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Forum Index : Solar : My 1Kw system

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petanque don
Senior Member

Joined: 02/08/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 212
Posted: 02:29pm 05 Apr 2009
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It was just over a year between ordering the system ant it being turned on.



It seems to work ok when the sun shines

 
rgormley
Senior Member

Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 245
Posted: 01:14am 06 Apr 2009
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is the shading form the evap unit and the white poop pipe a problem?

what size is the array?
 
petanque don
Senior Member

Joined: 02/08/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 212
Posted: 02:25pm 06 Apr 2009
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The panels are

10 x MA 100 by Mitsubishi they are 1.4m x1.1m (bigger than the other panels I have seen).

With a sunny boy SB1100 inverter (you can see the blue box under the veranda).

They are wired up as 5 sets of 2 in series so there is an open circuit voltage of about 216V most of the time the inverter operates at about 180 Volts

Initially I was planning to have the inverter inside but the installer talked me into something different. The inverter definitely has a transformer type hum.

The best result so far has been 6.1 Kw/h for a sunny day in April the worst was 1.9 Kw/h for a very cloudy day.

The highest instantaneous reading I have seen is 1118 w.

The system has only been turned on for a week today.

The system was marketed as a 1Kw system.

I am in no position to compare this system with other combinations that companies offer.

 
petanque don
Senior Member

Joined: 02/08/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 212
Posted: 02:31pm 06 Apr 2009
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The shading seems to have little effect is my first impression.

This time of year the air conditioner doesn’t shade the panels until after 4:30pm

It would cost quite a bit to move the A/C
 
petanque don
Senior Member

Joined: 02/08/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 212
Posted: 02:40am 09 Apr 2009
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First week statistics starting on 1/4/2009

From the inverter

33.9 Kw/h produced from

80 hours operation

On the 2 way meter

82 Kw/h used on standard tariff

32.4 Kw/h off peak (hot water)

16.7 Kw/h fed back to the grid.

This is for a household of two adults and a 9 year old.
 
davef
Guru

Joined: 14/05/2006
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 499
Posted: 07:01am 09 Apr 2009
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Shading.

I suspect reduced output depends on how the cells are connected within the panel and how the panels are connected up (series/parallel). I have seen the output of a panel drop virtually to zero by shading a small strip across one dimension of the panel.

Say two panels are paralleled then, shading one as described above should only result in a 50% power reduction.

Try blocking out a row or a column of cells and see what the effect is.

Just my 2cents worth.
 
petanque don
Senior Member

Joined: 02/08/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 212
Posted: 01:46am 06 May 2009
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First 35 days (five weeks)starting on the 1/4/2009

From the inverter 147.8 Kw hours (average 4.2)

From 382 hours of operation (average 10.9 hour per day)


From the electricity meter 68.9 Kw hours were fed back into the grid.
Edited by petanque don 2009-05-07
 
GWatPE

Senior Member

Joined: 01/09/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 2127
Posted: 06:03am 06 May 2009
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It would seem that the average household consumption is probably between 8-10kWhr per day from these figs. You will still need to buy approx 600kWhr from the utility per quarter.

Gordon.
become more energy aware
 
petanque don
Senior Member

Joined: 02/08/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 212
Posted: 12:49am 07 May 2009
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Hi Gordon,

I would agree that we will still need to purchase about that amount of electricity.

A 1Kw system for most people would only supplement their electricity use and encourage them to go through the energy saving exercise.

I purchased the system to be cost effective rather than be self sufficient.

From a cost per watt view it would make more sense to purchase 3 systems on 3 different properties rather than one 3 Kw system for my house however I get little direct benefit from the extra 2 systems.

Perhaps I should be asking my relatives their thoughts on solar systems?
 
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