4000 watts and counting

So today we topped the 4000 watt mark on a couple of occasions. Not for too long, but long enough to be recorded by the OWL unit. The highest we've seen on the monitor is 4094W, but the average minute values recorded were 0.67 KWH in a minute which is a 4020W average.

I'm glad at this point that I have an over-rated inverter as a few extra watts are always welcome in making the meter tick over that little bit faster. 

So far the weather this month has been very up and down. Generally the weather has been better than forecast, but we've not had any classically sunny days - lots of cloud mixed in, some rain, hail (twice today), rainbows, frosts and biting winds. As such I'm impressed the system is doing as well as it is, given the target requires over 10kWh per day I'm pleased to be on track and a little ahead (currently 15% up on the monthly cume). Whilst April will probably not be quite as good as March (with its exceptional 2-week spell of clear weather), it should really start to rack the units up. 

I expect we'll complete our first megawatt-hour tomorrow - we closed on 999.77kWh today according to my records. This would be a nice milestone to pass.

Peak Power

I'm just going through the point at which the sun is perpendicular to the solar array so am expecting some interesting peak readings in the next few days. Unfortunately today, the weather didn't quite play ball - early sun was quickly diluted by 10am but occasional breaks in the cloud gave some interesting high readings (if only temporary). 

The highest I noted was just over 3900 watts, and there were several readings well in excess of 3800, which is interesting given the system is only rated to 3430 watts, although the inverter is 4400 watts. There is a theory that says these peaks only occur when the sun is broken by cloud, the panels are cooler and more efficient, and hence you cannot get these peak readings on a clear day as the system cannot run at that level of output for long periods of time. 

I shall wait and watch for this over the next few days - we are due to get periods of early sun for the rest of the week, surely one decent patch of blue sky will coincide with the mid-day sun's alignment. Here's hoping.