Solar Performance - Q2 2017

It's been a busy few months, so I'll be merging three months worth of my solar data into this single post. The most notable events of the past quarter: I finally had the failing power maximizer on panels 5 and 6 replaced in April, and June ended the state's Solar Incentive Program year with just over 3 MWh generated for about $1,700.

April

Between the new heat pump, the failing maximizer, and some gloomy weather the April numbers were noticeably worse than last year, though production was only slightly below estimates.

May

Production this month turned out pretty well, almost exactly meeting estimates and exceeding last year handily. Despite my increase in electricity use the increase in production meant I generated a slightly larger surplus than in 2016. The new maximizer made a noticeably difference for panels A5 and A6, with all panels producing pretty much the same amount of power this month.

June

Junuary lived up to its reputation this year, with a number of cloudy, gloomy days. Production ended up being only slightly lower than last year, and a bit below expectations. Still, halfway through the year I've generated just over 50% of the estimate for the year. Panel data shows that the east-facing panels were consistently worse than their west-facing counterparts. I attribute that to a number of days with cloudy mornings followed by sunnier afternoons.