{"id":9261,"date":"2016-10-22T03:01:12","date_gmt":"2016-10-22T08:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/?p=9261"},"modified":"2016-11-03T03:28:42","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T08:28:42","slug":"six-month-update-on-our-solar-panels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/?p=9261","title":{"rendered":"Six-Month Update on Our Solar Panels"},"content":{"rendered":"

We installed our solar panels in March 2016, and they’ve done great! After six months of usage, I put together some numbers in case you’re interested in how they’ve performed. If you missed my initial solar panel post, you can read it here<\/a>. This is a 7.0 kW, 28-panel system facing half east and half west.<\/p>\n

Six-Month Summary<\/strong>
\nHere is a summary of our data from April through September, the half of the year when we get the most sun and use the most electricity due to the air conditioner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/strong><\/td>\nTotal<\/strong><\/td>\n Avg\/Month<\/strong> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Solar Production<\/strong><\/td>\n5343 kWh<\/td>\n891 kWh <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total Usage<\/strong><\/td>\n7612 kWh<\/td>\n1269 kWh <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Energy Sold Back to Power Company<\/strong><\/td>\n2797 kWh<\/td>\n466 kWh <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Energy Produced and Used<\/strong><\/td>\n2546 kWh<\/td>\n424 kWh <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total Financial Benefit (at 10.8c\/kWh)<\/strong><\/td>\n$577<\/td>\n$96.17 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Monthly Data<\/strong>
\nThe panels produced more than we used this spring, so we actually built up a nice credit with Green Mountain Energy for the first couple of months. Then as the temperatures rose and we started using the a\/c, the panels couldn’t produce enough to keep up, so we started using up our credit and finally had to start paying for power again. Here are the details month by month:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Month<\/strong><\/td>\nPower Generated<\/strong><\/td>\n Power Used<\/strong> <\/td>\nEffective Electric Bill<\/strong> <\/td>\nSavings<\/strong> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
April<\/strong><\/td>\n800 kWh<\/td>\n489 kWh <\/td>\n$-33.59<\/td>\n$86.40<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
May<\/strong><\/td>\n837 kWh<\/td>\n812 kWh <\/td>\n$-2.70<\/td>\n$90.40<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
June<\/strong><\/td>\n994 kWh<\/td>\n1503 kWh <\/td>\n$54.97<\/td>\n$107.35<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
July<\/strong><\/td>\n1080 kWh<\/td>\n1623 kWh <\/td>\n$58.64<\/td>\n$116.64<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
August<\/strong><\/td>\n863 kWh<\/td>\n1768 kWh <\/td>\n$97.94<\/td>\n$93.20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
September<\/strong><\/td>\n769 kWh<\/td>\n1417 kWh <\/td>\n$69.98<\/td>\n$72.58<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Estimated vs. Actual Production<\/strong>
\nBefore installing our system, I used the Department of Energy’s PV Watts calculator <\/a>to estimate our production. It was pretty accurate. So far we’re actually producing slightly more than expected, an average of 3.8 percent more during this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Time Period<\/strong><\/td>\nEstimated Production (kWh)<\/strong><\/td>\n Actual Production (kWh)<\/strong> <\/td>\nDifference<\/strong> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
April<\/strong><\/td>\n815<\/td>\n800 <\/td>\n(1.8%) <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
May<\/strong><\/td>\n898<\/td>\n837 <\/td>\n(6.8%) <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
June<\/strong><\/td>\n927<\/td>\n994 <\/td>\n7.2% <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
July<\/strong><\/td>\n942<\/td>\n1080 <\/td>\n14.6% <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
August<\/strong><\/td>\n860<\/td>\n863 <\/td>\n0.3% <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
September<\/strong><\/td>\n705<\/td>\n769 <\/td>\n9.1% <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SIX-MONTH TOTAL<\/strong><\/td>\n5147<\/strong><\/td>\n5343 <\/strong><\/td>\n3.8% <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Conclusion<\/strong>
\nWe are very happy with how well the system is performing. It’s actually doing so well that we hope to add a pergola in our backyard and top it with additional solar panels to generate even more power. From October through March, we’ll largely stop using the air conditioner, so our monthly usage should drop to around 500-550 kWh. At the same time, we’ll obviously be getting less sun, so the savings from the panels won’t be quite as dramatic. I’ll try to post a full-year update in April 2017.<\/p>\n

As always, if you would like any more information, just ask through my contact page<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We installed our solar panels in March 2016, and they’ve done great! After six months of usage, I put together some numbers in case you’re interested in how they’ve performed. If you missed my initial solar panel post, you can … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9261"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9261"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9282,"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9261\/revisions\/9282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andybox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}