Priscilla Papers

THE SOLAR PROJECT - AUGUST - THE THIRD MONTH.

2010-08-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

This year (2010) we decided the time had come to add photo voltaic (solar) panels to our house. The installer of choice was Real Solar Goods of Temecula and due to the good programs at Sun Run they were easily affordable. The installation was due to commence June 16th, but due to changes in their schedules they were able to fit us in during May. The process was finally completed in June due to waits for the neccessary inspections by the various authorities. I can tell you it is a blast to see the electricity meter running backwards and the reading showing that you actually contributed clean energy to the grid.

See my post on Sweet Solar Home (SunRun site)!
Lots of good information here too:
http://www.sunrunhome.com/blog/2010/07/ted-guest-post/

My YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/abbeykid#p/u/0/sEJsg8KJO5E

My Facebook Link:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100000865727262

Other solar panel blogs:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bgoodsel/solar/blog.htm

Neat things!
NOAA's solar calculator - a real handy little gadget this. Plug in your city or lat./long., date and time of day and up pops some useful figures: http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/sunrise/azel.html
Solar Calculator
Estimate your savings from a Solar Panel Installation! http://www.sunrunhome.com/get-started/solar-calculator

Electric Cars Guide

Electric Vehicle Guide

Electric Cars Info

Here's something that's not related to this subject at all, but a worthy cause - Animal Acres. Link: http://www.animalacres.org/rescues/urgent_100730.html

August is here already! As I write this it is 8;30 a.m. and the 'Gloom' is with us, and according to the forecast we shall have it in varying degrees the rest of the week at least. The daylight hours decrease by 0.63 hrs. over July and the average sunlight hours by 0.7 hrs. Therefore the average production should decrease by about 6.4% - we will see how that prediction pans out!

08/01/10. Meter Reading=34607 KwHrs. -8 KwHrs. E-total=1404 KwHrs. E-today=29.25 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.25. Overcast clearing mid-morning, some high clouds all day. Not a bad start considering conditions, but maybe because the Pollution Standard Index (PSI) was good it affected production. I have to report the PSI every day as their is another factor involved in the panels output!
08/02/10. Meter Reading=34597 KwHrs. -10 KwHrs. E-total= 1433 KwHrs. E-today=29.09 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.17. Overcast breaking up mid-morning. Scattered high clouds the rest of the day. PSI good, 0-50.
08/03/10. Meter Reading=34585 KwHrs. -12 KwHrs. E-total=1465 KwHrs. E-today=31.93 KwHrs - great production! Av. daily KwHrs=30.55. Overcast cleared early, high clouds left before mid-day, clear sky thereafter. PSI good, 0-50. Ran clothes washer.
08/4/10. Meter Reading=34573 KwHrs. -12 KwHrs. E-total=1495 KwHrs. E-today=30.46 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=30.50. Weather similar to yesterday, only clearing a little later. Ran clothes dryer.

Southern California Edison still can't get it right! They persist on giving me their 'guesstimated' reads, despite arrangements having been made for them to have access to the meter. Then one of their 'reps' comes while we were out, leaves a note and says he has read the meter. Only trouble is, his figures are wrong (again) and the time he put on the note was when we were home, in fact I was working in the area next to the meter! Don't you think we (my dog was there with me) would have noticed him?

