Quotes and install questions

JKenH

Sorry Zarch for meandering off topic. That link was quite interesting and tallied with my PVGIS calcs.

I have been monitoring my output today with a view to seeing what impact orientation has on output. Apart from the first couple of hours there has been a lot of cloud here today and I have had to take readings when the clouds permitted. These are clear sky figures for my output in kw at a moment in time on my east and west roofs.

Time West East
8.15 0.2 2.20
9.27 0.2 2.28
9.43 0.25 2.26
10.25 0.75 2.30
10.5 1.10 2.25
12.04 2.56 2.22
12.25 2.85 2.32
14.13 3.69 1.43
16.15 3.36 0.34
16.40 3.05 0.28
17.20 2.65 0.19
18.00 2.27 0.18

What I did find interesting was how the output from the east roof stayed very consistent during the morning as we moved away from optimum orientation to due south. The figures for the west roof didn’t hold up so well as we drifted from south to optimum orientation although they peaked higher and might have done even better with more readings either side of 2pm.

What I did see though was we reached peak inverter output of 3.68 kv on the west roof with the pv steadily climbing over a couple of minutes as the cloud disappeared. Just as I thought we were going to sail past it the clouds came over again and stayed there for the next couple of hours. Shame I couldn’t get any figures for about 1pm or 3pm. On the raw Moixa data there was a combined peak of 5.41 at 13.19 which I missed while eating my lunch.

What did surprise me was how much better the 14 panels on the west roof performed in terms of peak output compared to the 12 on the east roof. The west roof is 80*w of s and the east roof 100*e of s so I wasn’t expecting there to be that much difference.

All the figures are direct from the inverters in the loft except the 8.15 reading which is taken as a combined figure from the Moixa dashboard with the split estimated.

Zarch

Bad news. CTS have had a call from Northern Power and there is indeed now a £350 charge for a G59 application. This was a shock to CTS as it appears other power providers are not charging. They put a request in to Western the other week with no problems.

Ah well, back to the plan of the 3.68 inverter. As per the calcs and graphs this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

KevinG

Zarch wrote: »

How about this site?
https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/index.php

That's interesting, I tried it and got a similar annual total to PVGIS (a bit less) but the monthly distribution was markedly different and more accurately reflected what I actually get.

Zarch

Woooo, things are getting closer. I have a date with my roofer for the Dormer re-roof for the middle of this month and i'm speaking to CTS to try and get in closely after to beat the end of Sept drop if FIT values. (only pennies I know, but every penny counts) :rotfl:

Final quote from CTS: 17 x 300w (total 5.1 kWh) JA black panels (with PO built in) and a Solar Edge 3.68 inverter - £6259

An EPC assessment that needs scheduling, then 4 days work for the main install (1 day scaffold, 2 day install, 1 day scaffold)

The install is across 4 aspects / different roofs:
3 panels (0.9 kWh) on the East-ish facing single storey extension (29 deg tilt)
4 panels (1.2 kWh) on the south-west-ish facing flat dormer roof in Rensol Console buckets (20 deg)
2 panels (0.6 kWh) on the south-west-ish facing porch (26 deg)
8 panels (2.4 kWh) on the south-west-ish facing main roof (35 deg)

Just want it in now! :T

Martyn1981

Looks like a great price considering its Solaredge and 4 aspects.

Will be fun looking at the different generation totals, but also the 'playback' feature showing actual gen (W's not Wh's) for each panel through the day.

It does eventually get boring ..... apparently?

JKenH

KevinG wrote: »

That's interesting, I tried it and got a similar annual total to PVGIS (a bit less) but the monthly distribution was markedly different and more accurately reflected what I actually get.

I put my system in and came up with a figure 7% less than PVGIS. I have always been interested to see how much I am losing out to a South facing system so ran the figures for my kwp and inclination but facing south and came up with a figure 15% less than when I did the same exercise on PVGIS. Over the year as a whole the PV Watts calculator gave me 85% of a south facing system compared to 77% with PVGIS. Given how much my system underperforms Merlin and Legoman (similar geographic area) in terms of Os, sadly, I think the PVGIS is closer to the mark.


I also went through the hourly figures for my for set up and was surprised that the peak hourly readings were quite a bit less than what I have been seeing.

Zarch

In other news..... the scaffolding has gone up today.... :j

Zarch

I'm generating..... i'm generating!! :j

17 x 300w panels installed and firing!

Cannot recommend CTS Renewables enough. Top notch install, looks brill to my untrained eye, everything trunked away etc super neatly. :T

Anyone who is in the Midlands/South Yorkshire area, give CTS a call if you're thinking about making the leap before the FIT disappears in March.

Will post some pics once the scaffold comes down.

Will also report back how that NE / SW split fairs through the day and how the 4 different aspects generate. The beauty of everything being SolarEdge.

JKenH

Happy days ��

Zarch

Here you go......



So 2 on the front porch, 8 on the main roof, 4 on top of the flat roof / dormer that you can't see (arrowed) all SSW-ish and towards the rear there are 3 panels on the back extension (circled), the East/North ish ones.

17 x 300w JA panels on 4 different aspects//orientation/pitch with SolarEdge optimisers and a 3680 SE inverter.

Still playing the the generation/consumption figures. But in summary its been merrily generating over 3kW solidly for the last few hours.