Coming Soon to NJ - 12.35 kW Hanwha DUO-G5 + SolarEdge Inverter/Optimizers by GPE

[macaddict]

Another benefit of solar panels is that they lower the temperature of your roof. In these pics you can see the different of the roof temperature where I have solar panels and the spots where I don't.
20190721T113846.JPG20190721T113855.JPG

[NJturtlePower]

Another benefit of solar panels is that they lower the temperature of your roof. In these pics you can see the different of the roof temperature where I have solar panels and the spots where I don't.
20190721T113846.JPG20190721T113855.JPG

At first I thought this was before and after, then I realized it's just a different angle.

Upper roof has panels and lower roof none, but aren't you really just reading the panel temp? Thermal picture of the inside of the attic spaces would be more definitive no?

[macaddict]

At first I thought this was before and after, then I realized it's just a different angle.

Upper roof has panels and lower roof none, but aren't you really just reading the panel temp? Thermal picture of the inside of the attic spaces would be more definitive no?

You are correct that there are 2 roof areas. The lower (with the chimney) doesn't have panels.

I'm assuming that the temperature between the panel and the roof is similar to what is on top of the panels. I could go in the attic and take a picture from there...

[JSchnee21]

I'm surprised that the panels are so much cooler than the roof surface. I would expect the panels to be darker and absorb more heat. But, I guess the air space underneath from the racking keeps them cooler than the roof? Presumably the white back sheets help as well.

Presumably, then, if the panels themselves are cooler, then the roofing under the panels would be cooler still. Save for conducted heating from exposed roofing, convective heating from within the attic itself, and radiant heat from the backs of the panels.

[nwdiver]

I'm surprised that the panels are so much cooler than the roof surface.

Unless you're looking at a surface like glass straight on with IR you're likely reading the thermal image of what's being reflected... in this case the sky. Glass is a pretty good mirror for IR.

[J.P.M.]

You are correct that there are 2 roof areas. The lower (with the chimney) doesn't have panels.

I'm assuming that the temperature between the panel and the roof is similar to what is on top of the panels. I could go in the attic and take a picture from there...

Measurements I've done at min. daily array solar incidence angle max. with an infrared thermometer (not a camera) of exposed roof deck, roof deck under the array, and panel back surface temperatures generally have exposed roof deck at amb. temp. + ~ 40 C., roof deck under array at ~ amb. temp. + ~ 10 -15 C, and back panel temp. at ~ amb. + ~ 30 C. All those readings are variable as f(P.O.A. incidence, wind vector) but were all under clear skies and under full sun at various times of the year, but always under clear skies and at daily time of min. solar incidence angle on the array. Less P.O.A. irradiance such as in the winter at lower solar incidence angles and all the temp. differences are lower.

Infrared cameras with wide fields of view taking in many objects with different emittances in the infrared cannot account for different materials emissivity in the infrared frequencies. Glass, being highly reflective to infrared radiation, will show differently than, say, roof shingles which have pretty much constant reflective and absorbance across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Flir has a good blurb explaining +'s and -'s and limitations of thermal imaging.

FWIW, bottom line from work I've done: Temps. from higher to lower under full sun: Exposed roof deck, panel front glazing, panel back surface, roof deck under the array.

After that, it can and usually does get complicated rather quickly.

[macaddict]

Finally got a chance to go in the attic and take some pictures.

This first picture shows the temperature on the side of the roof facing the attic (inside).

The right side is the north facing side of the roof. The left side is the south facing side of the roof and is where the solar panels are installed.

The red hot (almost white) area to the right of the blue is the space between the solar panel and the peak of the roof on the south side. This is reading 141.8 degrees F:
20190726T162628.jpg

The area under the solar panels is blue and showing 117.8 degrees F

20190726T162638.JPG

Here is another shot of the south side of the roof showing an area where solar panels are installed (blueish) and an area where they are not (reddish). This is the area of the roof where the attic vent is (from my previous post).

20190726T162726.JPG

All of these pictures are from the upper roof area. I would've had to crawl across the attic to get to the lower roof area which I didn't want to do

[sunpoweredev]

NJturtlePower any updates on your install? I received PTO yesterday

[NJturtlePower]

NJturtlePower any updates on your install? I received PTO yesterday

Yes, they'll be FINALLY starting today! 😬

Just got the supplies delivered this morning, but didn't go through all the boxes yet.

IMG_1346.JPG

Awesome about your PTO.... So how many days since the system test total?

[sunpoweredev]

Yes, they'll be FINALLY starting today! 😬

Just got the supplies delivered this morning, but didn't go through all the boxes yet.

Awesome about your PTO.... So how many days since the system test total?

