Janice and I finally got our Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) panels installed and
certified at the end of July 2007. We've already
generated our twentyseventh megawatt (and counting) since it was turned on in mid
June 2007.
There are 18 panels on each pole, each of the panels is 220 watts, so 18 x 220 = 3960 watts are available from each array during peak sun. A string of Nine (5.5amp x 40volt) modules are wired in series to produce up to 360 volts at 5.5amps, and two of these strings are wired in parallel to create one "array" on each pole of 360v x11 amps max. There is a long cable in conduit underground running to the workshop, where the high voltage DC (between 300 and 400 volts, depending on amount of sun) is converted to household 220 volt AC power.
It generally has been generating about 35 to 40 kilowatthours (Kwh) per day in the summer, which is 4 times our summer usage. In the winter, we expect output will be less than our daily usage. Over the year, I will keep production records to see how it averages out.
The system was installed by Renovus Energy taking about six months. Total power is 8000 watts, which will power our house on the shortest day of the year (Dec 21), assuming that the sun is shining. On the best power day this year we generated over 55kwh. You can see a chart of past energy usage on the logfiles page.
We are Grid-Tied (which means that we generate energy into the public utility grid), and my power meter actually spins backwards. New York state has a great organization called NYSERDA which offers financial incentives of almost 50% to install renewable energy.
This equipment is Sunpower brand. We have 36 of the 220 watt solar panels, two 4000 watt AC inverters, and lots of conduit, wire, switches, meters, and circuit breakers in the shop, and it powers all buildings on the property. There is a remote monitor inside of the house on the wall, which allows us to see historical data, and current statistics. I have attached a Lantronix serial-to-ethernet adapter to the inverters, so I can poll them via computer software which I ftp to this website.
Click on the picture for the current power generation status page (which gets updated automatically every 10 minutes). There is also a historical log.