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Gene French
Feb 27, 2019, 1:45:01 PM2/27/19
to Living in Costa Rica
Gpod morning group...
If anyone is interested...i am terminating a very satisfying project that started 4 months or more back...i just installed an enphase solar system...a diy project...i spent 4+ months doing my homework...and educating myself with the concepts of solar...i charted my daytime and night usage...7am (sunup) and 5pm (yes..sunset) for months...i applied to ICE for net metering...in which they only pay for 49%...and as predicted i was declined...so i had to rethink the project...as i would not be able to export any excess power...i needed to plan for my daytime consumption only...and there are so many variables...i wrote to the c.r. solar people that i found on the internet and called a friend in the business...got varying prices ... warranties ... brands ...sizes...
I understand the desire for them to make big sales...but some were laughable...and prices to 40 000 bucks...way out of my investment range...i was looking for a 6 to 10 year return on investment...finally i found a company that was square with me...he soon gained my confidence...we brainstormed back and forth for a month or so...finally i pulled the trigger...
I elected enphase because of the ac microinverters...by nature a very efficient and managable system in my way of thinking...i used 325 watt canadian solar poly panels...6x12 cell construction...good reviews...
I split a 2x4 c perlin to make a slide in rack...big enough to hold 6 panels with each panel is 1m x 2m...it is yard mounted on short poles leaving room for a lawnmower underneath...leveled it side to side...inclined at 10.8 degrees and pointed the array due south...i used #10 outdoor cable overhead to bring the solar produced ac power to my breaker box...i had to add a 20 amp 220 breaker for the panels and a 15 amp 220 breaker for the envoy (the control hub)...took most of a day to mount the panels in the rack and wire it all up...was much easier than i thought...almost plug and play...
I did however put in one consumption ct in backwards...so my first production day was a wash...due to a faulty reading from the ct...i exported what i produced and the result at the end of the day was breakeven...i used the same energy from the grid as i normally would without the solar array...i discovered this at the 5pm meter reading...and found the reversed ct ...my fault...the system is very slow to respond so troubleshooting is difficult...with some problems taking 24 hours to resolve...when first connected you have computer programs or phone apps to set it up...it is wifi enabled and reports to enphase...
Sam came over to lend me a hand...he is much more patient than i am...not to mention a lot more computer saavy...with only one phone call we were able to finish the config grid profile for central america specs with no export...all this time the envoy and microinverters start updating to the latest firmware upon internet connectivity...it updated most of the night...the next morning our config survived intact...no more flashing leds...🤣...
Sam and i grafted our limited info and extrapolated that this size system under my 4 month average study more than supply my daytime home needs...it looks like each panel will easily make more than 1.5 kwh per day...(as of this writing they have generated 1.3 kwh each by 12:30...maybe it can hit 2 kwh...
Using these parameters under good (but not perfect conditions) i can expect to save 9 kwh per day or 270 kwh per month...i have been averaging 8 kwh per day...therefore i am covered...just enough pamels for no export conditions...see sam...our figuring paid off...🤣🤣🤣
If i can save 270 kwh / month @ 140 colonies per kwh (the tier pricing after 200 kwh..i will save 37 800 colonies per month on my electric bill...i anticipate a 7 year investment return..no too shabby...if i live that long!!!
Many thanks to cham brownell at pura vida energy systems and of course sam (my out of the box thinker)...for all of the help and support...
Pura vida
Gene french
Sam Wilson
Feb 27, 2019, 3:54:09 PM2/27/19
to Living in Costa Rica
Gpod tarde to you too Gene! ;-)
It is super-incredible how well this hair-brained scheme of Gene's is working! I thought for sure ICE would have let us do net-metering via the net-metering pilot program ICE had, but they evidently shut that down -- they told Gene there was too much connected to the grid already. Of course that was BS. There are exactly the same 2 grid-tied systems in our whole area that have been there since early on during the pilot program. Now there are 3 counting Gene's system. The problem with Gene's system being tied to the grid is that if he exports any energy, he not only does not get to use it, but he must also pay for it! ICE won't program his meter to run backwards when he exports energy so if he puts energy out on the grid, it runs the meter just as if he were consuming that energy. There's a law working its way through the asemblea to force ICE into being more reasonable about grid-tie solar energy, etc. But that might be a year or two before it comes out of Sala IV in favor of the people... Local storage (e.g. batteries) is expensive. Gene didn't even fall for my best idea for energy storage: put a hinge on a 40' shipping container, and then with the excess energy during the day, winch one end of it up higher and higher until night-fall. At night-time, let it slowly fall back to the ground releasing all of that energy back to power Gene's house during the night -- kind of like the weights on a cuckoo clock. Repeat. Anyway, batteries are expensive. Maybe next we'll work on building an enormous Edison battery or some fancy flywheel thinger-ma-bob. BUT for now... no net-metering, no local battery storage. AND it is working super-fantastical!
To not export the excess energy (energy produced beyond what his household consumes at a given moment) it took a special system profile which Enphase already thankfully had -- it was just not easy to find. With the Enphase microinverters the system is able to raise and lower production to meet Gene's demands. And as any of his Ex's will attest to, he is quite demanding! jajaja. So for the nerdy tech-types out there, and if Gene will permit, here's a nice little graph of how that is working:
The blue line is production from the solar system and the orange line is what Gene's house was consuming yesterday during the day. You can see how well production was automatically increased or reduced to match his consumption up to the point consumption outpaced production -- like 9 AM when production was still low from the early morning sun yet his household was already actively consuming energy, and after about 4 PM when production was fading due to the setting sun yet his household continued to use electricity. The consumption beyond production from the solar panels automatically feeds back in from the grid. So if he consumes 10 kWh during the daytime and his system produces 8 kWh, the extra 2 kWh comes from the ICE grid and is on Gene's electrical bill. All of Gene's consumption at night comes from the ICE grid and is on his electrical bill. All of Gene's consumption during the day that doesn't outpace the solar system production is not on Gene's bill and early estimates have pegged it to be right in line with Gene's goal of a 5-10 year ROI.
Terminating a satisfying project? I think not... I think this is just the beginning!
First 1.5 days of production in the bag and Gene already has 10 kilos of Carbon Offset to brag about. Now about those farting cows... Gene, let's talk a little Texas-style BBQ! ;-)
--
Sam
Gene French
Feb 27, 2019, 5:20:32 PM2/27/19
to Living in Costa Rica
Hard to believe...at 10 after 4 over 600 watts/ square meter...
Wow.
Better than i envisioned!!!!
One other thing...since i have no storage for excess energy...
Whenever i have very high and instantaneous current draw...my on demand hot water heaters draw almost 50 amps in stage 2..20 amps initially....will overwhelm the panels...they input to my load center through a 20 amp breaker...they can not deliver that big of a load...therefore part of my day time grid import will be due to the inability of the panels to meet really high amperage demands...probably more panels would do it...but not roi friendly ... net metering is the only viable option...i will wait out ICE 🤣🤣
and as sam said...batteries reall upset the curve...never get your roi...
But if you are off grid...batteries are a must...
Pura vida
Gene
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