How much did your 3.6kW system make yesterday/today?

[FB.]

I have had my system in for one week now and we have made over 20kw every day except Saturday. Total for one week is 136kwh. We made 26kw yesterday which I thought was pretty good. I am really interested to know what the highest generation that can be seen in a single day from a 4kw system? Its only mid spring so I am keen to know what we could reach. My system: 16 x 245watt Sharp panels, Sunny Boy inverter and system size of 3.92kw

I have a very rough "rule of thumb" which says that the average daily generation for a system will be a bit less than half on dull days and a bit more than double on sunny days.
So if your monthly target for June is 420kWh, that'd be an average of 14kWh per day, so half that woudl be a bit below 7kWh on the dull days and double would be a bit over 28kWh on the sunny days.
Note that monthly targets for spring/autumn are only averages, since the day length is changing rapidly. At the end of March, it might be prudent to average March and April numbers to see what you ought to be generating.

You don't mention your location, your roof facing or the roof slope.

 

[finewine]

Thanks for all the replies. My roof faces 5 degrees east of south, no shading with a 37 degree roof angle. Very pleased with the output but I am still worried about getting my 21p FIT rate as the documents only reached them on 30th.

 

[FB.]

Even at 21p, the long-term returns look attractive compared to anything else you could do with the money.

Many of those who got the 43p FiT also had to pay a much higher price for their system than the recent prices, while many also ended up with cobbled-together systems built from anything that was available at the time of the rush; not necessarily the spec they wanted and not necessarily with components which are fully harmonised to work at their best together.
I'd say prices are down by one-third compared to 6-9 months ago. So the FiT could still be down by 1/3 and you'd make as high returns as someone else.

 

[finewine]

Not such a good day today. We made 11.28kw on our Sharp system today and just 9.9kw on our Knive system. Both exactly the same size and just two doors apart on the same terrace facing south. Our Sharp system is consistantly outperforming the Knive since installation.

 

[Glen Powell]

That is useful information but a bit of a pain for you also, I have been offered a container of Knive panels today and doing some research on actual performance levels, I think until I know them better I will stick with what I know.

On another not it may be just the inverter / panel config that lets you down

 

[FB.]

That is useful information but a bit of a pain for you also, I have been offered a container of Knive panels today and doing some research on actual performance levels, I think until I know them better I will stick with what I know.

On another not it may be just the inverter / panel config that lets you down

Just updated my signature. I also now include a benchmark comparison against the middle-performing of the local SouthEast-facing Sanyo systems.

(I choose the middle performing one in case the best is more South of SouthEast, while the worst might be shaded).

 

[empower]

Not fantastic but its consistent for a 3.6kWp system. For yesterday (19 April) it £7.031. You can see in the image it eared £28 for the week (after i corrected the actual FIT tariff to £0.433, not 0.4).

 

[danesol]

View attachment 11961Not fantastic but its consistent for a 3.6kWp system. For yesterday (19 April) it £7.031. You can see in the image it eared £28 for the week (after i corrected the actual FIT tariff to £0.433, not 0.4).

You need to correct again as the FiT rate has gone up for you with inflation !

AFAIK, the new rate started 1st April

 

[GaryM]

Yes, 1st April to 45.4p plus 3.2p export, deemed at 50% of generation. A nice round total of 47p/kWh generated.

 

[finewine]

Sharp system 16kw generated yesterday despite very little sun after 1pm. Knive panels 13.9 kwh

 

[Oliver Par]

Hi everybody,

Nice to see the thread is still going. I hadn't been online for a while.

System is running ok, but seeing my original thread title, we actually only got a 3.5kW system. It's been going ok.
Highest output so far: 15th April 22.55kWh
Highest reading ever: 4025W
Total output in 4 weeks: 354kWh
Not really sure what to think of it, but I am lead to believe (by other people with PV systems locally) that this is pretty good. What do you all think?

Also I still haven't heard back about our application. I do think they will be inundated with applications, but still after 4 weeks I thought I would have heard back?! Do I need to chase it up? We are with SSE (Swalec). Anybody else with them?

Thanks,
Oli

 

[brightasaspark]

Hi Oliver - I am with SSE and we went live last November. Good idea to check they have the application on the system etc just in case. Now they are making the FIT payments quarterly they are really on the ball. Last one submitted at end of March was in my bank account within 7 days.

 

[FB.]

Sharp system 16kw generated yesterday despite very little sun after 1pm. Knive panels 13.9 kwh

Can you give more information? This could make an interesting comparison.
Location, array size, inverter, roof pitch, direction the panels face etc.

 

[Trader9]

Today my system generated 18.6kWh. However, I was wondering should the question not be how much of your generation did you use. It is all very well generating 20kW but if it all went back into the grid for a lousy 1.55p a kWh then not so good.


I have been trying to give as little back as possible by serial switching of my appliances when possible to manage my load. As an example I boil the kettle then use the toaster and then put the washing machine on etc.


I also have an automated solar diverter that transfers any surplus solar that I am not using into the hot water tank, so I don't have to buy energy back latter at a higher price. This has diverted 252kWh of surplus solar out of a total generation of 1,144kWh since December 2011. So the question might be what percentage of solar generated did you use. I calculated that for me it can be as high as 75%.


My calculations lead me to believe that my south facing 3.76kW 16 panel (235W) 30 degree roof with a SolarEdge inverter located near Gatwick would save me £400 – £500pa and produce an income of £1,300 – £1,600. Based on sunshine hours at Eastbourne not far south of me I should be able to achieve 4MWh a year.

 

[Trader9]

Hi Oli

I am with EDF and my system was commissioned 1st Dec 2011, but I only got my statement of terms on April 16th (4 months). Also my system is very similar to yours 3.76kW 16 (235W) panels, south facing at 30 degrees with a SolarEdge inverter near Gatwick with same generation. I have actually seen 4.2kW on my effigy monitor but the inverter did not agree.