It was 2.5 weeks from the time the GPE rep turned on the system for the town inspection, although it was one week after the physical inspection that the town actually issued the certificate of approval, which was when the final paperwork for interconnection was submitted to JCP&L. If I don't count that week, JCP&L took 1.5 weeks from the time I signed the final interconnection paperwork.

Hope you also received that consumption meter

[NJturtlePower]

It was 2.5 weeks from the time the GPE rep turned on the system for the town inspection, although it was one week after the physical inspection that the town actually issued the certificate of approval, which was when the final paperwork for interconnection was submitted to JCP&L. If I don't count that week, JCP&L took 1.5 weeks from the time I signed the final interconnection paperwork.

Hope you also received that consumption meter

Good to know about the PTO timeline, I'm sure it will vary town to town, but better than expected either way!

Paul the GPE forman onsite told me my town doesn't require any rough inspections, just the final, so guess that's better than others. We just walked through the 3-day install plan starting with the racking and pre-wiring today.

I can confirm I did get the RGM inverter I requested, but no mention of the lucky meter on the list, but fingers crossed it was just thrown in the bundle like yours was.

IMG_1347.gif

[sunpoweredev]

Good to know about the PTO timeline, I'm sure it will vary town to town, but better than expected either way!

Paul the GPE forman onsite told me my town doesn't require any rough inspections, just the final, so guess that's better than others. We just walked through the 3-day install plan starting with the racking and pre-wiring today.

I can confirm I did get the RGM inverter I requested, but no mention of the lucky meter on the list, but fingers crossed it was just thrown in the bundle like yours was.

My install took 4 full days, plus the electrician on day 5 which took 2-3 hours IIRC.

I'm not even sure if I'm seeing the extra info provided by the consumption meter yet. I plugged in my Model 3 for a few seconds to see how much it draws (~7kW once it reached the full 40A) and it did register the load from the Solar Edge monitoring app. I tried to lookup what addition info I'm suppose to see with the consumption meter but so far I can't tell what one will see with and without the consumption meter. From what I'm seeing now, it's definitely not worth the additional expense had I have to pay for it.

BTW, when the second electrician came on day of inspection, it was when the inverter was setup and final connections made. This was when I told them don't bother installing the cellular module and handed him an Ethernet cable from my wifi bridge right above the inverter.

[NJturtlePower]

My install took 4 full days, plus the electrician on day 5 which took 2-3 hours IIRC.

I'm not even sure if I'm seeing the extra info provided by the consumption meter yet. I plugged in my Model 3 for a few seconds to see how much it draws (~7kW once it reached the full 40A) and it did register the load from the Solar Edge monitoring app. I tried to lookup what addition info I'm suppose to see with the consumption meter but so far I can't tell what one will see with and without the consumption meter. From what I'm seeing now, it's definitely not worth the additional expense had I have to pay for it.

BTW, when the second electrician came on day of inspection, it was when the inverter was setup and final connections made. This was when I told them don't bother installing the cellular module and handed him an Ethernet cable from my wifi bridge right above the inverter.

Yeah, that's been my feeling from the start about the consumption meter, so you see how much you use, when you use it, and where the draw is coming from, but so what..... Unless it's something you might replace with a more efficient one, what you use is what it is and I already know what my biggest single draw is currently my Model 3 which I track via TeslaFi. If you haven't already tried it, and want to get an extra 2-week trial (full month total) use my username here (NJturtlePower - CASE SENSITIVE) at sign up.

So yeah, if it's not there I definitely won't be adding it.

Paul my foreman is the GPE electrician (or at least one of them) so he'll be doing most of that part of the install planned for tomorrow.

I already prepped my basement with an ethernet switch and moved a few devices to hardwired while I was at it to clean up my WiFi traffic. I have an inverter dedicated ethernet cable ready to plug-n-play when the time comes.

[J.P.M.]

Yes, they'll be FINALLY starting today! 😬

Just got the supplies delivered this morning, but didn't go through all the boxes yet.

IMG_1346.JPG

Awesome about your PTO.... So how many days since the system test total?

Small point: If you don't have a record already, record the serial numbers of the panels and if appropriate, the optimizers and if possible, match S/N's with array location for future reference.

[NJturtlePower]

Small point: If you don't have a record already, record the serial numbers of the panels and if appropriate, the optimizers and if possible, match S/N's with array location for future reference.

Good tip! I snapped a picture of the panel S/N listing and I think I saw the optimizer S/N decals on the boxes. I'll ask the guys to save and of that stuff for me.

As far as linking the S/N's to the arrays, dunno about that but isn't any of that info already tagged in the SolarEdge portal?