September was dull.
It felt very grey from the start of the month and so it continued. I had to scrape back every last kWh to hit the target this month (this meant checking the generation meter under the stairs and finding my Owl estimates were a couple of units light).
101% of target achieved which was not bad given the we only had 81% of the average hours of sun during the month. September 2013 was the 47th sunniest in the last 57 years - you get the idea, it felt like Autumn all the way through and the PV system reflects this. Still, to continue generating under such conditions shouldn't be underestimated.
Unlike September 2012, I did not complete the year's generation target in September, falling about 20 kWh short by the end of the month. This will easily go during October, but the stats don't lie - I'm down on the previous year and the weather feels like that too. Maybe 2014 will give us a treat instead.
Monday 28 October 2013
August 2013
August was good without being great - good kWh figures most days but what it lacked was the solid weeks of good weather that really help the numbers stack up when you hit 120+ kWh in seven days.
Still no complaints, 425 kWh produced, in what was a distinctly average month - we had 104% of normal hours of sun during August, with the months being the 23rd most sunny since 1957. Very average, but lots of watts anyway.
Still no complaints, 425 kWh produced, in what was a distinctly average month - we had 104% of normal hours of sun during August, with the months being the 23rd most sunny since 1957. Very average, but lots of watts anyway.
July 2013
Ok, I admit it, I'm late with the updates. It's been that type of summer - too much to do and not enough discipline to sit down and write some stuff up.
But now, with a few hours to think and a load of data in Excel it's time to fill some gaps in.
July, well what can I say? Extraordinarily good weather, a severe drought that turned the lawn brown and lots of sun, although quite a bit of hazy weather that reduced the ultimate output of the PV system. According to the weather stats July 2013 was the 6th sunniest July since 1957 with 134% of usual hours of sunlight. The result was my best month ever with 499 kWh produced for 136% of target, that's over 130 kWh ahead. I could take that every month.
But now, with a few hours to think and a load of data in Excel it's time to fill some gaps in.
July, well what can I say? Extraordinarily good weather, a severe drought that turned the lawn brown and lots of sun, although quite a bit of hazy weather that reduced the ultimate output of the PV system. According to the weather stats July 2013 was the 6th sunniest July since 1957 with 134% of usual hours of sunlight. The result was my best month ever with 499 kWh produced for 136% of target, that's over 130 kWh ahead. I could take that every month.
Thursday 4 July 2013
June
Well... June was a bit odd. It started well (as seems to be the pattern lately) but then the clouds descended and stayed put.
At one point it looked like I'd just scrape home over the target, and then it looked like being a struggle. And then, a slight perk up towards the end of the month and all was well.
So, still ahead of the cumulative target, but far behind where I was at the same time last year. But maybe the predictions for great weather in July will come true. Beating the target by 100kWh in a single month would be superb - but I really cant see that happening. Fingers crossed.
At one point it looked like I'd just scrape home over the target, and then it looked like being a struggle. And then, a slight perk up towards the end of the month and all was well.
So, still ahead of the cumulative target, but far behind where I was at the same time last year. But maybe the predictions for great weather in July will come true. Beating the target by 100kWh in a single month would be superb - but I really cant see that happening. Fingers crossed.
Sunday 16 June 2013
Mega time
So the latest from the meter under the stairs. Five megawatt hours of production have now been logged since the system was installed.
That's an awful lot of (energy efficient) lightbulbs run for free. With a good summer (unlikely, the way things are going) we could well exit the year close to 8 mWh. Well, maybe 7 (fingers crossed).
That's an awful lot of (energy efficient) lightbulbs run for free. With a good summer (unlikely, the way things are going) we could well exit the year close to 8 mWh. Well, maybe 7 (fingers crossed).
Monday 3 June 2013
May 2013
So that was May.
It started nicely enough with some really nice weather (just in time for the bank holiday) and finished in a similar manner for the final bank holiday, but there was some real grey days in between. The weather this year has been odd to say the least - too cold, too wet and too grey - you can see this in the garden (everything is a few weeks later than usual), and in nature (fishing is very slow this year) and it even seems to be effecting some people (a sort of SAD if you like).
Output wise, too many mid-single figure days diluted down the good days and led to a good performance (112% of predicted output) but one that should have been better. Still, I supposed I shouldn't complain - another month done a dusted and another target beaten, however output was lower than April 2013, which indicates just how mixed the weather has been.
Let us hope that the good start to early June carries on through the rest of the month.
It started nicely enough with some really nice weather (just in time for the bank holiday) and finished in a similar manner for the final bank holiday, but there was some real grey days in between. The weather this year has been odd to say the least - too cold, too wet and too grey - you can see this in the garden (everything is a few weeks later than usual), and in nature (fishing is very slow this year) and it even seems to be effecting some people (a sort of SAD if you like).
Output wise, too many mid-single figure days diluted down the good days and led to a good performance (112% of predicted output) but one that should have been better. Still, I supposed I shouldn't complain - another month done a dusted and another target beaten, however output was lower than April 2013, which indicates just how mixed the weather has been.
Let us hope that the good start to early June carries on through the rest of the month.
Tuesday 30 April 2013
Spring, finally.
It took it's sweet time coming, but spring has finally arrived in the UK.
It's still not quite right (the garden is well behind where it should be) but suddenly getting up in the morning doesn't seem so difficult - blue sky rather than dull grey cloud helps somewhat in this regard.
