fridge and furnace in an emergency if connected to my electrical panel, although my solar panels would have to be shut off (granted there are separate legalities and code requirements associated with this).

I like the concept of off-grid electricity, but right now the costs are still high enough that it doesn't make sense to go off-grid if you already have a reliable grid connection. Many people also run into issues satisfying their insurance company because they often require an automatic backup generator for the event that the batteries run low.