Panel replacement

[J.P.M.]

thank you for that info.

For anthing I added, you're welcome.

[EGtreo]

thank you for that info.

[sdold]

AmitBajpayee: please don't include ads for solar services in your messages or in your signature, thanks.

[AmitBajpayee]

Every solar panel manufacturer has its own idea and method of installation. Hence it is not the case that every manufacturer will have the same or extremely different mounting system.

But yes, while installing the solar power system you have to check the standard of each mounting object to confirm future security.

As the house is two-story you have thing about security aspects as well.
While lifting up the entire mounting system and solar panels to the destination you have to be very careful.

[J.P.M.]

It seems like buying electricity is much more complicated than it should be.

Given human nature and greed, quite probably close to a certainty.

I own two places. One POCO's rules/tariffs/rate structure are transparent and relatively easy to understand. It's a co-op.
The other is SDG & E. It's a bastard to understand and keep current on changes, but not impossible.

But not buying the finished product at all and so generating, storing and using electricity that's generated onsite means expending a lot of time, toil and treasure that may involve about the same or likely more effort than a very deep and continuing dive into how a POCO charges you for electricity even for situations like SDG & E.

Pay your money. Take your choice. Or, get a grid tie system and get a bit of the best and worst of both. Less $$/hassle/babysitting than an off grid system, but probably some time spent (hopefully but almost never usually) before buying a grid tie system figuring out how net metering works (or doesn't work) for you.

[Ward L]

It seems like buying electricity is much more complicated than it should be. I try and understand my monthly bill and track my solar production and electricity costs each month in Excel and it is a challenge to understand it all. The POCOs write tariffs for a living, the rest of us are just amateurs....

[J.P.M.]

just got off the phone with SMUD. rep was very helpful.
the $23/month is taxes and infrastructure charges. i get one bill at the end of my yearly billing cycle so that was the June bill. i used 17,917 and produced 2,545. BUT this is with my system being down from about may-september in 2020.

using binoculars is a great idea, going to try that out today. thank you.

Yes. The big bill every 12 months is commonly called the trueup bill and is pretty much SOP for net metering, at least in CA and many other places.

I'd suggest you familiarize yourself with SMUD's net metering rate schedules and policies. You'll learn a lot of valuable stuff with a little effort and persistence.

Binocs are a good idea especially to maybe see things you might not notice like loose wiring of other details but remember, the eye is a poor indicator of how much performance is impacted by what you can (or cannot) see that looks like dirt or be impacting your array.

Measuring relative array performance is a bit tricky, but unfortunately or otherwise, before/after cleaning comparisons on successive clear days are better than a visual only.

[EGtreo]

just got off the phone with SMUD. rep was very helpful.
the $23/month is taxes and infrastructure charges. i get one bill at the end of my yearly billing cycle so that was the June bill. i used 17,917 and produced 2,545. BUT this is with my system being down from about may-september in 2020.

using binoculars is a great idea, going to try that out today. thank you.

[J.P.M.]

May - Oct = 0 rain. I usually hose them off July and Aug. Most of the fouling is dust from my gravel road, or jays on the top edge of the array..

Oct - May rainfall is 40-60" Sometimes it's a week of continuous drizzle, half inch a day, sometimes it's 6" in one day. (rare)

Understood.

Thank you.

J.P.M.

[Mike90250]

Mike: Q: How often/How many times/yr. do you get, say, => 0.25" precip. ? J.P.M.

May - Oct = 0 rain. I usually hose them off July and Aug. Most of the fouling is dust from my gravel road, or jays on the top edge of the array..

Oct - May rainfall is 40-60" Sometimes it's a week of continuous drizzle, half inch a day, sometimes it's 6" in one day. (rare)

[J.P.M.]

I usually go to the source for answers.
What did SMUD say when you called them and inquired ?

Looks like June is true up month to me.

[J.P.M.]

After 11 years, I've only hosed off the panels 2x in the summer (in the cool of the mornings), and they are still fine. With a steep angle, they stay cleaner, a flatter angle collects more dirt.

Mike: Q: How often/How many times/yr. do you get, say, => 0.25" precip. ?

Thanx in advance.

J.P.M.

[J.P.M.]

after a good hosing they look good to me but thats from about 30' down so take that for what its worth haha. every 2 years or so i rent a bucket lift to trim some tall palms and clean my gutters so while i'm at at it hose the panels off a little better since i can get within 5-10'. next year i will get a taller one and get closer and see how they look.
just doing some future planning for now and was thinking i should look into upgrading in the future as they have 350w panels now. but who knows, by the time i'm ready to upgrade maybe theyll have better battery storage technology? trying to cut the utility out as much as possible.

After many years of before/after measurements, if I hose as I've described prior, I restore about 2/3 to 3/4 of the performance that was lost to fouling.
In the real world, easy hosing of the type described is a lot less hassle than worrying about perfection which will be quickly lost to more dirt/fouling in a few days or a week anyway.
As for what your eye sees, it can't see in all the wavelengths of sunlight. Before/after measurements tell a more objective tale.
As I wrote, and as many years of measurements have convinced me, the human eye is a poor indicator of cleaning efficacy.

As for not getting close enough to see, binoculars help. Back off a bit if the focal length makes things blurry.

As Mike notes, do the hosing in the A.M. before irradiance heats the panel glazing.

If one goal of the exercise is a lower electric bill, as for trying to cut the utility bill as much as possible, you can further reduce POCO bills by either using less electricity (through conservation measures and/or lifestyle changes) or generating more electricity.
The most cost effective of those two is usually the first, especially if you already have an array.
That's also why it's most cost effective to do the first before the second.

[heimdm]

Reading into this.. I found this https://expydoc.com/doc/3803744/here...es-of-the-bill.

I am not quite sure what to make out of all of that as to why you have that annual true-up, if you are paying your monthly bill. It seems weird.

[EGtreo]

sorry for the dumb question but could you guys help me out with this utility bill? i'm having a tough time understanding it. first one is from june and second is july.
the monthy bill is about $23 every month and every June is one big bill.

utility bill june.jpg


utility bill july.jpg