Looks like AMZN is back near that Aug 2019 pricing.. soo, nice job enjoying solar for the past few years!
Solar Panel Batteries & Additional Panel Installation
- Thread starter ndmaynard
- Start date
zubs
Well-known member
I have 30 solar panels.
I tried to add more after I realized the Tesla Y is an electricity hog.
I went from having a $300/annual electrical credit....to probably $1,000 true up bill due to that car.
Still $1,000/yr is still cheaper than filling up my gas @ $4,200/yr.
It seems the 9,900 system I own is at max equipment capacity, and to add more panels, I will need to install heavier gage wire and beefier equipment. This makes adding more panels a bad value.
I tried to add more after I realized the Tesla Y is an electricity hog.
I went from having a $300/annual electrical credit....to probably $1,000 true up bill due to that car.
Still $1,000/yr is still cheaper than filling up my gas @ $4,200/yr.
It seems the 9,900 system I own is at max equipment capacity, and to add more panels, I will need to install heavier gage wire and beefier equipment. This makes adding more panels a bad value.
CalBears96
Well-known member
I have 24 solar panels, so 9.6kW system.
Right now, the max it can generate is about 3.7kW between 10:30am and 1pm. From 8am to 10:30 and 1pm to 2:30pm, it can only generate 2kW to 2.8kW.
My M3 is charging at about 7.8kW at 32A for about 3 hours, so I'm thinking about lowering it to 18A to charge about 5 hours to make use of the solar production.
Right now, the max it can generate is about 3.7kW between 10:30am and 1pm. From 8am to 10:30 and 1pm to 2:30pm, it can only generate 2kW to 2.8kW.
My M3 is charging at about 7.8kW at 32A for about 3 hours, so I'm thinking about lowering it to 18A to charge about 5 hours to make use of the solar production.
sleepy5136
Well-known member
I would look to avoiding a refund from the utility company if I were you. An interest free loan to them is not something you want to give. Just like tax refunds. Either owe money or break even. Granted it's 1k but still.
someguy
Active member
Why was your 9.6kW system only generating between 2-4kW around the time you wrote that? What do you expect it to generate going forward?
usctrojancpa
Well-known member
I also got a 9.6kW system. The system should generate somewhere between 16-17 mega watts for the year with winter generation being the lowest and the late spring being the highest.
CalBears96
Well-known member
I checked the Enphase control panel per Elevation's instruction and found the power production light being red instead of green. It says in the trouble shooting manual that it means one or more microinverters are not producing.
So I called Elevation (main number in AZ) and the person I talked to said 8 panels are not producing, but needed the CA branch to look into the system. Unfortunately, I still haven't heard back from CA branch after leaving a message. Hopefully, it was generating less due to 8 out of the 24 panels not producing.
is yours turned red like this one? Mine does the same thing. I had a solar guy came to troubleshoot our consumption meter. He said this light can be red sometimes when it’s cloudy. The system thinks one or more panels not producing power. Mine does the same but when it’s sunny, light turns solid green.
CalBears96
Well-known member
Yes, it's like that. I guess I'll check again on Sunday when the forecast is sunny.
But it's weird that my 9.6kW system only generates 22-23kWh on a good day in December while my brother's 8kW system generates 26kWh. But he did tell me that all his 20 panels are lumped together on the south side, while I have 11 on the north side and 13 on the south side.
But it's weird that my 9.6kW system only generates 22-23kWh on a good day in December while my brother's 8kW system generates 26kWh. But he did tell me that all his 20 panels are lumped together on the south side, while I have 11 on the north side and 13 on the south side.
I dont know what my system can produce daily. It came from IP builder with 12 panels. On a good summer day, it can make 25kwkh daily. Day like yesterday, only made around 5wkh.
As you can see from the photo, My MY is such a electric hog. After SD trip from 90% to 40%, it sucked 35kw during off peak hour
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CalBears96
Well-known member
Wait, how does your MY consume 35kW? Even with a 60A circuit breaker, the max output is 48A, so at 240V wall outlet, that's only 11.5kW.I dont know what my system can produce daily. It came from IP builder with 12 panels. On a good summer day, it can make 25kwkh daily. Day like yesterday, only made around 5wkh.
As you can see from the photo, My MY is such a electric hog. After SD trip from 90% to 40%, it sucked 35kw during off peak hour
My M3 is consuming 7.7kW, which is expected at 32A output. I changed the output to 18A to make it consume less, about 4.4kW.
35kw from off peak hour starting at 10 pm to next day morning.
I usually charge at 25A at night but during the day i do 10A using solar.
I think that makes sense then. North facing panels are very inefficient vs south facing.
I believe the Emporia EV charger does this, but you need to having the Emporia energy monitor installed as well (so it knows how much you solar is pulling in).
CalBears96
Well-known member
Depending on how many kW you need to charge or during summer/winter, such a system may not be very useful.
For instance, a round trip to work for my wife is about 80 miles. It takes a bit more than 3 hours to charge the M3 at full 32A, at 7.8kW. I changed it to 18A, outputting about 4.4kW, it would take maybe 5 hours. However, I only got solar production at 3.7kW for a couple hours a day in previous weeks. I think I saw a bit more this morning, around 5.4kW. If the system were to adjust to solar production, it would definitely take a lot more than 5 hours. I don't think it would even reach the charge limit by the time the sun goes down. And that's when you get into peak hours (4-9pm), so you'll end up paying more, or the system would stop charging.
kW and kW-h are not the same.
CalBears96
Well-known member
Yes, the output is kW and his total charge is actually 35kWh. That's why it confused me when he said 35kW, which is the output.
Since he was charging at 25A, it would be 6kW, charged for about 6 hours, giving him 35kWh.
Those with the Enphase...I have the micro inverters not sure if string is different, you can check to see on their app which panels are performing vs those that aren't, send to your installer and they should be able to help, at least my installer was willing to help those I referred when they had an issue.