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  • 15 kw net metering array

    Here is my turnkey 15 KW grid tied (net metered) solar array. An
    NABCEP licensed local did the job in a few weeks. The annual
    output is expected to exceed 23,000 KWH. For perspective, my
    1977 Olds 88 is in the picture. The array is out of sight of my house,
    the neighbors, or the road. It is 200' to the nearest out building,
    and another 300' to the house.

    I have already gone through the wiring loss calculations. With my
    very long runs, DC losses peak at 1.4%. Even with oversize AC
    wire, AC loses could reach 3.3% around the 604' loop. But I have
    a total of 18 KW of panels feeding a pair of 7.5 KW of inverters, so a
    7.5 KW peak OUTPUT is actually possible for each inverter despite
    DC and inverter losses. And output will come up 20% on less than
    ideal sun times. That is a lot of the time, here.

    Coming alive just before solar noon, a lot of power was immediately
    generated. For the half day saw 63 KWH, and the peak power was
    14.93 KW at the AC line terminals. With that kind of daily sun, could
    make over 40,000 KWH a year; never happen here.

    After much studying the FORUM, I concluded this was about my
    best bang for the buck, following local rules. I also noted that rules
    vary widely from place to place; this meets all the LOCAL REGs,
    inspections, & all the things I was looking for. Every last permit &
    ground clip is in place.

    The primary goal is to eliminate home energy purchases from the
    electric & propane companies. The size is sort of fitted into the
    available space (only cut 2 trees). Since payback wasn't a serious
    consideration, some may choose to call it a SCIENCE PROJECT.
    However its less than $1.60 a watt after incentives; with the low
    maintenance of a PV system, it should add as much to the property
    value. Really, the turnkey price is only about double the price of
    just the panels. This would have been a lot more expensive a short
    time ago.

    My annual 5,000 KWH electric bill will be cancelled out. I'm adding
    another R50 to the simple 6" ceiling insulation, hoping the annual
    propane use might be reduced from 1050 gallons to 700 gallons,
    or 18,810 KWH. I am a little short trying to replace that with
    resistance heat. A year will get actual experience numbers, filling
    any gap with propane.

    If the gap is wide, a GEO THERMAL HEAT PUMP may be considered
    to zero out ALL my home energy purchases. The propane equipment
    will still in place as backup. If the power co goes out, a 4 KVA
    generator will run the propane furnace (same as before).

    The 1978 house was originally built as "all electric", and all the
    original wiring and junction boxes are still in place. Looks like its
    going back to all electric.

    Bruce Roe
    Attached Files

  • #2
    Originally posted by bcroe View Post
    Here is my turnkey 15 KW grid tied (net metered) solar array. An
    NABCEP licensed local did the job in a few weeks. The annual
    output is expected to exceed 23,000 KWH. For perspective, my
    1977 Olds 88 is in the picture. The array is out of sight of my house,
    the neighbors, or the road. It is 200' to the nearest out building,
    and another 300' to the house.

    I have already gone through the wiring loss calculations. With my
    very long runs, DC losses peak at 1.4%. Even with oversize AC
    wire, AC loses could reach 3.3% around the 604' loop. But I have
    a total of 18 KW of panels feeding a pair of 7.5 KW of inverters, so a
    7.5 KW peak OUTPUT is actually possible for each inverter despite
    DC and inverter losses. And output will come up 20% on less than
    ideal sun times. That is a lot of the time, here.

    Coming alive just before solar noon, a lot of power was immediately
    generated. For the half day saw 63 KWH, and the peak power was
    14.93 KW at the AC line terminals. With that kind of daily sun, could
    make over 40,000 KWH a year; never happen here.

    After much studying the FORUM, I concluded this was about my
    best bang for the buck, following local rules. I also noted that rules
    vary widely from place to place; this meets all the LOCAL REGs,
    inspections, & all the things I was looking for. Every last permit &
    ground clip is in place.

