March 2014 Masters Microfit PV Solar Harvesting Results:
March 2014 has been an outstanding month for solar harvesting. We hit our first 3 MW hrs of solar harvesting and our highest daily peak of 75 kW hrs (78 kW hrs adjusted).. During the month, the attitude of the sun increased by 11.7 degrees and the sunlight hours increased by 1 hr 26 min. We maintained our system by removing snow covering the panels which just will not melt off on the cold days. I calculate that if the month was clear every day (dreaming), we could have harvested 2.5 + MW hrs ($1,000 for the month). We achieved a level of around 1.4 MW ($558.4 for the month). hrs which is up from February's result of 0.967 MW hrs. Both are highs for this area compared to previous years. I believe that this is due to the Polar Vortex keeping the skies clearer. We saw very few completely sunny days to see just how much we could harvest. Generally we started out with the ability to harvest 70+ kW hrs and ended the month around 78 kW hrs+. System start-up problems are to be corrected at the end of the month adding about 400 W more capacity at peak times.
I concluded this: The capability to harvest solar is always there, it just may be hidden above the clouds. On a bright cloudy day we still produce 4-5 kW's. For 2/3rds of the month we harvested more than 40 kW hrs per day. For more than 1/3rd of the month we exceed 64 kW hrs per day. We had 2 bad snow days reducing production below 5 kW hrs per day and several very dark and overcast days. The last week of the month was heavily clouded thus preventing us from hitting 1.5 MW hrs for the month. For example, our daily use is 22-23 kW hrs which we pay separately to Hydro-One at around 10 cents per kW while they pay us 39.6 cents per kW. There were only 8 days in the month that what we harvested didn't exceed what we used. That means there were 23 days in the month that we harvested far exceeded what we used. We all don't like those dark days period.
On 30 March, we finally had a great solar day to test the system. System problems were not yet corrected and we harvested 75 kW hrs. Most interesting is that the East/West array harvested 15% more than the average south facing panel. The array is now starting to work as designed. It will only get better as the angles move to optimum and the days have longer sunlight hours. The wind was 7 km from the North. That direction has the smallest amount of cooling on the south facing solar panels but was good for the East/West panels. We barely hit the 9 kW peak for the day. The day was very clear. I believe that the little amount of cooling from the wind, caused the panels to produce at a lower rate. It also could have been high level cloud disruption, which is really hard to see. I was even able to sit in a sheltered corner and soak up a few rays with my shirt off. The temperature was 9 degrees C. I was sitting in a 5500 deg K radiant field (sunlight).
I concluded this: The capability to harvest solar is always there, it just may be hidden above the clouds. On a bright cloudy day we still produce 4-5 kW's. For 2/3rds of the month we harvested more than 40 kW hrs per day. For more than 1/3rd of the month we exceed 64 kW hrs per day. We had 2 bad snow days reducing production below 5 kW hrs per day and several very dark and overcast days. The last week of the month was heavily clouded thus preventing us from hitting 1.5 MW hrs for the month. For example, our daily use is 22-23 kW hrs which we pay separately to Hydro-One at around 10 cents per kW while they pay us 39.6 cents per kW. There were only 8 days in the month that what we harvested didn't exceed what we used. That means there were 23 days in the month that we harvested far exceeded what we used. We all don't like those dark days period.
On 30 March, we finally had a great solar day to test the system. System problems were not yet corrected and we harvested 75 kW hrs. Most interesting is that the East/West array harvested 15% more than the average south facing panel. The array is now starting to work as designed. It will only get better as the angles move to optimum and the days have longer sunlight hours. The wind was 7 km from the North. That direction has the smallest amount of cooling on the south facing solar panels but was good for the East/West panels. We barely hit the 9 kW peak for the day. The day was very clear. I believe that the little amount of cooling from the wind, caused the panels to produce at a lower rate. It also could have been high level cloud disruption, which is really hard to see. I was even able to sit in a sheltered corner and soak up a few rays with my shirt off. The temperature was 9 degrees C. I was sitting in a 5500 deg K radiant field (sunlight).