08/05/10. Meter Reading=34565 KwHrs. -8 KwHrs. E-total=1520 KwHrs. E-today=25.14 Kwhrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=27.82. It's b-a-a-a-ck! June Gloom! Heavy overcast not clearing until after mid-day. P.S.I. good, 0-50.
08//06/10. Meter Reading=34552 KwHrs. - 13 KwHrs. E-total=1550 KwHrs. E-today=29.25 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.53. Overcast clearing mid-morning. PSI good, 0-50.
08/07/10. Meter Reading=34548 KwHrs. - 4 KwHrs. E-total=1574 KwHrs. E-today=24.45 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=26.49. Overcast started to clear mid-day. PSI good, 0-50.
08/08/10. Meter Reading=34543 KwHrs. -5 KwHrs. E-total=1599 Kwhrs. E-today=24.84 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=25.66. Overcast started to clear mid-day. PSI good, 0-50.
08/09/10. Meter Reading=34531 KwHrs. -12 KwHrs. E-total=1627 Kwhrs. E-today=28.45 KwHrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=27.05. Overcast clearing mid-morning, generally bright and sunny after. PSI good, 0-50.
08/10/10. Meter Reading=34520 Kwhrs. -11 Kwhrs. E-total=1656 KwHrs. E-today=28.97 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.01. Overcast clearing a little earlier today, clear skies after. Air Quality good/moderate. PSI 0-50/50-100. A little more television use today resulted in less KwHrs being 'banked.'
08/11/10. Meter Reading=34504 KwHrs. -16 KwHrs. E-total=1687 KwHrs. E-today=30.37 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.19. Overcast clearing early a.m. Day clear. Air Quality good. PSI=0-50
08/12/10. Meter Reading=34496mKwHrs. -8 KwHrs. E-total=1716 Kwhrs. E-today=28.7 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.94. Overcast clearing mid-morning. Day clear. A.Q. good. PSI=0-50. Ran clothes washer, drier and dish washer.
08/13/10. Meter Reading=34486KwHrs. -10KwHrs. E-total=1744 KwHrs. E-today=28.26 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.60. Weather same as yesterday. AQ good, PSI=0-50.
08/14/10. Meter Reading=34476 KwHrs. -10 KwHrs. E-total=1771 KwHrs. E-today=26.67 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=27.63. Weather slowly starting to clear by mid-morning, clear skies after. AQ good, PSI=0-50.
08/15/10. Meter Reading=34463 KwHrs. -13 KwHrs. E-total=1800 KwHrs. E-today=29.84 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.73. Weather starting to clear by mid-morning, clear skies after with some high clouds. AQ good, PSI=0-50.
08/16/10. Meter Reading=34453 KwHrs. -10 KwHrs. E-total=1830 KwHrs. E-today=29.04 KwHrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=28.88. PSI=50-100. AQ moderate. Clear early, then marine layer creeps in with onshore winds, finally clearing early a.m., starting to return about 5:00 p.m. Although we had more apparent 'sunshine hours' today, output was a little lower. Was the higher PSI count to blame? Need more figures to verify this.
FLASH! Our latest Southern California Edison bill was $0.00! After much back and forth with SCE about their meter 'reading' practices, our amended bill was the above amount. When was the last time your bill was zero? WOOHOO! Oh, and by the way our 'cumulative tracked energy total' is -$18.85.
08/17/10. Meter Reading=3446 KwHrs. -7 KwHrs. E-total=1858 Kwhrs. E-today=28.66 KwHrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=28.77. PSI=50. AQ moderate. Clear all day, but output less. Due to higher PSI? Expected higher output. Ran clothes washer twice.
08/18/10. Meter Reading=34445 KwHrs. -1 KwHrs. E-total=1883 Kwhrs. E-today=24.72 KwHrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=26.48. AQ good. PSI=0-50. Monsoonal clouds did not clear until mid-day, hot & clear after. Ran air conditioner.
08/19/10. Meter Reading=34434 Kwhrs. -11 KwHrs. E-total=1912 Kwhrs. E-today=28.88 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=27.68. AQ good. PSI=0-50. Clear all day - no overcast. Shorter daylight hours, not sunshine hours are now contributing to lower outputs.
08/20/10. Meter Reading=34424 KwHrs. -10 KwHrs. E-total=1941 KwHrs. E-today=29.52 Kwhrs. Av. daily 28.60. Conditions same as yesterday. Here's a couple of points to ponder, Conditions same as the previous day yet generated nearly a KwHr of power extra. Why? Less pollution that was not forecast? Somewhere we used an extra 2 KwHrs!
08/21/10. Meter Reading=34410 KwHrs. -14 KwHrs. E-total=1971 KwHrs. E-today=30.07 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.33. Conditions same as yesterday. AQ good. PS1=0-50. I washed down the panels early a.m. today, it seems to have squeezed out another .5 Kwhrs. I have an idea for washing the panels that does not involve me doing a lot of climbing up and down a ladder and should be more efficient - not to mention easier. If it's easier, it wil get done more often - right? I've seen some systems for doing this on the web, but this would be a "poor man's" system.
08/22/10. Meter Reading=34402 KwHrs. -8 Kwhrs. E-total=2001 KwHrs. E-today=29.93 KwHrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=29.63. AQ good/moderate. PSI 0-100. Bright and sunny with some high clouds in the afternoon - this seems to have slightly reduced output along with more smog. Ran dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer.
08/23/10. Meter Reading=34386 KwHrs. -16 KwHrs. E-total=2032 KwHrs. E-today= 31.00 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=30.31. AQ moderate. PSI= 50-100. Higher PSI does not appear to have materially affected output. Out most of the day - very low energy use.
08/24/10. Meter Reading=34392 KwHrs. +6 KwHrs. E-total=2061 KwHrs. E-today= 28.82 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=30.31. AQ moderate. PSI= 50-100. Clear all day. Smog a problem? Very hot, Ran A/C, clothes washer (2) and dryer (2) - high energy use.
08/25/10. Meter Reading=34396 KwHrs. +4 KwHrs. E-total=2089 KwHrs. E-today= 27.98 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.14. AQ moderate. PSI= 50-100. Clear until mid-afternoon when monsoonal clouds obscured 90% of the sky. Humid & hot, Ran A/C, clothes washer.
08/26/10. Meter Reading=34390 KwHrs. -6 KwHrs. E-total=2118 KwHrs. E-today= 28.56 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.85. AQ moderate. PSI= 50-100. Clear until mid-afternoon when some clouds appeared. Humid & hot. Ran clothes washer, dryer & dishwasher.
08/27/10. Meter Reading=34378 KwHrs. -12 KwHrs. E-total=2148 KwHrs. E-today= 30.39 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.62. AQ good. PSI=0-50. Weather clear, cool & breezy. Marine layer setting in around 6:00 p.m. Did breeze push smog out? Good, unexpected output! Ran dishwasher.
08/28/10. Meter Reading=34371 KwHrs. -7 KwHrs. E-total=2174 KwHrs. E-today= 25.74 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=27.68. AQ good. PSI=0-50. Weather overcast, clearing late morning. Ran dishwasher.
08/29/10. Meter Reading=34359 KwHrs. -12 KwHrs. E-total=2203 KwHrs. E-today= 28.74 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.21. AQ good. PSI=0-50. Weather overcast, clearing early morning. Breezy.
08/30/10. Meter Reading=34345 KwHrs. -14 KwHrs. E-total=2232 KwHrs. E-today= 29.43 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.76. AQ good. PSI=0-50. Mostly clear all day. Breezy.
08/31/10. Meter Reading=34335 KwHrs. -10 KwHrs. E-total=2262 KwHrs. E-today= 29.73 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.24. AQ good. PSI=0-50. Clear and breezy. Ran clothes washer & dishwasher.