So the highlights of the month:
(1) passing the target with ease - 407 kWh generated vs a prediction of 311 kWh
(2) best ever single day's production on 20th April - 23.56 kWh, beating the previous record of 26th May 2012 of 23.24 kWh. On it's own this was not a memorable day, but clear skies and a good elevation angle might have squeezed out some additional watts. Who knows? Maybe we'll get a few good summer days this year (without the haze of 2012) and even better results might be observed
(3) finally seeing some separation in cumulative generation for the year
Here's hoping the nice weather continues for a little while.
It's still not quite right (the garden is well behind where it should be) but suddenly getting up in the morning doesn't seem so difficult - blue sky rather than dull grey cloud helps somewhat in this regard.
So the highlights of the month:
(1) passing the target with ease - 407 kWh generated vs a prediction of 311 kWh
(2) best ever single day's production on 20th April - 23.56 kWh, beating the previous record of 26th May 2012 of 23.24 kWh. On it's own this was not a memorable day, but clear skies and a good elevation angle might have squeezed out some additional watts. Who knows? Maybe we'll get a few good summer days this year (without the haze of 2012) and even better results might be observed
(3) finally seeing some separation in cumulative generation for the year
Here's hoping the nice weather continues for a little while.
Sunday 31 March 2013
Worst March Ever
According to today's papers March (and Easter for that matter) have been the worst ever. I will wait until I see the stats from the Met office to be sure, but I can well believe it.
Cold weather, clear nights, threats of snow, long dark grey days all featured too often in the month. Despite a few good days, the PV system just couldn't do it's thing often enough and the month finished on 213 kWh against a predicted value of 225 kWh, giving 95% of prediction. This is the second month this year that I've missed the target and the second time ever - I just hope this isn't the pattern for the year. (If I'm honest I suspect I've missed by a little more than that, I think the OWL CM160 is over-reporting, but I'm ignoring that for now.)
The killer issue is the lack of average days in the month - there were far too many days when the weather never got going and 3 kWh or less was the output. It's hard to compensate for that when a good day is 15 or so and you need to average 7.
It's a big contrast to last year when the weather suddenly turned on for two weeks and all the March targets were well and truly smashed, such a thing was extraordinary at the time, but it'd be nice to have a good week for a change.
Looking ahead the weather looks to be brighter for the next few weeks. Although this will keep things cool, the PC should at least get a good work out. Here's hoping.
Cold weather, clear nights, threats of snow, long dark grey days all featured too often in the month. Despite a few good days, the PV system just couldn't do it's thing often enough and the month finished on 213 kWh against a predicted value of 225 kWh, giving 95% of prediction. This is the second month this year that I've missed the target and the second time ever - I just hope this isn't the pattern for the year. (If I'm honest I suspect I've missed by a little more than that, I think the OWL CM160 is over-reporting, but I'm ignoring that for now.)
The killer issue is the lack of average days in the month - there were far too many days when the weather never got going and 3 kWh or less was the output. It's hard to compensate for that when a good day is 15 or so and you need to average 7.
It's a big contrast to last year when the weather suddenly turned on for two weeks and all the March targets were well and truly smashed, such a thing was extraordinary at the time, but it'd be nice to have a good week for a change.
Looking ahead the weather looks to be brighter for the next few weeks. Although this will keep things cool, the PC should at least get a good work out. Here's hoping.
Tuesday 19 February 2013
It's been a while
So it's been a little while since my last post - I've kept on top of the tracking, but not the blogging bit. So hopefully a chance to put a few things right.
So the highlights:
December 2012 was amazing, the target completed in just 12 days, thanks to some unusually sunny weather. At one point it looked possible to complete about twice the quota, but the weather was not so consistent come Christmas, but you cannot really complain.
Lowlights:
Err... that would be January. Awful weather, deep grey skies, snow etc and too many days when virtually nothing happened. All-in-all, this is the first month that I've not beaten the forecast - that's how bad the weather was.
Eagle eyed readers will spot a few negative days in there - this is not quite accurate. There was some nominal production but once I take into consideration the background noise levels on the Owl CM160 in order to track the meter under the stairs, this is roughly what drops out. Either way the overall trend and values are close enough. So that works for me.
February on the other hand, looks a damn sight better, with ten days to go I'm nearly there. Hurrah.
As a change for this year, I've adjusted the generation targets to be slightly phased. This reflects the day length/suns angle better and back weights the months in the first half of the year, and front weights the second half. It's just a minor adjustment, but it pleases me. I may explain how I've done this another time - it's not perfect, but its close enough for me.
So the highlights:
December 2012 was amazing, the target completed in just 12 days, thanks to some unusually sunny weather. At one point it looked possible to complete about twice the quota, but the weather was not so consistent come Christmas, but you cannot really complain.
Lowlights:
Err... that would be January. Awful weather, deep grey skies, snow etc and too many days when virtually nothing happened. All-in-all, this is the first month that I've not beaten the forecast - that's how bad the weather was.
Eagle eyed readers will spot a few negative days in there - this is not quite accurate. There was some nominal production but once I take into consideration the background noise levels on the Owl CM160 in order to track the meter under the stairs, this is roughly what drops out. Either way the overall trend and values are close enough. So that works for me.
February on the other hand, looks a damn sight better, with ten days to go I'm nearly there. Hurrah.
As a change for this year, I've adjusted the generation targets to be slightly phased. This reflects the day length/suns angle better and back weights the months in the first half of the year, and front weights the second half. It's just a minor adjustment, but it pleases me. I may explain how I've done this another time - it's not perfect, but its close enough for me.
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