Solar Report for October 2023

October is the transition point of this year. From the end of March on, the west side has outperformed solar generation of each of the other two sides. Technically, the west still outproduced each side, but if all things were equal, the east side would have edged it out.

The west produced 137.2 kwh, the east 119.6 and the south 119.7. This tells us a few things:

1. The trees on the east still have leaves so are hampering production - after all, the south side has 1 less panel than the east side
2. The sun trajectory has changed quite a bit and is now setting more to the southwest.
3. The west side (which is actually WNW) production will soon fall behind the production of the south side. Taking the average panel production of the east side, dividing it by the number of panels, then adding that to the total actual production, the south side would have edged out the west side by about 2 kwh

Again, as it has been since about the beginning of June, October month was extremely cloudy. We didn't get much rain, but dang, I only saw the sun a couple of days during the month. Some days it was dang near dark as can be seen by the days there was very little production (blue is production and orange is total usage).

So depending on how sunny November is (it's not looking good these first 5 days), electrical production probably won't keep up with my usage and I'll start eating into my credits from net metering. Actually, this is a given. On November 1st, I shut off the main floor pellet stove and started using the mini split to heat for the following reasons:

• Electric prices are cheap right now - half what they were this time last year,
• Thusly, I am making squat for overages ($6.18 for October), so there is no reason to try. I "sold" the 134 kwh (net overage) for about $30.00. After non-refundable fees of various types (like being hooked up to a meter at all), I made a total of $6.18
• I have $763 "banked" from the net metering
• Pellet prices are very high this year at $350/ton for the middling stuff that I usually burn. So, although the 4 tons I have were bought 1.5-2 years ago and didn't actually didn't cost me much (probably $800-900), their actual value is at $1,400. I'll save the tonnage that doesn't go into the basement stove for when it is really cold and windy out.

I did start the basement stove up the beginning of last week to keep it in the mid 60's. Of course that is the only heat down there and it also serves to keep the main floor floors warmer. And at this point, it is only firing a couple times a day since the ground isn't very cold yet.

Currently, this year (not counting Nov-Dec of 2022), I have produced about 6.4 mwh. Doesn't look like I'll get to 7 mwh, but that is still an impressive number - especially for the abundance of non-sunny weather we've had the last 6 months.

Comments

[Cop Car]

I hadn't tumbled to the fact that although East & West sides have different configurations, they have equal numbers of panels. I don't think that anyone could complain about the production you've been achieving, nor argue with your management of your heating systems. As long as you stay warm, I'm happy.

[bogie]

The configurations are different because the chimney is on the east side. Since I asked them to place those panels as close to the peak as possible (since trees are on that side), they had to work around the the obstruction.

The west side has no obstructions, and they located them toward the edge of the roof, so the resulting shape is more symmetrical.

7 panels for thee ast and west sides (each), with 6 on the south side (as many as would fit), for a total of 20 panels.