    The primary goal is to eliminate home energy purchases from the
    electric & propane companies. The size is sort of fitted into the
    available space (only cut 2 trees. Since payback wasn't a serious
    consideration, some may choose to call it a SCIENCE PROJECT.
    However its less than $1.60 a watt after incentives; with the low
    maintenance of a PV system, it should add as much to the property
    value. Really, the turnkey price is only about double the price of
    just the panels. This would have been a lot more expensive a short
    time ago.

    My annual 5,000 KWH electric bill will be cancelled out. I'm adding
    another R50 to the simple 6" ceiling insulation, hoping the annual
    propane use might be reduced from 1050 gallons to 700 gallons,
    or 18,810 KWH. I am a little short trying to replace that with
    resistance heat. A year will get actual experience numbers, filling
    any gap with propane.

    If the gap is wide, a GEO THERMAL HEAT PUMP may be considered
    to zero out ALL my home energy purchases. The propane equipment
    will still in place as backup. If the power co goes out, a 4 KVA
    generator will run the propane furnace (same as before).

    The 1978 house was originally built as "all electric", and all the
    original wiring and junction boxes are still in place. Looks like its
    going back to all electric.

    Bruce Roe
    Impressive setup you have there Bruce. I wish you luck and good fortune.

    Comment


    • #3
      Nice setup Bruce!
      [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

      Comment


      • #4
        Changing Slope

        Originally posted by russ View Post
        Nice setup Bruce!
        thanks, I think the next problem is how to change the angle of the 12 racks, one at
        a time. Don't want snow piling on, need a steep angle. I haven't seen anything about
        how to leverage those support braces, could use some examples. There are some
        extra attachment holes to hook machinery; the vision here is something on the tractor
        to adjust & hold the rack while the braces are changed. Bruce

        Comment


        • #5
          Snow won't be a general issue. And, on snowy days, you have lots of clouds anyway, not as much of an issue. The only day you need them cleared early is a nice sunny day that follows the big snows. You can do a heat pump with propane burner us only when temps are lower. Also, check out those oil filled radiant heaters that you can position in the room you are in. Lots of ways to warm yourself up with the electric power.

          Consider an electric car now to use the power you are collecting. Volt, leaf, tesla, etc. I'd rather drive on that power than sell it back to the utility. I've got a volt myself and really love driving on electricity.
          PowerOne 3.6 x 2, 32 SolarWorld 255W mono

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by bonaire View Post
            Snow won't be a general issue. And, on snowy days, you have lots of clouds anyway, not as much of an issue. The only day you need them cleared early is a nice sunny day that follows the big snows. You can do a heat pump with propane burner us only when temps are lower. Also, check out those oil filled radiant heaters that you can position in the room you are in. Lots of ways to warm yourself up with the electric power.

            Consider an electric car now to use the power you are collecting. Volt, leaf, tesla, etc. I'd rather drive on that power than sell it back to the utility. I've got a volt myself and really love driving on electricity.
            I just saw a Ford Focus Electric yesterday. The guy just purchased it so has not put it through it's paces but did say it was supposed to get about 65mile on a charge.

            Nice to see more electric vehicles making the trip to the East Coast dealers instead of just California.

            Comment


            • #7
              Ford and Chrysler/Fiat do not want to sell electric cars, it seems. But they have to for California requirements, like Honda. Thing is, they really are less expensive to drive and possibly to own long term. Drove over 90 mile on electricity yesterday in my volt using two charges.

              The ford should go 70 or more miles on a charge. I can get an easy 47-50 miles with a smooth pedal on a warm day with only 10.4kWh usable in the volt out of its 16kWh pack.

              Florida should have more EVs than it does. Cheap electricity and a lot of people with retirement money. Warm weather allows for the EVs to get the best mileage.
              PowerOne 3.6 x 2, 32 SolarWorld 255W mono

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by bonaire View Post
                Ford and Chrysler/Fiat do not want to sell electric cars, it seems. But they have to for California requirements, like Honda. Thing is, they really are less expensive to drive and possibly to own long term. Drove over 90 mile on electricity yesterday in my volt using two charges.