THE SOLAR PROJECT - JULY - THE SECOND MONTH.

2010-07-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

This year (2010) we decided the time had come to add photo voltaic (solar) panels to our house. The installer of choice was Real Solar Goods of Temecula and due to the good programs at Sun Run they were easily affordable. The installation was due to commence June 16th, but due to changes in their schedules they were able to fit us in during May. The process was finally completed in June due to waits for the neccessary inspections by the various authorities. I can tell you it is a blast to see the electricity meter running backwards and the reading showing that you actually contributed clean energy to the grid!

See my post on Sweet Solar Home (SunRun site)!
Lots of good information here too:
http://www.sunrunhome.com/blog/2010/07/ted-guest-post/

My YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/abbeykid#p/u/0/sEJsg8KJO5E

My Facebook Link:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100000865727262

Other solar panel blogs:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bgoodsel/solar/blog.htm

Neat things!
NOAA's solar calculator - a real handy little gadget this. Plug in your city or lat./long., date and time of day and up pops some useful figures: http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/highlights/sunrise/azel.html

Here's something that's not related to this subject at all, but a worthy cause - Animal Acres. Link: http://www.animalacres.org/rescues/urgent_100730.html

Well, here we go on the second month, I'm looking for the June gloom to leave us, but as I write this, it is about 10:00 a.m. and we are still socked in! The panels are producing of course but at about 25% capacity, but historically this month has an average 1.4 hours more of sunshine than June, even though the average daylight hours are 0.3 less. Should be interesting!
Here are some daily figures:
07/01/10. Meter Reading=34783. -2 KwHrs. E-total=641.5. E-today=20.84. Av. daily KwHrs for month=20.84. Overcast clearing mid-afternoon. Ran clothes washer. Low sunshine hours resulted in low KwHrs credited.
07/02/10. Meter Reading=34776. -7 KwHrs. E-total=673.2 KwHrs. E-today=31.66! Av.daily KwHrs for month=26.25. Overcast cleared mid-morning, good sunshine from then until dark! Ran clothes washer (1) & dryer (2). Rinsed panels, but they need soaping and rubbing with soft brush for a good clean job.
07/03/10. Meter Reading=34768. -8KwHrs. E-total=697.0 KwHrs. E-today=23.74 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs for month=24.99. Overcast, started to clear late morning, returning late evening.
07/04/10 Meter Reading=34767. -1 KwHrs. E-total=717.4 KwHrs. E-today=20.34 KwHrs. Av.daily KwHrs=22.66. Overcast, not clearing until early p.m.
07/05/10 Meter Reading=34773. +6 Kwhrs. E-total=730.9 KwHrs. E-today=13.43 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=18.01. Heavy overcast not starting to clear until 3:00 p.m. Ran dishwasher, clothes washing m/c and drier.
07/06/10 Meter Reading=34773. 0 KwHrs - Output balanced input! E-total=746.3. E-today=15.09 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=16.55 KwHrs. Early a.m. drizzle, overcast clearing mid-afternoon.
07/07/10 Meter Reading=34769. -4 Kwhrs. E-total=764.3 KwHrs. E-today= 17.97 Kwhrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=17.26. Overcast, but not so dense, clearing early p.m. Maybe we are leaving our extended period of "June Gloom?"
07/08/10 Meter Reading=34769. 0 KwHrs. E-total=781.7 KwHrs. E-today=17.36 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=17.31. Drizzle early a.m. Overcast clearing mid-afternoon, still waiting for that glorious July sunshine! What used the extra 2 KwHrs?
07/09/10 Meter Reading=34764. -5 KwHrs. E-total=803.4 KwHrs. E-today=21.67 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=19.49. Overcast, clearing around noon.
07/10/10 Meter Reading=34761. -3 KwHrs. E-total=822.1 E-today=18.41 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=18.95. Drizzle early a.m., only partial clearing. Monsoonal moisture bringing clouds p.m.
07/11/10 Meter Reading=34762. +1 KwHr. E-total=843.1 KwHrs. E-today=20.94 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=19.94. Overcast until noon, cleared mid-afternoon, some monsoonal clouds - mostly sunny. Ran washer, drier and dish washer. Big TV ran a long time.
07/12/10 Meter Reading=34749. -13 KwHrs. E-total=873.3 KwHrs. E-today=30.12 KwHrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=25.53. Overcast cleared by early morning, clear the rest of the day.Great production - this is what I was looking for in July! Day is 25 minutes shorter than 6/17/10 record production on that date of 31.42 KwHrs - did that make the difference in power production of 1.3 Kwhrs?
