Solar Performance - Q2 2017

It's been a busy few months, so I'll be merging three months worth of my solar data into this single post. The most notable events of the past quarter: I finally had the failing power maximizer on panels 5 and 6 replaced in April, and June ended the state's Solar Incentive Program year with just over 3 MWh generated for about $1,700.

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Solar Performance - March 2017

The numbers this month fell a bit short of expectations, in large part due to the continuing performance problems with the maximizer connected to panels A5 and A6. Gloomy weather also played a noticeable role in driving down performance. Compared to last year my electrical use was also up noticeably, presumably thanks to the new electric heat pump I had installed last month. I'll have another post up soon focusing more on that difference.

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Solar Performance - February 2017

Production this month was almost exactly as estimated, though my use was up a bit compared to last year. Conveniently it was lower than last month, and I had several days where my solar production beat my use.

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Solar Performance - January 2017

While I may be lagging behind on my solar numbers for this year, my panels certainly aren't. Production this month exceeded the estimate by 64%, also beating last year's production by about 24%. Given that it's January, though, all that production only added up to about 100 kWh, less than half of what I used for the month. I did manage to eke out one sunny day with a surplus of power!

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Solar Performance - December 2016

It may be the least productive month of the year, but this December exceeded expectations handily. Throughout the month production was consistently above the estimate for the month, beating last year's numbers as well. Unfortunately my electrical was also up a bit compared to last year.

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Solar Performance - November 2016

Continuing last month's positive trend, my panels generated a bit more power than expected this month. Granted it was less than last year, but it seems as though last year benefited from a few unusually sunny days toward the end of the month.

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Solar Performance - October 2016

Unlike last year I just barely managed to eek out a small solar surplus this October, thanks to slightly lower use and slightly higher production. Compared to last month, though, the shorter and colder days meant noticeably higher use and significantly lower production.

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Solar Performance - September 2016

The numbers for September came in slightly below the estimate for the month, but were significantly better than September of last year. Compared to last month my electrical use was down noticeably, probably thanks to cooler weather and less need for fans.

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Solar Performance - August 2016

After the disappointing results in July I was pleased to see August come in almost exactly as estimated, with 408 kWh out of the estimated 411 kWh and only a bit below last year's 420 kWh.

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Solar Performance - July 2016

July was another rough month for my solar panels, with a number of cloudy days dragging down production for the month. On the plus side the cooler temperatures meant I used less power running fans and AC to cool the house down compared to last year.

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Solar Performance - June 2016

After last month's poor performance I was worried that June would turn out similarly poorly. While the numbers didn't turn out as well as last year they were a good improvement over May and lined up very well with the estimate for the month.

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Solar Performance - May 2016

This May was a great example of one of the drawback of solar power: weather dependency. Thanks to three really bad days mid-month (worse than day in December in January!) followed by a couple weeks of lower than average sun my system missed its production estimates by 60 kWh (12.7%).

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Solar Performance - April 2016

This April was very similar to last year for my solar panels, which generated a healthy surplus of power to sell back to City Light. My electricity use was also down slightly over last year.

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Solar Performance - March 2016

This year March did reasonably well, falling slightly short of expectations but lagging noticeably behind last year. My system produced 227.47 kWh this month compared to 262 kWh last year. The estimate for the month was 236 kWh.

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Solar Performance - February 2016

February was a fairly good month for my solar panels. They produced a little less than last year, but still above the estimate for the month. There was a rough patch for about a week mid-month but a few sunny days (and the extra leap day) helped bump things up a bit.

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Solar Performance - January 2016

2016 is off to a good start, with production higher than expected (and higher than last year) and already having a day with a surplus of power. Interestingly that happened on the same day as the first day of surplus in 2015.

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Year In Review 2015 - Power of the Sun

Readers of my posts will know that I collect quite a bit of data about my solar panels. Once a year I like to take a look at the bigger picture and see how the system is performing over time. First some quick numbers: Overall system efficiency averaged just over 13.1% in 2015, slightly up from 12.5% in 2014. The panels themselves were also a bit more efficient, up to 14.4% from 13.7%. This is a little surprising since they're expected to drop 0.5% per year.

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Solar Performance - December 2015

December's numbers are in, and while they're better than estimates they're actually a bit worse than December of last year. My use was up a little, compared to both last year and last month.

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Solar Performance - November 2015

November got off to a slow start solar-wise, but the latter half of the month turned out to be surprisingly strong thanks to some unseasonably sunny (though cold) weather. As expected my electrical use was up a bit compared to last month while production was down noticeably. Unexpectedly I ended up producing more than November of last year.

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