                The ford should go 70 or more miles on a charge. I can get an easy 47-50 miles with a smooth pedal on a warm day with only 10.4kWh usable in the volt out of its 16kWh pack.

                Florida should have more EVs than it does. Cheap electricity and a lot of people with retirement money. Warm weather allows for the EVs to get the best mileage.
                I would jump at the chance to lease the Honda Fit. Right now they are going for $259 / mth no money down and they throw in a 220v charger. The Fit has about an 80 miles distance on a charge.

                So far only in California for now.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Seasonal Angle

                  Originally posted by bcroe
                  thanks, I think the next problem is how to change the angle of the 12 racks,
                  one at a time. Don't want snow piling on, need a steep angle. I haven't seen anything
                  about how to leverage those support braces, could use some examples. There are some
                  extra attachment holes to hook machinery; the vision here is something on the tractor
                  to adjust & hold the rack while the braces are changed. Bruce
                  This thing really cranks! At 8:20 AM savings time (7:10 sun time) its already delivering
                  over 4 KW. Hitting 15 KW peak AC output every day the sun is out.

                  A rig to change angle seasonally is on order. Its a cheap DRYWALL HOIST from asia,
                  uses a hand crank. The numbers look about right for the job, will need to adapt the
                  top to fit the rack holes I drilled. And determine if it should sit on the ground,
                  or bolt to the back of the tractor. Bruce Roe

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Electric Car

                    Originally posted by bonaire View Post
                    Snow won't be a general issue. And, on snowy days, you have lots of clouds anyway, not as much of an issue. The only day you need them cleared early is a nice sunny day that follows the big snows. You can do a heat pump with propane burner use only when temps are lower.
                    Also, check out those oil filled radiant heaters that you can position in the room you are in. Lots of
                    ways to warm yourself up with the electric power.

                    Consider an electric car now to use the power you are collecting. Volt, leaf, tesla, etc. I'd rather drive on that power than sell it back to the utility. I've got a volt myself and really love driving on electricity.
                    There will be some "zone" electric heating next winter, while annual energy numbers are compiled.
                    I figure to run the propane furnace blower when a zone comes on; a couple guest rooms are usually closed off for the winter.

                    There are days when the car never moves. Trouble is when I do travel, its hundreds of miles, too
                    far for current electrics. I suppose a hybrid could cover part of the trip electrically, may look into it
                    after this stage is well settled. I have no ideas for the tractor, which uses 3 gallons of gas to mow
                    the lawn. Bruce Roe

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      get yourself some goats for the lawn, then you can use the milk as well.
                      1150W, Midnite Classic 200, Cotek PSW, 8 T-605s

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by thastinger View Post
                        get yourself some goats for the lawn, then you can use the milk as well.
                        No use sheep. Goats will eat everything
                        MSEE, PE

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Sunking View Post
                          No use sheep. Goats will eat everything
                          Also the wool has more value than the milk. But it is nice that the goats will pick up the trash. Maybe a couple of goats with the herd of sheep is a better combination.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Nice setup Bruce!!! I wish I had that much room to work with. I'm glad you only had to lose 2 trees, we are going to have to cut down 7. They are 60+ foot tall spruce and blue spruce that were hit pretty hard with the drought last summer. The good news is that it opens up my options for a ground array.

                            Best of luck to you and thanks for the pic and update.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Goats

                              Originally posted by SunEagle View Post
                              Also the wool has more value than the milk. But it is nice that the goats will pick up the trash. Maybe a couple of goats with the herd of sheep is a better combination.
                              Of course it is zoned AG. There are horses on the other side of the fence, but they eat too
                              little & leave way too much behind. Then there are the deer....

                              Comment

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