Solar power systems for the home

[Bigtime]

The sun is so low right now I find negligible power generation at this time of year. So I don't sweat it when they are covered with snow after a dump.

[Barnes]

Just saw in my annual report from Spot Power the Hi solar rate is going up to .335 kWh in March.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Just saw in my annual report from Spot Power the Hi solar rate is going up to .335 kWh in March.

When do you switch? April?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Just saw in my annual report from Spot Power the Hi solar rate is going up to .335 kWh in March.

That's great.

I think I should make it a full year without paying for any electricity. Spring 2024 to spring 2025 I paid just under $38. Up to the last week of January 2026 I am almost $30 ahead of the same time last year. These last few warm weeks have been helping with lower consumption and with decent solar generation.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by #-3

When do you switch? April?

My system only was installed late July so I haven’t yet done the spring time switch. I have produced 220kwh so far in Feb so March might be my first net export month of the year. I’ll see what the weather brings but I expect to switch for my April 10th - ish bill.

[woob]

Anyone heard of Nova Renewables? Wife had them come D2D for us and our neighbours across the street. I’m guessing going with a D2D solar company is probably no good.

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by woob

Anyone heard of Nova Renewables? Wife had them come D2D for us and our neighbours across the street. I’m guessing going with a D2D solar company is probably no good.

Avoid D2D at all costs.

[photon]

I've done 204kWh so far in this month, but with our higher usage (suited basement with my parents living there) it'll probably be mid April before I'm positive.

[woob]

You must get good photon.

[photon]

That took me waaaaay to long to get...

[#-3]

Originally Posted by woob

Anyone heard of Nova Renewables? Wife had them come D2D for us and our neighbours across the street. I’m guessing going with a D2D solar company is probably no good.

I did a fair amount of research last year.

bas sign I'd consider;

• D2D
• the fact that their business address possibly seems to be on the 19th floor of a residential tower

Good sign

• That they are on this list

https://solaralberta.ca/go-solar/fin...rvices/page/5/

For what it's worth, I ended up at around $2.3/kw with Skyfire. One of our posters here Rasta works for an installer I think it's Zeno. I've also heard positive reviews of SolarYYC and Swift.

I did let a 2D2 guy quote me, just to see. I did not let him in my house, I did not show him my bill, and I did not sit through his 1hour sales pitch. I told him if he wanted to quote me he could look up whatever rates Enmax was offering that day, then i gave him a photo of my electrical panel and my 12 month consumption numbers. He came in a $3/ kw of panels. They will all tell you they need a fair amount of personal information to quote you, which they do need to get the permits... but these companies are all capable of telling you what the price is without that info, they just can't give you their full ROI sales pitch up front without that info, which I was unwilling to sit through anyways.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by photon

I've done 204kWh so far in this month, but with our higher usage (suited basement with my parents living there) it'll probably be mid April before I'm positive.

We have had a few days of producing more than we used, so I am thinking the same. I need to start charging the car at work.

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by #-3

For what it's worth, I ended up at around $2.3/kw with Skyfire. One of our posters here Rasta works for an installer I think it's Zeno. I've also heard positive reviews of SolarYYC and Swift.

I work with Solar YYC actually rather than Zeno.

[Wormius]

Now that I have had my phev for more than a year now, how difficult is it to add a couple of more panels and still be in Enmax’s good graces?

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Now that I have had my phev for more than a year now, how difficult is it to add a couple of more panels and still be in Enmax’s good graces?

Very easy. If you have any above and beyond electricity usage compared to what the original system was sized for, you'd be able to revise the Microgeneration permit to account for that.

Ideally you have a micro inverter system, as its just a matter of getting the Microgeneration permit approved for expansion, and then adding additional panels/inverters without needed to do any work on the existing system.

You can only apply for one MG revision every 12 months, so if you've been installed over a year ago, you'd be ready to consider expansion.

[Titan2]

Any whispers about new grant programs? Looking at my Enmax today, and it is massive. Not in a good way.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by the-rasta-masta

Very easy. If you have any above and beyond electricity usage compared to what the original system was sized for, you'd be able to revise the Microgeneration permit to account for that.

Ideally you have a micro inverter system, as its just a matter of getting the Microgeneration permit approved for expansion, and then adding additional panels/inverters without needed to do any work on the existing system.

You can only apply for one MG revision every 12 months, so if you've been installed over a year ago, you'd be ready to consider expansion.

Thanks. Unfortunately installation hasn’t been that long, but because we hadn’t had the vehicle for the full year, our usage wasn’t there yet. I suspect I’ll need to wait until September then.

Are you familiar with EMA app that’s provided? The one thing that seems odd is the panel are 500W, but in the app in the module view, when the panels look at near capacity It looks like they would max out at 400W. Is there a setting that should be adjusted or is that normal?

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Are you familiar with EMA app that’s provided? The one thing that seems odd is the panel are 500W, but in the app in the module view, when the panels look at near capacity It looks like they would max out at 400W. Is there a setting that should be adjusted or is that normal?

The inverters are usually sized at a lower capacity (20% is typical) than the DC rated peak output of the solar panels. It provides for better efficiency over a long period, but it will clip the maximum output from the panel during a perfect day for solar.

[the-rasta-masta]

Originally Posted by accord1999

The inverters are usually sized at a lower capacity (20% is typical) than the DC rated peak output of the solar panels. It provides for better efficiency over a long period, but it will clip the maximum output from the panel during a perfect day for solar.

This is normal. You probably have DS3-L inverters with a 500w panel. When you have two 500w panels attached to a single DS3-L inverters, there are losses through the conversion from DC to AC through the inverter.

It's best practice to have an undersized inverter. For example, in the best sun conditions, those two 500w panels attached to the inverter would be able to produce 1000w DC in an hour, but a DS3-L will only be able to convert 768w of that to AC, resulting in "clipping" or the slight loss through the conversion process to what actually hits your home for AC power.

The best practice for AC to DC ratio is about 75-85%. This is because the actual amount of "best sun conditions" is very rare. If they used a larger inverter that had a 1:1 ratio, you'd gain in the sunniest periods. However, the smaller inverter will require less voltage to power up, meaning what you lose in those sunniest periods, you will gain by having the system start producing earlier in the morning, later in the evening, and in cloudy periods. What you gain in the low light periods by having a lower voltage to start up is higher than what you lose in the best sun periods. It also protects against the degradation of the panels that happens over time. Most new panels lose about 0.4% of their efficiency every year, so a 1:1 ratio would result in oversized inverters within the 1st year. The proper clipping ratio of 75-85% allows insulation against the panel degradation, so you won't even notice the panels degrading until after their 30 year warranty period is up.

[Wormius]

Okay. This is what I am seeing now, which is what I was trying to wrap my head around a bit.





There is one panel on a single inverter, where thr rest are all doubled-up.