07/13/10 Meter Reading=34737. -12 KwHrs. E-total=903.8 Kwhrs. E-today=30.45 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs= 27.99. Day dawned bright and clear - clear all day. Expected more total output - it was less than June's best total output under similar conditions! Peak readings were definitely lower than June's peak readings. Reasons? Possible answers - dusty panels? (clean them), shorter day (25 mins. less), sun lower in the sky (have to look up sun's angles) making a difference already.
FLASH!! I'VE FOUND THE SOLUTION TO THE "SUN'S ANGLE" - NOAA'S SOLAR CALCULATOR - I'VE INSERTED THE LINK NEAR THE TOP OF THE PAGE UNDER 'NEAT THINGS.' FOR EXAMPLE, THERE IS A 3 DEGREE DIFFERENCE OF SUN'S ELEVATION ABOVE HORIZON FROM JUNE 21st TO JULY 21st. NOW I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE IN RADIATION REACHING MY SOLAR PANELS.
07/14/10 Meter Reading=34727. -10 KwHrs. E-total=934.2 KwHrs. E-today=30.38 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.35. Day dawned bright and clear - clear all day. Rinsed down panels early a.m. - no increase in ouput. Ran A/C.
07/15/10 Meter Reading=34740. +13 KwHrs. E-total=963.2 KwHrs. E-today=29.04 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.19. Day dawned bright and clear but partially cloudy be mid-afternoon - monsoonal clouds. Ran A/C, clothes washer and dryer. Total energy consumed for the day = 32 KwHrs. I guess we still have to use the 'grid' for our energy hungry options - I guess I'll go back to using our 'solar clothes dryer', the clothes line! I should be doing that anyway, having solar panels is no excuse for consuming when we can, and should, be conserving!
07/16/10 Meter Reading=34738. -2KwHrs. E-total=993.9 KwHrs. E-today=30.61 KwHrs. Av.daily KwHrs=29.9. Some clouds around due to residual monsoonal activity. Ran A/C and clothes drier. The output of 30.61 KwHrs was a surprise because of the cloudy conditions. There must be other factors at play here - and this is just speculation - the rain that came with the monsoonal conditions in some areas (we did not get any) cleared the air of smog/contaminents allowing more solar radiation through. The Pollution Standard Index (PSI) Forecast for today (per The Orange County Register) was good, 0-50 PSI, other days it has been moderate, 51-100 PSI. This, I think, could give some validation to my theory, although, obviously more readings would be necessary.
07/17/10 Meter Reading=34758. +10 KwHrs. E-total=1024 KwHrs. E-today=30.21 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=30.05. Bright and clear all day. PSI=50-100, moderate. Output a little less than yesterday despite the clear, cloudless sky. Pollution? Ran A/C, clothes washer and dryer, dishwasher.
Due to events I was unable to do my daily observations from 07/18/10 through 07/26/10, but now normal service will be resumed. I am, however, posting a summary based on my SunRun account page of the missing days. From what I see, the weather has not been the best for generation - a return of the DREADED 'JUNE GLOOM!' One mitigating factor has been the relatively low consumption of energy during this period.
7/18/10. E-today=31 KwHrs. Av. dai.ly KwHrs=30.52.
7/19/10. E-today=29 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.76.
7/20/10. E-today=16 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=22.88.
7/21/10. E-today=14 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=18.44.
7/22/10. E-today=20 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=19.22.
7/23/10. E-today=26 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=22.61.
7/24/10. E-today=31 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=26.80.
7/25/10. E-today=25 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=25.90.
7/26/10. E-today=21 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=23.45.
7/26/10 Meter Reading=34657. -101 KwHrs.
07/27/10. Meter Reading=34659. +2 KwHrs. E-total=1259 KwHrs. E-today=20.29 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs= 21.87 KwHrs. Overcast, again, until mid-day, clearing with monsoonal clouds around. Ran clothes washer and dryer twice each.
07/28/10. Meter Reading=34642. -17 KwHrs. E-total=1289 KwHrs. E-today=31.56 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=26.71. Day bright and clear from morning to night. I don't think we will get better generation than this from now on due to declining day-light hours!
07/29/10. Meter Reading=34631. -11 Kwhrs. E-total=1320 KwHrs. E-today=31.28 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.99. Day bright and clear, same as yesterday. Generation slightly less - to be expected. Ran clothes washer.
07/30/10. Meter Reading=34620. -11 KwHrs. E-total=1350 KwHrs. E-today=29.95 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=29.47. Partly overcast until mid-morning. Some clouds around the rest of the day. Ran clothes drier.
07/31/10. Meter Reading=34615. -5 KwHrs. E-total=1374 KwHrs. E-today=24.00 KwHrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=26.75. Overcast heavier and more persistent. Some clouds present all day.

