New system installed and new to forum

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  • SunEagle
    replied
    Originally posted by RichardCullip
    Here in San Diego County I would be disappointed with your solar production. In spite of more rain and cloudy days than usual my 4kW system (3.88kw inverter) is averaging 500kWh for the past 5 months. I do have a nice mostly south orientation (190deg) with no shade.
    I think the OP has a lower production rate due to the E / W panel orientation and possibly due to the inverter rating

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  • RichardCullip
    replied
    Here in San Diego County I would be disappointed with your solar production. In spite of more rain and cloudy days than usual my 4kW system (3.88kw inverter) is averaging 500kWh for the past 5 months. I do have a nice mostly south orientation (190deg) with no shade.

    Leave a comment:


  • J.P.M.
    replied
    Originally posted by Sando
    I had install completed late 12/2022. System size is 4.4, offset was supposed to be 131%. I have since had heat pump system installed. Jan. production was only 239 kWh. Feb was 297, March so far 305. I went to the power company, they came out and confirmed their meter was working correctly. The solar company confirmed remotely that the panels were okay. I have eleven 400 watt panels facing East and West on a 2 story house in Northern NM. I'm on net metering, no battery. I'm really concerned about whether I have made a mistake in having this system installed since the production has been so low so far and am looking for opinions of others who might have experienced this. I'm hoping the production greatly improves with the longer days/better weather. The app I have is solaredge.
    I lived in NM for several years and travelled widely in the state. FWIW. prettiest place I ever lived.

    While your winter system output is lower, for the same panel orientations and for several reasons including altitude above sea level, low(er) winter temps and winter generally being the dry season in most of NM, your location in northern NM will produce more output in winter that just about any other place in the continental U.S.
    Still, you could have had a rainy winter as much of the SW U.S. has experienced this year.

    As Ampster suggests, do a PVWatts run. I'd only suggest getting the input correct and use a 10% system loos parameter rather than the10 % the model defaults to.

    Given good input, PVWatts is a reasonable model that can give reliable long term average output, especially in climates without a lot of irradiance variation such as yours. However, expect a lot more production come the other 3 seasons.
    Higher tilts in east/west orientations will lower output, particularly in the winter.

    What are your array tilts ?
    What's your zip ?
    Any shading ?
    I will assume the 4.4 number is the system size in STC kW ?
    Did you get an expected monthly output from the vendor ?
    Last edited by J.P.M.; 03-24-2023, 06:20 PM.

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  • Mike 134
    replied
    Originally posted by Ampster
    Winter production is always lower. Run an estimate on PV Watts to see the difference between December and June. Hang in there, the days are getting longer.
    What Ampster said.

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  • SunEagle
    replied
    At least the production values are going up. I agree with Ampster that you should see more during the summer months.

    One of my questions is what type of inverter are you using and what is the rating in kw. In some cases even though you might have 4400 watts of panels the inverter may not be outputing that much. Also due to the E / W orientation you may not get the output you expect or were told.

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  • Ampster
    replied
    Winter production is always lower. Run an estimate on PV Watts to see the difference between December and June. Hang in there, the days are getting longer.

    Leave a comment:


  • Sando
    started a topic New system installed and new to forum

    New system installed and new to forum

    I had install completed late 12/2022. System size is 4.4, offset was supposed to be 131%. I have since had heat pump system installed. Jan. production was only 239 kWh. Feb was 297, March so far 305. I went to the power company, they came out and confirmed their meter was working correctly. The solar company confirmed remotely that the panels were okay. I have eleven 400 watt panels facing East and West on a 2 story house in Northern NM. I'm on net metering, no battery. I'm really concerned about whether I have made a mistake in having this system installed since the production has been so low so far and am looking for opinions of others who might have experienced this. I'm hoping the production greatly improves with the longer days/better weather. The app I have is solaredge.
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