Output from solar panels on dull days??

[powervan]

CHILLAXE all will become apparent in SPRING!! this is UK WINTER! u need to read older posts on here about system performance! it will never run to max kw as u have to take out cable lentgh!inverta eff!location of panels! u all should turn off the computer ! make a cup of T and read the financial times! nitty gritty UVE got in before CUT off date! BIG WIN ! if u live that long (keep worrying about your system!let it do its job) meter watching is bad for your eyes!!so is something else but its prob to late for that

 

[SolarCity]

the lux level has been well over 1000w m2 . maybe just worrying like us all on here for the amount we have paid for the system ..

Are you sure? How did you measure it?

 

[MorganPVI]

It always makes me sad to see how much research customers do before parting with 5 figure sums.

 

[Donavan Bangs]

five? i do research on most things over 2 figures this side of the decimal point

 

[MorganPVI]

Scotsman are you Donavan?!!

 

[Graeme Harrold]

Just commissioned a 4kW system today, and will go back tomorrow to have another go when I might get higher figures. 3pm, still looked nice and bright, meter gave 14W/m2 and the system still fired up (sanyo HiT on SMA 4000TL). Customer chuffed to bits that such poor light actually produced a whopping 0.025Kw in the 40 minutes it was running for.......

 

[powervan]

ark eye the nooooooo

 

[Donavan Bangs]

no but I am married to someone who researches very little but shops more and expects me to fix it when it does not work.
i produced almost 2kw today on half my system. the other half with the second set of panels isnt done yet.
2 inverters sma 1200's with 1.5 of panels on each

 

[wildmanmk2]

Hi again .measured with a light lux meter .a tes 1330a model to be precise. with regards to research .on one comment i have done mine around 3 months worth .

 

[SolarCity]

Did you hold the meter at the same orientation and pitch of your roof?

I haven't seen anything like 1000w/m2 for months - and at the moment I am commissioning almost every day.

 

[JulianC]

I'd double check your conversion from Lux to W/m2 - it's not that straightforward as there is a different conversion factor for every wavelength of light. I would also agree that 1000W/m2 is extremely unlikely at this time of year. Last clear, sunny commissioning day I got it was struggling to top 250W/m2 here in the Midlands. Wouldn't expect anything approaching 1000 for a few months yet.

 

[MJDW]

Thanks to all who responded to my earlier post.
Several things working against electricity production:- winter and latitude - central Scotland!
However, since the original post there have been a few hours of watery winter sunshine and during that time the system produced another 5kW in no time at all.
I have taken the advice of several responders and decided to stop watching the meter and wait till next summer.

Thanks again to all responders.

 

[tm.electrics]

i have finished my first install and i am coming up with these readings,
voc-583
isc-0.6
sun-50w/m2
it was a very dull day but do these readings seem ok? thought the isc was maybe a bit low? cheers guys

 

[JulianC]

You Isc is in the right ballpark for your irradiance reading

 

[bommels]

November has seen all kinds of weather (Cambridgeshire)
My 2.88 kWp worth of Sanyo HIT-240s (42 deg pitch, SSE orientation) do anywhere between 0.3 (lowest ever) to 2 kWh on these grey, dull days.
A good, sunny day last month yielded 8-9 kWh.

Just my £0.02