So lots to say and no time to type it in!
A few highlights of the month to far:
1. Firstly a fantastic start to the month – four days of near perfect weather put nearly 50 kWh in the bank. This shows the value of the system even in the winter months. I’ve had a few good days since, but nothing like this for a run. It certainly makes the monthly target seem very achievable even after only a few days in.
2. Snow. I was very worried about snow having read a couple of blogs where it had completely killed the output for several days. However, despite having 2-4 inches on two occasions, the snow just fell off within an hour or so of dawn. I think the angle of the roof helped a lot, but either way productivity remained as per a normal cloudy day and all was well.
3. High power. A couple of days ago the Owl read an almighty 3.511 kW output – technically higher than the system (give or take for noise) and this was continuous. We’ve also seen extended periods of 3kW too, so hitting some of the summer targets seem quite possible. I’ve been tracking the day length and sun’s angle in detail, and there does seem to be a distinct change in February – as the angle improves, so does the day length, but also the peak power output (typically about 11:20am for me). At this rate I expect to hit closer to 4kW come optimal conditions – thankfully the inverter and wiring is rated for this, so no worries.
4. Money. I submitted my first meter reading - 410 kWh for the first quarter, which should translate to a little over 180 quid. I look forward to seeing it appear in the bank in the next few weeks, but come summer we could see some nice return on investment.
5. Day length. The last few days have been interesting. Although the weather forecast isn’t great the lighter cloud and better solar angle means that I can get 1kWh out when there is light cloud and over 3kW when there’s a bit of blue. This is quite encouraging for when the weather picks up. It’s nice to see the Owl ticking over and knowing that the house is self-sufficient for long periods.
6. Month complete. Ok, not quite but the February quota is nearly done (all bar the shouting) with a good week yet to go. It’d be nice to hit 120% for month end, but that’s probably asking a bit much.