Historically we are starting to enter the best time of the year for harvesting, March to October. Peak is expected to be in May. Ironically, the weakest solar day is 5th of July (aphelion - farthest away from the sun) due to the earth's orbit by about 7% less solar radiation. This and the increased negative effects of the temperature tend to make May better than June. Again this is totally dependent on the weather. Here is a link to see how clear the sky actually is:
http://cleardarksky.com/f.php?Mn=Solar%20Power&p=4C2700Detroit
I also use accuweather's radar and satellite combo. This helps me to see the weather patterns and any approaching weather front and of course any high wind alerts. Just last week, near the end of the month, I was monitoring our site at around 3 PM (8 kW) and saw the output soar about 10.4 kW. I knew what was happening. The sky just in front of a cloud front is normally very, very clear. Even though we had passed solar noon by 90 min, we hit our maximum output for about 10 min and solar output dropped when the clouds hit. I was expecting us to hit in the mid 70's that day but the clouds said no (63 kW instead) Still a good day but not a peak day.
Our Dynamically Positioned Array: (Photos on a previous post)
Our West-East array started to exceed the results of the south facing panels by about 5% at the first part of the month. Only on 1-2 days we could not operate it due to high winds. The angle of sunrise to the panels is still not ideal but I have noticed peak values of 80%+ from the panels. The early morning shading issues of the array to the lower south facing panels now dissipates around 10:30 am. As the sun rises more from the east, this will totally disappear. By the end of the month, the array was posting 15 % better than south facing panels as seen below. Load following arrays typically harvest 75% more than fixed panels. Based on this number, we might expect to see a virtual installed capacity of 11+ kW (actual installed is 9.9 kW). Over twenty years that might add another $10,000 in electrical harvesting. It is really nice to see the East/West panels maintaining a good output while the south facing panels pass their daily peak. This helps to maintain a high rate of energy harvesting for a longer period of the day. And that spells more $$ in the bank.
The above is a diagram of our panel layout. The black panel needs the optimizer to be replace. Panel 1.019 will be replaced this week. Total production just under 75 kW hrs. We lost about 3 kW hrs due to the start-up items, which will be repaired this week. The vertical group represents the West/East array while the other the South Facing Panels. The array shows an approximately 14% more harvesting than south. If all of the panels did this well, we would have harvested 89 kW hr and not our 75 kW hrs. We are very pleased to see this improved result in just over one month.
Here is an almost perfect production graph for that day:
Notice that solar noon peak is at 1:35 PM here. We start making some power at around 7:15 AM until 7:45 PM. We try to grab every Watt that we can until the Sun sets at 7:58 PM. This is a penny grabbing game. If you can harvest one extra kW per week, that amounts to $416. over the 20 years and beyond. That is like running our kitchen's 4 W LED for 15 days straight. Now translate that to 1 kW more per day and you end up with close to $3000 over 20 years. For us, that is more than 2 years worth of our annual electric bill. That is why I call it the "penny game".
UPDATE: AUGUST 2014
The array peaked at about 28% more than south facing panels and approximately 50% more than fixed east panels. Fixed east panels continue to produce some power up to around 6 PM. Maximum system peak was around 92 kW hours (one great day). 2014 due to the cooler weather and more sun, we will expect to harvest 18-20 MW for the year. All of our testing has basically been completed. Being retired, the net income from these panels pay for themselves and pay for our remaining house mortgage which is around $115,000. So now we only have to pay for the taxes, utilities and up keep. What a nice retirement planning package. It also lowers A/C costs by 40%. We consider this a Win/Win situation. So, provided you can finance at low interest rates, have an good sun exposure with a large roof area facing south or south east, you will do fine. Check first with the Flexible Solar people. I am still PO'd with the other guys who don't care about their customers and will basically lie to your face. Some are much worst than others. If you follow my suggestions you will be fine. It is the best thing that we have done in years. Last month we were paid $860. plus HST. Yes, some people made more than double this but those days are long gone. We expect a December low of around $400. This will depend on how bad the clouds are. An amazing thing happened this year, the system peaked in July and not in May.
