Topic: solar

Visual data is invaluable for analytics and solar design improvements. This blog will track the type of day and what kind of production it produces for the next seven days. Results will be posted daily and at the end will be used to improve the system. So what's the conclusion? I need to put out more solar panels and add more batteries. ...

Got an early start before sun rise. The solar array's micro inverters communication not reporting issues are finally resolved. Given that the communication is done over the power line, the signal degrades over a distance. The solution is to split the arrays half and center feeding the AC trunk and communications hub in the middle of it so it's closer to the source.   The downside  is I have put the communication hub in the back yard in the metal cabinet. The problem is anything with an RF sig...

Weird. When the system is not connected to the grid , the iq7+ microinverters are not reporting/communicating the data of the individual panels to the gateway, but the live total power production is given. Trying to figure a work around for this. Update: My thought process is this. When the grid is on, it doesn't need to draw as much power from the system. So, signal integrity of the microinverters remain intact since it communicates over the power line. Take the grid away and the signal int...

Started at 7:30pm last night and finished 4:30am this morning.  Drilled mounting holes on the solar panel frames and  installed the Enphase IQ 240v AC micro inverter.  A much simplified setup.   Got rid of all of the DC string wires. Now there is just one  240v AC trunk line that hooks up to the output side side of the 18kw master inverter inside the house. See the rest of the solar install photo album here: https://www.crypto-city.com/photo/album/15231/simplified-solar-ac-coupled-system/ ...

Overnight charging from the grid. If I have 3x the solar panels on the NY property I wouldn't need the grid at all.   The dilemma, even with only 2x I wouldn't have any backyard space left. Not that it can be called a yard to begin with.   Texas, on the other hand, I'll be able to put up to 80 football fields of solar panels if I choose to.

175 watts is the total power being pulled from the grid. 1 x 128 core server and 2 routers.  Half of the solar panels being shaded by 5pm.  I can probably  squeeze more power from the panels and bump the efficiency up a bit if I switch to the enphase 240v micro inverters instead of the current single string 125v grid tie inverter.