Aerial View & System Summary

At long last I finally found an aerial view of my roof taken after my solar panels were installed, courtesy of nearmap.com. It's fun to see how the panels are actually laid out, though the resolution here isn't high enough to see the tilt of the roof underneath. This imagery is from September 5, 2014.

Here's a slightly zoomed view showing the direction each set of panels is facing (W or E) along with the panel ID numbers.

Each of the 14 panels is an Itek IT-255, rated for a maximum output of 255 W (specs).

The panels are connected in pairs to Tigo power maximizers, which optimize the power coming from each module in response to shading of differing light levels.

The DC power then goes through an Eltek Theia HE-t inverter to convert to usable AC power. My unit has a maximum rating of 3.8 kW.

Lastly, an eGauge monitors both the production of the inverter and my electrical usage in the house. This is where I collect much of the data for my monthly performance summaries.

Last but not least, a little bit of solar jealousy. Here's a view of a house a few blocks away with a whopping 37 panels.