SUMMARY FOR MONTH
Energy produced = 732.5 KwHrs. Energy consumed = 564.5 KwHrs. Energy credited = 168 KwHrs. AVERAGE DAILY KWHRS. FOR MONTH = 26.75. Total energy credited so far = 356 KwHrs.
Increase/Decrease in production over last month = +16.9%. Increase/Decrease in consumption = +33.6%.
Increase/Decrease Daily KwHrs = +19%. Cumulative Average KwHrs = 24.79.
Although the average daily KwHrs increased by 19% it could have been better - limited by the 'June Gloom' making a return several times. This month has been unseasonably cool! According to historical records the average daylight hours decreased 0.3 hours from June, whereas the average sunlight hours increased in July over June by 1.4 hrs for the Los Angeles area. This is an increase in sunlight hours of 14.6% - so maybe the production was not so bad after all! The 33.6% increase in consumption is mainly due to installation and use of our new electric water heater and clothes dryer - mainly the clothes dryer, I think. August's energy use could be higher if we get some typical weather - hot and more humid - and we run the air conditioner. I will try to use our 'solar clothes dryer,' the clothes line and see what a difference that makes.

THE SOLAR PROJECT - JUNE - THE FIRST MONTH.

2010-06-08T09:10:00.000-07:00

This year (2010) we decided the time had come to add photo voltaic (solar) panels to our house. The installer of choice was Real Solar Goods of Temecula and due to the good programs at Sun Run they were easily affordable. The installation was due to commence June 16th, but due to changes in their schedules they were able to fit us in during May. The process was finally completed in June due to waits for the neccessary inspections by the various authorities. I can tell you it is a blast to see the electricity meter running backwards and the reading showing that you actually contributed clean energy to the grid!

