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Old 10-05-16, 08:27 AM   #561
gasstingy
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Originally Posted by where2 View Post
I was up on the roof this past week hooking up an anemometer and noted: I should probably wash the panels now that they have been in place for 4 years...
I almost fell over when I read this, it's great! When I first talked to my wife about going solar {we'd seen a few episodes of Living With Ed by then}, she was more than happy for me to build a solar array......as long as I did not put it on the roof. She said she was afraid I'd want to climb up there to clean them {I would} and she knew at some point I'd fall off the roof.

I adjust the tilt twice a year and wash them then. Other times, if I notice they are dirty, I rinse them.....

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Old 10-05-16, 08:28 PM   #562
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I almost fell over when I read this, it's great! When I first talked to my wife about going solar {we'd seen a few episodes of Living With Ed by then}, she was more than happy for me to build a solar array......as long as I did not put it on the roof.
I get enough frequent very hard rain storms to keep the dust to a minimum. What I noticed was that the glass is getting traces of mildew growing on it. If you think falling off the roof is an issue, you'd love that mine are on the second floor roof. It isn't a steep roof by snow climate standards, but the 16' drop wouldn't be pleasant onto concrete or brick.

Looks like the panels are going to get quite a washing in the next 48 hours as Hurricane Matthew comes by.
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Old 10-06-16, 09:08 AM   #563
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The last Hurricane I ran from was Andrew. It afforded an immediate PCS move from Homestead AFB, FL to Moody AFB, GA a lifetime ago.

Keep your head down, will pray for you & yours.
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Old 10-08-16, 10:31 AM   #564
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Keep your head down, will pray for you & yours.
Our grid supply was only down for ~8 hours, and the storm effects we had were very mild. Closed the breakers and put our PV array back online yesterday morning while we were doing storm cleanup in the yard. Only generated 4.93kWh with the cloudy day...
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Old 10-17-16, 10:39 AM   #565
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I took this picture with my drone this weekend.

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Old 10-27-16, 10:31 AM   #566
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This year solar is shaping up to be a good solar year.
Note 2013 I started out with 9.2Kw then upgraded 12.5Kw.

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Old 10-31-16, 07:57 PM   #567
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Our October was the best solar Oct so far. We do need rain real bad 10” behind for the year. But that was good for solar power.
12.5 Kw array
Oct 2016 =1,731 Kwh
Oct 2015=1,347 Kwh
Oct 2014=1,668 Kwh
Oct 2013=1,551 Kwh
Banked for the winter 3,412 KWH

Other solar producers show us your numbers for Oct when you have them.
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Old 11-03-16, 07:58 PM   #568
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4.4kW array
October 2016= 410kWh
October 2015= 452kWh
October 2014= 511kWh
October 2013= 552kWh
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Old 11-30-16, 07:59 PM   #569
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12.5 Kw array we generated 1,333 KWH Nov 2016

My billing was Oct 25 – Nov 22 we made 17 Kwh more than we used.
We now have 3,429 KWH banked for the winter.

Nov 2016 =1,333 Kwh
Nov 2015= 955 Kwh
Nov 2014=1,348 Kwh
Nov 2013=1,322 Kwh

This year is already the second best year. We have a decent chance for this to be the best year so far. But time will tell.



Other solar producers show us your numbers for Nov when you have them.
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Old 12-01-16, 12:45 PM   #570
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I missed last month, so here's Oct & Nov. Oct was 1017 kWh and Nov was 826 kWh.

Our Jan 1 through Nov 30 this year is 9984 kWh. I noticed this because of the 3 full year totals we've been online, 2013 was 9176; 2014 was 10441 and 2015 was 9472. {It's part of what I track on my spreadsheet.} These 11 months have already beaten two of three and we only need 457 kWh for Dec to have greater production than all of them. Of course, we would have really preferred to not have had a drought this year.

We are currently at 57.931% recovered for our solar investment and on track to be completely receeovered in ~ 10.5 years. Have I mentioned lately how thrilled I am to be able to generate power in my back yard from the sunshine we are blessed with?

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