February 2014 Summary - Optimization of your Solar Panel System

February 2014 Summary:

What an interesting month February 2014 was.  The first week we were plagued with snow storms.  Only the 3rd had a moderate production of 45 kW hr. I was out of service during this time so no snow removal occurred.  The rest of the month was very good.  Overall we exceeded our expectations.  We benefited from the polar vortex.  Solar panels work great in cold temps.  Add that cold and clear normally means very little high level losses.  You can tell that by the output of your panels. Peak on 28 Feb 61 kW hr. Good day with intermittent clouds.

This is what I noticed during this month:

1.0 The sun's position during dawn significantly moved towards the east.

2.0 The sun's attitude during the month increased 9.1 degrees from 30.8 degrees

3.0  The day's sunshine increased by 1 hour and 11 min. (approx 10%).

4.0  After the 15th, on most average days we were getting 30-40 kW hrs.  On good days this was in the mid 50's.  It should have peaked above 60 but the clouds prevented that and no great days occurred (no clouds)

6.0  All of this helped the east west array to harvest daily equal to the south facing panels after around the 22nd of Feb.

7.0  When the snow melted, I installed safety chains on the array.  I still do not want to operate it in wind speed in excess of 20 mph. from the west.  A strong wind under neath your panels and you have a sail.

8.0  Overall solar harvesting exceeded 960 kW hrs for a 28 day month.

9.0  Initial start up fixes are scheduled for early March.

10.0  On bright cold days, windy days, the panels exceeded there design output by at times over 27 W.  This is because the cooling of the surface is ideal for solar production with no high level clouds
11.0 On two days I had to lower the array due to high winds.  Normally in mid position (horizontal), flat, the wind has no or little effect.  Safest position is hugging the roof.  You will notice that tracking arrays do the same thing in high winds.  We have the added benefit that roof hugging is good for one side at any time of the day and the other side can be flat reducing harvesting by about 20% only.  Don't play with the wind.  If you boat, you know what winds can do.  We don't lose as much as we think up until around 11 AM the west array will shade two panels.  This limits their production.  This is a seasonal problem and will disappear shortly as the sun start to rise more easterly.  Daily production results only show a very limited loss now.
12.0  We benefited from the polar vortex as at times it was very cold and clear maxing out our system at times

We expect to earn around $380 for February.  That is great for this time of year.  You must still remove any snow that fouls the panels to maximize the production.

Expectations for March:

If the weather holds, we expect to earn on average days 40-50 kW hrs.  Month's target is 1.4 MW hr.  I am optimistic. I expect peak days to be 60- 70 kW hrs with possibly low 70's near the end of the month.  The attitude of the sun will increase by 12 degrees during March and the daylight hours by 1 hour and 26 min.  The higher sun angle means near perfect radiance absorption and the longer day more harvesting.  This will peak on the 19th of May.  We are now entering the best time of the year for solar harvesting.  May is normally the best month when June should be.  That is what effects the warmer temperatures have on the system.  Also expect the sun to rise more easterly every day until 21 June.  All of this is sunshine dependent.

NOTES:

If you have a microfit contract that is DC limited, please refer to my blog and write to the Energy Review Board to complain that this limitation is in violation a the 10 kW microfit legislation. 

If you are interested in making some money, give Steve a call at Flexible Solar Solution.  He will give you a no BS analysis of your system.  Be ware of the others.  You can read all of my posts to educate yourself and be a better consumer.  Don't give any money until you get an offer to connect and then be careful.  Remember that you can claim back all of your HST spent to install your system.

We are very happy with our system and the income that it is producing.  We strongly believe that there should be no limitations on the DC side, only on the AC side. To us it is a no brainier, but you must be really careful.  I would love to post the BS that others told me but I am being kind not to.  Just call:

Steve -519 962 9218