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4.607 KW spike 7:1:18.png I have had my system for a week and monitoring for about 4 days. So of course, I have to check a couple times a day to see how things are coming along. Yesterday along the California coast, there was quite a thick marine layer (fog) that stayed to about midday. The air temp changed quickly from the 50's to 80's when the sun broke through. I thought the spike at 11:30 quite interesting as my 4.64 KW system shot up to 4.607 KW as the cool panels got blasted by some direct sunlight.
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What you write seems to agree with the graph you include. The spike, or rather the return to below 4kW output @ ~ noon is most likely or at least partially caused by higher output before the array temp. increases in response to the increased irradiance and to a probably lesser degree what you describe as the rapidly increasing air temp. (things like panels take a bit of time to heat up). Cooler panels run more efficiently, so output drops a bit as panels heat up.
Check the array voltage as f(time). That parameter ought to track output rather closely, at least for short periods. -
There is also an edge of cloud effect that I have observed (not sure if it is due to reflection or refraction or something else). On partly cloudy days, the power will spike a bit just before the panels go into the shade (so the panels are already warm). This effect happens in both directions cloudy to clear and clear to cloudy. Although in your case, I wouldn't think the Solar Edge monitoring would sample quick enough to pick it up as the "spike" is brief, so this is likely the cool panel producing higher output, or since it is marine layer on the west coast, it could be sunlight reflecting off the clouds and bringing greater illumination to your panels.Comment
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