Sunday, August 21, 2005
94% Grid Free!
Sunday, August 14, 2005, 2:30 PM:
Sunday, August 21, 2005, 2:30 PM:
So my electric meter went from 01347 to 01350 kilowatt-hours in one week--3 kwh. Typically, I would use about 50 kwh in a week. The charge controller's log shows that 47 kwh were generated by the solar shingles. So, for the past week, I got 47/50 of my electricity from the sun: 94%.
Unfortunately, the Mate controller doesn't provide an easy way to track the actual AC out energy used, which would more accurately compare to the electric meter. It does provide a crude graphical indication of instantaneous AC out, but it doesn't integrate it over time like the charge controller does for solar power. Rick and I are looking into various ways to track the system performance.
We still don't have the dump load figured out, so I've been controlling the dehumidifier manually, trying to get it to run at the right times so it won't bring the battery voltage too low. The 3 kwh on the meter are a measure of the degree to which I failed.
It's a very nice, sun-shiny day today. I've been tracking the solar kwh's throughout the day--I'm hoping for a new record!
Sunday, August 21, 2005, 2:30 PM:
So my electric meter went from 01347 to 01350 kilowatt-hours in one week--3 kwh. Typically, I would use about 50 kwh in a week. The charge controller's log shows that 47 kwh were generated by the solar shingles. So, for the past week, I got 47/50 of my electricity from the sun: 94%.
Unfortunately, the Mate controller doesn't provide an easy way to track the actual AC out energy used, which would more accurately compare to the electric meter. It does provide a crude graphical indication of instantaneous AC out, but it doesn't integrate it over time like the charge controller does for solar power. Rick and I are looking into various ways to track the system performance.
We still don't have the dump load figured out, so I've been controlling the dehumidifier manually, trying to get it to run at the right times so it won't bring the battery voltage too low. The 3 kwh on the meter are a measure of the degree to which I failed.
It's a very nice, sun-shiny day today. I've been tracking the solar kwh's throughout the day--I'm hoping for a new record!
