17W shy of theoretical maximum output.
As of 3:15pm today, my solar system was only 17W shy of its theoretical maximum output. I was shocked when I looked at the inverter and meter, which both confirmed the same numbers.
Theoretical output is:
22 panels * 175 Watts each * 95% inverter efficiency = 3657W
The system was outputting 3640W just a few minutes ago. Thats 99.5% of the theoretical maximum. Wow, I was shocked! I didn’t think it would ever get that high! I think its the combination of a nice cool day, and the panels having just been washed off by a rainshower this morning.
I’m not too worried about having over-built the system, since we’ve got a kid on the way, and that means more energy usage (more laundry, more lights on in the middle of the night, baby monitors, and just another person around in general.) Our net usage over the last few days is still positive at 7kW for the last 4 days (1.7 kW/day), but we’ve had a few cloudy days. We’ll see how things change when the weather is more consistent. I think I’ll be massively over-producing during the summer, and under-producing during the winter, and thats exactly what the net metering is for!