Raw Results:
Last month I predicted to average between 40-50 kW hrs per day. The actual number is just over 45 kW hrs per day. The first part of the month exceeded that while due to cloud cover, the latter part decreased a bit. I predicted that we would peak around the high 60's. While we did that on the 3rd of the month. We could have been in the 70's for many days but the clouds kept us from that. Never the less, overall production was up over 50% from last year.
April's Prediction:
We gain an extra 78 minutes of sunlight by the end of the month. The sun's attitude will also increase by 10.2 degrees. We lose one day as April has 30 days. Thus a 1.78-1.8 MW or more is not unreasonable. I believe that our system can produce more than 80 kW hrs in a day. The local high I believe is 83 kW hrs. The negative effect of our poor roof angle has all but past. The East/West array is now out producing straight south facing panels on sunny days. I expect this to increase to 20-30% or more this month due to the longer sun light hours and better angle of attack. Average days should be 50-60 kWhrs. We will have corrected some issues with one optimizer and two panels. Income for the April should meet or exceed $700. We also expect to meet or exceed that value for the next 6 months (April-September). All of this will depend on seasonal cloud cover. Even on cloudy but bright days we should peak at around 5-6000 kW.
Conclusion:
With 80% or more of your system facing south with a good pitch, you will do quite well with your microfit program. Even a modestly sized house like we have (1100 sq ft roof), you could produce more than the 10 kW microfit limit. Our inverters restrict us from producing more than 10 kW as per the contract. I contacted the Ministry of Energy to give them my feedback that the microfit level should be increased to 20 kW. An average 200 A service results in about 35 kW. If the microfit limit was set to 20 kW a lot of people would be happier and the country as a whole would benefit. The Green Energy Act does not put this restriction on the homeowner. It is 100% organization generated. I do not expect to see any changes and is not in the spirit of the Green Energy Act.
Do you want to have an extra $80,000 to $100,000 to spend over the next 20 years?
If you have been wondering whether or not to go solar, I strongly recommend that you give
Steve a call at:
Steve -519 962 9218
He will give you an honest analysis of your house to see if it is worthwhile to install a microfit solar panel system. For what we earn, we will payoff our mortgage on our retirement house. We still have to pay utilities and taxes but we are way ahead of where we were and we are lowering the carbon dioxide levels as best as we can. A basic system will produce about $5,000 per year with straight string inverters. Stay away from that and go with optimizers. With a few tweaks, you could produce $6-7000 per year. I still don't trust microinverters to last much more than 12 years with a horrible replacement cost as they are under the panels. Read all of my posts, starting from the beginning to get a better understanding of solar.
Being retired, because of the small income from the Solar Panels, we were able to re-start our support of a child in need from Nicaragua. If you are better off, please also consider helping those in need though the Christian Children Fund of Canada.
We do not work for Flexible Solar serving Windsor and Southern Ontario. I do however promote any honest person in their business where I have had the pleasure of working with them. That is really hard to find in the solar business. These guys use the best components for a long system life. You can even ask them for a copy of my engineering specification that you can use to outline the work specification. I am 100% sure that Mike Holmes would say that is the way to do things to protect yourself. They also use the best guys out there to install your system.
Being retired, because of the small income from the Solar Panels, we were able to re-start our support of a child in need from Nicaragua. If you are better off, please also consider helping those in need though the Christian Children Fund of Canada.
We do not work for Flexible Solar serving Windsor and Southern Ontario. I do however promote any honest person in their business where I have had the pleasure of working with them. That is really hard to find in the solar business. These guys use the best components for a long system life. You can even ask them for a copy of my engineering specification that you can use to outline the work specification. I am 100% sure that Mike Holmes would say that is the way to do things to protect yourself. They also use the best guys out there to install your system.
NOTE: We booked a holiday in Florida in March. The microfit Solar Panel system covered the rental at the Resort plus $300 towards food and gas. You might say that the Sun gave us a holiday in the Sun. We sure enjoyed ourselves.
