On Wedensday, August 17, 2016, installation of solar panels began. Three days later installation was complete. This doesn't really take us off the grid, legislation is in place to deny consumers be completely disconnected.
Installation
Some pictures
They informed us that the city would have to inspect, then the electric company would be notified. The switch could not be flipped until they, the electric company, installed their meter to handle Net Metering. They also said the electric company might drag their feet because not everyone at that organization was keen on individual residences generating their own power, and using the grid to store said energy. In fact, someone from the electric company had come by during installation, and my wife was out there. She said he was an asshole, commented he didn't understand why people were adding PVC panels to their houses.
About a week later on Monday the doorbell rang, and a nice woman from the electric company informed me the power would flicker as she installed the final component. Very cheerful, seemed genuinely pleased with our addition. She was just a few minutes, and I flipped the switches as I was instructed.
Immediately all hell broke loose!!! Could not believe the situation I found myself in!!
Actually, nothing happened, or nothing appeared to happen. Got a call from Mike, with the company that installed the panels, NetZero Solar, asking me to verify the correct switches had been properly flipped.
The day following initial energizing of the system I did some completely unscientific experiments to watch power consumption. We are particularly interested in how the heating elements in the various appliances in the home affect consumption.
Aug 30, 2016
I turned the AC off @ 7:45 and started a load of laundry, just to see what the consumption will be. It's recorded in 15 minute intervals, and the load runs for 48 minutes. I'll start the dryer the same way, and run it for 15 minutes (towels).
From 0900 to 0915 I ran the dryer.
At 0930 I used the microwave off and on for about 10 minutes.
At 1000 I turned the AC on full, to run continuously for at least 15 minutes.
Turned on the pool pump at 1050.
Changed the thermostat from 76 to 78.
Changed the thermostat from 76 to 78.
At 1400 changed the thermostat from 78 to 81.
September 1, 2016
Ran the coffee pot for exactly 15 minutes starting at 0530. This one doesn't use much at all.
At this point it looks like the hours between midnight and 6am are the most consistent. One day soon I'll have to power everything down besides essentials and monitor how that goes.
Up to this point the focus has been energy consumption, because that is a variable that can be controlled to some extent. From the charts above production, indicated with the light blue bars, is evident. The dip in production in the afternoons has been due to overcast conditions. It will be interesting to see how production is affected in the presence of precipitation in the early afternoon.
Overcast Conditions
Overall, the next graph shows production during daylight hours. The dip is the result of a partly cloudy afternoon.
The next is production during a completely cloudless day.
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