Energy Usage and Solar System
With solar - NO days the same.
FREE SOLAR ADVICE
EVERYTHING in my house runs on electricity.
Florida sun close to 365 days a year -
DO I NEED TO SAY MORE.
Close to 100% of the numbers you see here is MY actual readings and I am not trying to persuade anyone to do anything.
I'm just having fun with solar and the reward is $$$ saved.
Daily examples showing the energy used from the power grid. These days the best so far mostly because the temperature was at a comfortable 70 to 73 degrees. The 6 and 7PM is dinner cooking time so if the house is consuming more than the system can provide then power is taken from the grid. Below from March 3rd 2022 with temperature at 71 degrees and cloudy afternoon.
Average on the day 0.14kWh rate/h.
The graph above clearly shows the difference between the energy use over TWO years. I added 5 new panels on Sep 2nd 2022 so I am now at 3900W total and that's it. Now Oct 05 2023 and it has been a fantastic year and to be honest the battery upgrade
I did in Feb this year 2023 made an unbelievable difference.
Waiting to see how everything is holding up.
Easy to see the difference in $ savings - it's $1071.64
By the way, EVERYTHING in the house runs on electric.
Installed new 280Ah 14kWh battery bank on Feb18th 2023 and the difference is fantastic!
Before I installed the new battery bank, the overflow from the solar array was wasted due to the fact that there was no place to store the extra energy. That's a result of not selling back to the grid. The power company is only paying back a certain amount compared to what they charge. It's a DIY system and only the sub-panel and "grid-inverter" were installed by professional electrician.
My power bills from 2022 and 2023 - see difference in price per kWh. It is nice to be almost independent and as long I can get my components to perform, I cannot care less about the energy prices when they go up.
Example - this image from the internet showing the clear difference (blue section with tracking)
between fixed panels and with tracking.
Solar panels on single axis designed with tracking systems can generate 30% more electricity since they follow the position of the sun. More electricity production is especially helpful if you're on a variable electricity rate plan (like time-of-use). More power generation means you need fewer panels.
In this image shows a typical day, where the production stays almost flat for around 8 hours, because of the tracking system.
Doing the day couple of clouds and after 4pm the clouds are braking the line.
This image shows the production curb over the same time as in image 1 with total day production of 21.1kWh
I'm very careful with my use of info and really trying to get from
the best sources and NOT just what I want to hear.
There is so much informative reading so you really have
to look hard and not to get sucked in to misleading info!!
Click HERE to see trusted site. Or HERE to see some suggestions.
Keep on reading lots of links HERE
The one below is from CLICK HERE
It's a bit of a crazy system but who cares as long as it works -
and the price is right! - Right.?. SEE ARRAY FROM GOOGLE EARTH.
NON-GRID AND "GRID TIDE" SYSTEM. 3900W SOLAR ARRAY. WITH SUN TRACKER E-W - AND FIXED TO 33 DEGREES N-S. The system has everything needed. The power during daytime will all depend on length of day and amount of sunlight. My average kWh production per day is around 17 kWh with 14kWh backup but the amount of stored backup power will all come down to usage versa sunshine during a typical day. The amount of kWh purchased from the grid will all depend on usage. The 14kWh backup power is covering all essentials like 2 refrigerators and almost all house lights, coffee maker, small toaster oven, office mini split AC, computers, modem and router, and TVs.
​
The sub-panel can also be used in connection with gas, diesel and propane emergency generators. Same type of connector.
I get enough emergency power, to keep my house essentials running for around 30 hours.
(with fully charged battery and without any power from solar array)
Reason for always having off-grid inverter connected through the sub-panel and running 24/7 is that I always have power, whenever grid goes down. I can be working in my office on my computer and never know that the grid power went down, only to finding out when my wife is yelling from kitchen or living room - did you do something??
​
It is "grid tied" 240V 60Hz but with L1 and L2 limiter installed the system never feeds the grid. In other words if NO power from the grid, only the non-grid tide system will be working as backup and exactly the reason why I got started on the system in the first place, BACKUP!!
My max production has been recorded to just over 22 kWh on March 16, this number will increase as the days get longer, hopefully it will reach close to 23 kWh, only time will show and it's probably being a little overoptimistic because of the fixed 33 degrees.The system is tuned to get the most out of what I have without putting too much stress on any of the components. My biggest problem was the battery backup, but I found 16 EVE LF280K so now I'm a happy SUNNUT under the Florida sun.
​
Easy removal of panels when hurricane is threatening. I want to make sure panels are safe. It took us less then one hour (my helper and me) and all panels were down safe. It's a strong setup but so is the wind of a hurricane, better safe than sorry and make sure we have power at all times, also after a hurricane !!
Power from 3500W inverter/charger and 14kWh battery to:
Garage door opener.
Refrigerator/freezer in garage.
Refrigerator/freezer in kitchen.
Coffee maker.
Toaster oven. Can not run at the same time!
Corner light in family room.
Lights guest bedroom hallway.
Lights and fan guest bathroom.
Lights in guest bedroom.
TV in guest bedroom.
Fans in lanai.
All lights in lanai.
Power outside for Green Mountain Grill.
Fan in office.
All lights office.
Split AC in office.
All outlets in office.
Computer in office.
Modem and Router.
Contact Me Hans
Address
4217 17th Ave N
St.Petersburg FL 33713