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Home Solar

nakman

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The saga continues here. Received this update yesterday:

Hey Tim. I just received this from the utility company:

As you may be aware there are nationwide supply chain shortages of materials in multiple industries, which is affecting Public Service’s territory. Specifically, the Company is experiencing a temporary shortage of solar net meters due to supply chain issues with meter vendors outside of the Company’s control. However, Public Service received a shipment of new meters during the week of December 6, 2021 and is taking action to reprogram existing meters to function as net meters until the new shipment arrives. Due to this shortage, there may be solar meter install delays beyond the internal timeframe of 20-business days from the meter request date. The Company apologizes for any inconvenience a potential delay may cause its mutual customers.

I will let you know when I get more information I apologize for this delay, this is crazy!


and here is my response back:

Ok thanks, but that doesn’t really say anything. In fact, it’s pretty much the same email they sent last month. What is the date for our new meter?

Also what kind of credit can I expect to receive from Xcel energy? We paid double in October, due to our old meter charging us for power running in both directions most of that month. And now we’ve gone all of November, and presumably all of December, without the use of our solar system, caused by their inability to manage their supply chain. I don’t want an apology for the inconvenience, I want my money back for October and a credit towards November, December, and at this rate next year, as long as it takes them to get their meters.

We also committed to this system in May, with the expectation that it would be operational in September. Xcel owns all of those delays- from the initial approval process through the meter installation. I can’t be your only customer with this feedback asking these questions, curious to hear their response thank you.
 

Romer

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I passed final inspection today so looks like I am in the same boat as you having to wait with a fully operational system

At least I can take the tax credit with the inspection

What happens if we turn our systems on without a Net Meter?
 

nakman

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I passed final inspection today so looks like I am in the same boat as you having to wait with a fully operational system

At least I can take the tax credit with the inspection

What happens if we turn our systems on without a Net Meter?
In my case I wound up paying double in October- my meter appears incable of determining which direction the power is going, so I got charged when I used it, and charged again for producing it. You can flip back a few pages to see my bill for October, it was double the amount in October last year. Also I didn't turn it on either, the inspector left it in the "on" position. But after that bill from October, I turned it off.

Let's just hope they ordered based on forecast, not actual demand, that way our meters may be on the same container.
 

nakman

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I'm operational! Xcel man showed up on Tuesday, swapped out my meter... just got off the phone with Project Solar and things are apparently operational. I've only got 16 out of 17 microinverters responding though, but am told the last one will be on line by next week. Or we get to open a ticket...

Looks like I made 18.3 kWh of power today... and 16 yesterday. is that good?

1640299210794.png
 

rover67

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If it’s any thing like ours (optimizers) it can take a bit for them all to be recognized.
 

RayRay27

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I'm operational! Xcel man showed up on Tuesday, swapped out my meter... just got off the phone with Project Solar and things are apparently operational. I've only got 16 out of 17 microinverters responding though, but am told the last one will be on line by next week. Or we get to open a ticket...

Looks like I made 18.3 kWh of power today... and 16 yesterday. is that good?

View attachment 100479
I think you're about right on for this time of year. My place did 17 yesterday.
Screenshot_20211223-203254_mySunrun.jpg
 

PhillyB77

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Wow. Lots of info here, most of which I did not read (But some was truly interesting).

I'm just here to say that I have a transfer switch and a generator which powers my entire home in the event of an outage and enough fuel to run it for months. I may or may not have a second generator as a backup.

Buddy of mine paid 40 grand for his solar / battery setup. Last power outage none of it worked and it always seems to have issues. Just one guy, I'm sure others are good to go.

I figure, if T-SHTF and we lose power for months we'll have bigger issues than being able to turn the lights on. Until then, I'll remain curious about Solar but stick with fossil fuels. Lastly, with an electric bill of $75 to $100 a month, I meaaaaan...I think I'll stick with the grid for now.
 

nakman

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@Romer that's great, did you get the new meter from Xcel yet?

Also do your batteries charge only from your panels, or do they also charge from grid power? Like, could you have done just batteries and no panels?
 

Romer

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@Romer that's great, did you get the new meter from Xcel yet?

