solar generation higher than possible peak??

Mikeyboy01443

just wondering - is the figure quoted for solar panel power output the maximum? or can they go higher? i have 17 x 390w panels installed which should give me a theoretical maximum 6.6kw solar generation - but at points i have seen over 7kw showing being generated (nearly 7.2kw today), anyone else seen this? based on that figure my panels would be putting out around 423w each...

Krakkkers

What is your inverter rated at as it would be unusual for panels to hit their max.
I have 4kwp but a 3.68kw inverter and i see a max output of 3.75kw.

Mikeyboy01443

its 5kw and can handle i think up to 5.5kw...

it was more a question of the panels ability to output higher than their rated maximum

Krakkkers

Then you have a problem somewhere, where are you getting the 7kw figure from?

Mikeyboy01443

I dont think i have a problem? The 5.5kw output is the house side, the battery charge is on top of that... see here as an example

Ectophile

It is possible for solar panels to produce slightly more than their rated maximum.  It requires a day that's cold, but also very bright and sunny.  And the sun has to be in the right place in the sky.

Solar panels work better when they are cold, and so they could exceed their rating at a temperature below the one in their specified test conditions.

Mikeyboy01443

That's good... has anyone seen substantially higher figures than their quoted panel power? I'm pretty impressed with that figure... people say to me how solar panels are 'only 20% efficient' or some other meaningless figure when in this case they are more than 100% efficient! Possibly 

Krakkkers

20% efficiency refers to the fact that the energy output of a panel is around 20% of the energy that the Sun outputs on the same surface area.

Mikeyboy01443

Well id rather that than the 0% a bare roof would give me 

Magnitio

I had 7.2kW max yesterday for 6.4kWp of panels. This can be caused by "cloud lensing" where the clouds impact the sunlight resulting in a momentary increase in PV output. With a completely clear sky on a cool day, my panels max out at just over 5.5kW

Mikeyboy01443

Magnitio said:

I had 7.2kW max yesterday for 6.4kWp of panels. This can be caused by "cloud lensing" where the clouds impact the sunlight resulting in a momentary increase in PV output. With a completely clear sky on a cool day, my panels max out at just over 5.5kW

Is that not the clipping effect then if they max at 5.5? Mine will generate 6kw+ most of the day as long as there is battery still left to charge, once the batt hits 100% it will drop to the 5.5kw...
I've read before about the cloud edge effect, but it must been generating this amount for more than a few seconds, my solax app updates every 5 minutes so it would be a coincidence if it had manage to capture that high figure at that exact moment....7.2 from 6.4 is pretty good though isn't it!