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imnotyourbrahh t1_iy88xyr wrote

Reply to comment by metalandmeeples in 6 Month Solar Panels Update by metalandmeeples

I'm going to use about 50 kWh of banked generation for November. My first time dipping into the pot. On a sunny day I can still generate 20 kWh and we're three weeks from the solstice! I never thought I would produce so much this time of year.

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metalandmeeples OP t1_iy89fdp wrote

Nice. I will probably dip in on my next bill as well. I've had 11 days in November above 27 kWh with the most recent being this past Saturday. It the clouds stay away today, I should come close to or break it today as well. I'm on track to produce just over 600 kWh for November, but I suspect December will dip to 500 kWh or slightly below. Snow cover is the wild card going forward.

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hike_me t1_iy8e3wy wrote

November has been pretty terrible for me.

Produced 400kWh, consumed 1mWh (I do most of my heating with heat pumps)

I ran a deficit of 100kWh in October,

On track to offset around 88% of my electricity for the year. Need to thin out a few more trees and/or I think I can squeeze another row of panels using a horizontal (landscape) orientation at the top of my roof where they won’t have any issues with shading.

I run a surplus May-September. April is usually break even, and October can be break even depending on weather. November - March I run a pretty big deficit due to the heat pumps.

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metalandmeeples OP t1_iy8esvp wrote

Our house is in the middle of an elevated field and the closest trees are about 125 feet north of us. We also live in Durham, so the minimum lot size is 90,000 sq ft which keeps the closest neighbors pretty far away. The only thing that shades our panels are clouds.

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hike_me t1_iy8ggdt wrote

Tree line is only about 15-20 feet from the side of my house with panels. We selectively thinned some of them last fall, which helped, but we still get a lot of shading on the bottom half of the array in the fall and winter.

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imnotyourbrahh t1_iy8bzcd wrote

Wow, I won't come close to 400 kWh. I'm impressed with how well your panels do with the flat angle. I guess Maine is just South enough to produce electricity year-round. I would think homes near the equator would only need 1/3 of the panels we need and be quite affordable.

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metalandmeeples OP t1_iy8cid3 wrote

With regard to the angle, I am seeing peak production of just over 5 kW these days. Back in the summer, I could hit a peak of 6.8 kW.

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Puff1012 t1_iyaav78 wrote

My husband watches this alaska show Called edge of alaska or something like that. The people that live in the city all use solar panels.

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