Full Power

FB. · Apr 10, 2012

For those who like to track performance statistics, my system reached full power (3.6kW output) for the first time, about five minutes ago.

The weather is a mixture of sun and cloud, but the air is nice and clear (none of the haziness we've had in recent weeks).

:martini_shaken:

FB. · Apr 10, 2012

And is running at full power of 3.6kW again, as I type this.

.....no, wait.....a big cloud has just dropped it 0.9kW output.......no....wait.....the cloud has moved on and we're picking up to 3.6kW for the third time.

FB. · Apr 10, 2012

Detailed statistics 11.17am:
(the numbers don't quite add up because they were slightly changing from second to second as I copied them down)

Power output: 3.66kW
Voltage output: 246.6
Amps output: 14.7
Volts array-1: 247.4
Volts array-2: 201.2
Amps array-1: 8.1
Amps array-2: 9.4
Watts array-1: 2055 (8 panels = 256.9W/panel)
Watts array-2: 1843 (7 panels = 263.3W/panel)

Ambient temperature: 13'C, breezy.

.

empower · Apr 10, 2012

Thats excellent! I think its pretty rare for a PV installation to actually generate at the listed rating. Some manufacturers only give a minimum panel power so the tolerances are always positive.

methley · Apr 10, 2012

My 2.82KW install peaked several times at 3.2KW today (Sanyo 235W x 12, SolarEdge, South facing near Bath).
My 3.76KW install peaked several times at 3.6KW today (Sanyo 235W x 16, SolarEdge, 10xS, 3xE, 3xW, near Bath).

ner ner! :tongue3:

FB. · Apr 10, 2012

empower said:
Thats excellent! I think its pretty rare for a PV installation to actually generate at the listed rating. Some manufacturers only give a minimum panel power so the tolerances are always positive.

At the time it hit full capacity, the sun was 10 degrees below and 15 degrees South of shining directly at the panels.
A quick bit of trigonometry on those angles suggests that, if the sun had been shining directly at the panels at that time, it would probably have increased the power by a further 4~5% (perhaps to 4.0-4.1kW in from the panels and 3.8-3.9kW out from the inverter).
The sun won't be in optimum position until mid-May, but any additional solar radiation might be offset by higher ambient temperatues at that time.
That said; my panels are very much a "morning" system, so probably get some benefit from not having heated up all morning before the sun hits them (which would be the case for a SW or West array).

The peak output was around 3.7kW (slightly above the Aurora's nominal 3.6kW rating) so it was interesting to note that although the Aurora's output in terms of Amps is "capped" at 15.65A (15.65A x 230V = 3600W), in this instance the 246.6V local grid voltage I assume means that it could have gone up to 15.65A x 246.6V = 3.86kW.