Also do your batteries charge only from your panels, or do they also charge from grid power? Like, could you have done just batteries and no panels?
yes, the net meter was installed yesterday. Otherwise I wasn't supposed to turn it on

My batteries are setup to charge from the panels. I do believe it is possible to charge from the Grid, but not how mine are configured Once charged, the house will run of batteries at night until they reach 50% charge before pulling from the grid, at least that is what I am told as they haven't fully charged yet due to only 4 hours of Sun on time yesterday and cloudy so far today. They told me I could adjust that 50% point in the event a storm is coming and I want to keep the batteries charged. Not sure how to do that so I sent the Solar Company a question.

Pulling from the batteries overnight further reduces the electric bill

Looking forward to a sunny day to see the system in full action and fully charged. The batteries did go from 22% to 50% yesterday in the 4 hours
 

Romer

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Some data on performance. yesterday was a sunny day

This time of year we generated more than we used from 8AM to a little after 4PM

Battery went from 50% to 100% charged in 4 hours

Effectively ran on Battery power until 3:45AM when it hit the 50% threshold and switched to grid. It would have stayed on the battery if the Grid was down

This tells me that the battery would last 24 hours without sun with everything running. Throttling back would of course extend that. Usage from 4Pm to midnight was high with multiple TVs, computers. Oven used for Dinner and no thought of conserving

Yesterday we also exported over 4kWh of energy to the Grid which seems close to what we used this morning off the grid from 4AM to 8AM. I will have to see how that plays out with the bill in credits vs usage

I find myself watching the status page :)

Everything seems to be working fine. I have two furnaces and the spikes are when both come on about the same time

It looks like without the furnaces I am running about 650 watts and when both come on, more than doubling that

1642950729064.png



yesterdays Graph. The Batteries were not charged so was powered from the Grid until 8AM
1642951522082.png
 

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Romer

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OK, sorry for all the posts, just wanted to balance out with a 24 hour period that started with fully charged batteries

Performance over 24 hours. The graphs and monitoring SW is too much fun. Shows we were on battery until it hit 50% and then on grid until about 8AM. Then using generated power until about 4:00 were we went on Battery the rest of the day. Spike in the evening is the oven

Also says we provided 9.9kWhs to the grid and only imported back 4.48kWh's

This was a full sun day so it appears that everything is working well

If the Grid was down Battery would have lasted another 12 hours until depleted, but then we would have shut off TVs and computers and used laptops so power would have lasted longer
1643068925181.png
 

J1000

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I must have missed it and can't find it now but what type of batteries do you have in your setup @Romer? If they are lithium I say run them down further and stay off the grid 24/7! Either way excellent performance for the middle of winter.
 

Romer

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I must have missed it and can't find it now but what type of batteries do you have in your setup @Romer? If they are lithium I say run them down further and stay off the grid 24/7! Either way excellent performance for the middle of winter.
I have two of these for 32kW
https://sunwatts.com/16-kwh-lg-chem-lithium-ion-home-battery-resu16h-prime/

Its a software setting that they stop at 50%. I have asked how to adjust that to make it higher if there is a big snow storm coming

So new to this, since I export more than I consume the bill would net to zero, correct? Why run the batteries down more? The goal would be to have a sufficient backup in the event of a power outage
 

DouglasVB

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If this thread devolved into @Romer posting daily updates on his home solar setup, I'd be very happy.
 

Shuksan

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I must have missed it and can't find it now but what type of batteries do you have in your setup @Romer? If they are lithium I say run them down further and stay off the grid 24/7! Either way excellent performance for the middle of winter.
Do you have a home solar set up. I have thoughts about doing one myself and building a battery system.
 

J1000

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@Romer yeah I guess that makes sense. Honestly I am not sure how it works if you get paid the same per kwh as you buy etc. Sounds like you are setup for decades to come. Those batteries are beastly!

@Shuksan I have 3 panels and I made my first kwh the other day! My setup is super basic just some panels I got off craigslist. My goal is to set up a small array in my backyard that will offset my AC use this summer. Our family wants to do solar on my parent's house in GV I think I'm going to follow Romer's footsteps and DIY as much of the install as possible.
 

Romer

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I didn't do it myself. I hired Namaste Solar and would recommend them
 

DouglasVB

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Hey @Romer do you have new daily stats for us yet???? I'm waiting over here on the edge of my seat to see how your system performed yesterday!
 

J1000

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I must have confused you with someone else in this thread who DIYd. Curious how much power you are making if any today with the snow.
 
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