See my post on Sweet Solar Home (SunRun site)!
Lots of good information here too:
http://www.sunrunhome.com/blog/2010/07/ted-guest-post/

My YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/abbeykid#p/u/0/sEJsg8KJO5E
My Facebook Link:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100000865727262

Other solar panel blogs:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bgoodsel/solar/blog.htm

          Here are some daily figures - the first few is me messing around with the system as I was not supposed to turn it on, but I could not resist turning the switch and seeing what happens! The readings are all taken early a.m.

06/03/2010 Meter reading - 34973
06/04/2010 Meter reading 34977
06/05/2010 Meter reading 34998. +21 units. Operated 4 hrs.
06/06/2010 Meter reading 35003. +5 units Operated 2 hrs.
06/07/2010 Meter reading 35018. +15 units Officially turned on at 11:30 a.m. Weather clear and sunny
06/08/2010 Meter reading 35002. -16 units. You can see here we have generated excess power back to the grid. This was because of plenty of sun and low power use. This day started off with heavy overcast and light drizzle. The system was starting up and producing by 7:00 a.m.
06/09/10 Meter reading 35001. -1 units. Weather same as yesterday in the morning but plenty of bright sun in the afternoon.
06/10/10. Meter reading 34990. -11 units. June gloom early but sun breaking through mid-morning. We had to turn system off at about 11:00 a.m pending final inspection from Huntington Beach city. System back on at 3:00 p.m. Passed final inspection - at last!
06/11/10 Meter reading 34992. -2 units due to system being off 4 hrs. at most productive time of the day. Partly cloudy all day. Total Kwh.=96.0 at a.m. reading. Total Kwh.=119.3 at 6:30 p.m. Today's Kwh. 23.8. produced
06/12/10. Meter reading 34981. -11 units. June gloom, clearing p.m. At 7:00 p.m. - Meter reading 34963 -18 units. Total KwHrs=145.4. Today's KwHrs=25.89. Av. daily Kwhrs/day=24.845
6/13/10. Meter reading 34949. -14 units. June gloom, clearing p.m. E-total=173.3 KwHrs..            E-today=27.81 Kwhrs. Av. daily. KwHrs=26.347.
6/14/10. Meter Reading 34934. -15 units. June gloom, clearing early. E-total=202.6 KwHrs.        E-today=29.3 KwHrs. Best days production so far! Av. daily. KwHrs=27.823.
6/15/10. Meter Reading 34915. -19 units. June gloom clearing early. E-total=233 Kwhrs.             E-today=30.42. Best production to date! Av. daily KwHrs=29.125.
Worthy of note today, 6/16/10. Installed an attic extraction fan to help cool the house. It was set at 85 deg. F., when you stand outside you can feel the hot air blowing down on you! After all, why not? It's all free electricity with the solar panels producing energy far in excess of our needs at the moment!
6/16/10. Meter Reading 34911. -4 units. June gloom clearing late. E-total=257.5 Kwhrs. E-today=24.5 KwHrs. Lowest production so far. Av. daily KwHrs=26.81.
6/17/10. Meter reading 34886. -25 units! June gloom clearing early. E-total=289.2 KwHrs. E-today=32.49. Best production so far - keeps going up! Av. daily KwHrs=29.65.
6/18/10. Meter Reading 34888. +2 units. June gloom clearing at noon. E-Total=314.1 KwHrs. E-today=23.86 KwHrs. Low production due to late clouds. Av.daily KwHrs=26.75.
6/19/10. Meter Reading 34879. -9 units. June gloom clearing late morning. E-total=344 KwHrs. E-today=29.97 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.36.
Worthy of note today, 6/19/10. Removed gas clothes dryer and installed all-electric clothes dryer. We did not intend to do this yet, but when we went to Home Depot for an electric hot water heater (we intend to use this new source of energy to its utmost!) out of curiosity we looked at the electric clothes dryers. Lo and behold, there was a "top of the line" demonstration model for sale, with the discounts etc, it was about $300 under retail. I hesitated for a while, not really wanting to buy a hot water heater and dryer all at once as the total layout was a bit intimidating. I reasoned that we were going to do it anyway, why not now? After all the money is the same - now or later! How will this affect the meter readings, the credited power? Stay tuned! Also put an extra pump with UV unit in pond for better water circulation and to keep the damned algae down. Electric water heater going in next week. Will our system be able to handle this extra demand? We are now, I think, approaching the time of best power production, long days and long hours of sunshine.
6/20/10. Meter Reading 34853. -26 units. Best credit day yet, due to June gloom clearing by mid-morning and that we were out all afternoon so there was low power usage. E-total=373.1 KwHrs. E-today=29.01 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.68. I was a little surprised that the E-today was not higher due to the gloom clearing fairly early. I wonder how often I should wash the panels? They look dirty already.
6/21/10. Meter Reading=34843. -10 units. E-total=400.3 KwHrs. E-today=27.06 KwHrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=27.07. Heavy overcast, clearing late to broken clouds, not 100% clear until mid-afternoon. Today was the longest day, but output was lower due to cloud cover.
6/22/10. Meter Reading=34827. -16 units. E-total=430.9 Kwhrs. E-today=30.58 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.82. June gloom cleared completely by mid-morning.
6/23/10. Meter Reading=34814. -13units. E-total=458.9 KwHrs. E-today=27.93 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=28.37. June gloom, clearing late.
6/24/10. Meter Reading 34807. -7 units. Ran electric dryer, less units credited. E-total=488.8 KwHrs. E-today=29.85. Av.daily KwHrs=29.11. June gloom, breaking by 9:00 a.m., cleared by mid-day.
6/25/10. Meter Reading=34083. -4 units. Low credit due to running clothes dryer & washer several times and late clearing of overcast. E-total=513.4 Kwhrs. E-today=24.6 KwHrs. Av. daily Kwhrs=26.85. One of the lowest productions due to overcast not clearing until after noon.
6/26/10. Meter Reading=34795. -8 units. E-total=537.9 KwHrs. E-today=24.58 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=25.71. Heavy overcast (light drizzle early a.m.) starting to clear at 11:00 a.m. - this produced a low output.
6/27/10. Meter Reading=34794. -1 unit. E-total=562.8 KwHrs. E-today=24.84 Kwhrs. Av. daily KwHrs=25.27. Heavy overcast, never cleared completely all day.
Worthy of note: Installed electric water heater. The clothes washer & dryer were plus start up of water heater consumed more energy with overcast resulted in low units (1) credited.
6/28/10. Meter Reading=34796. +2 units. E-total=574.3 KwHrs. E-today=11.40 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=18.33.
Worthy of note: Heavy overcast & drizzle a.m. Never cleared all day - weak sunshin through clouds late p.m. This resulted in us using 2 units from the grid. Poorest day's production so far! Some summer! Even the attic fan did not come on!
6/29/10. Meter Reading=34795. -1 unit. E-total=593 KwHrs. E-today=18.66 KwHrs. Av. daily KwHrs=18.50. Heavy overcast again, clearing early p.m. As you can see our daily average has dropped a lot.
6/30/10. Meter Reading=34785. -10 units. E-total-626.6 KwHrs. E-today=27.18 KwHrs. Av.daily KwHrs=22.84. Overcast clearing mid-morning. Kwhrs. excess production for month = 188!
SUMMARY FOR MONTH
Energy produced = 626.6 KwHrs. Energy consumed = 438.6 KwHrs. Energy credited = 188 KwHrs. AVERAGE DAILY KWHRS. FOR MONTH = 22.84. Keeping records like this has made me really aware of how much energy we are using - I will try to conserve more and find out ways to cut our consumption.
Just looked at our bill from S.C.E. for the month of June. Another one of their "estimated read" faux pas! Can you believe they were going to bill us for 740 Kwhrs used? According to them for June our average daily use was 24.67 Kwhrs! I let them know they were severely deficient in math! $152 - My a**!
           On another note, we are satisfied with the performance of our solar panels, we finished up with a credit of 188 Kwhrs - Woohoo! The 'June Gloom' returned with a vengeance for the last part of the month resulting in figures of about 40% of normal production. The addition of extra electrical appliances - pool pumps, water heater, clothes dryer and attic fan seems to have had a noticeable effect on our credited units, it will be interesting to see how all this works out in the fall/winter/spring months especially as I will be thinking of removing our gas cooktop and replacing it with an electric one. Also in the cards (maybe) are electric baseboard heaters, but I might just use free standing electric heaters. For the month of July I will be starting a new blog page, but watch this one as I have yet to recieve the corrected bill from S.C.E. (Southern California Edison).