PV output on a dull day, "low light" yields

[Aquinas_Quark]

Greetings all! I have read much about low light performance of various panels, would be interested your in actual results.
I have 15 x Sanyo HIT-N240 on 1 string, Fronius IG-TL 3.6 inverter, S facing in Poole, Dorset. Today the sun's position was invisible all day due to heavy cloud, I had less than 100W instantaneous output all day, not even 1kWh on the generation meter. 555V DC approx all the time, the inverter struggles on down to 25W before it quits.
I guess east/West facing would not matter today as the light was so diffuse?
Anyone's results appreciated.

 

[moggy1968]

I went to visit a customer of mine near puddletown (just down the road)today to deliver their paperwork pack after finishing their install sat. today they had only generated 0.9kW from 16x Qcells 245 split between and east and west facing roof , so thanks for your post because I am quite relieved!!!
they have generated about 9kW since sunday am when it fired up properly.
just not a lot of light about today I guess!!

 

[morpheus75]

Sanyo 240hde with powerone 3.6 2 strings. 174w peak and 0.5kwh generated. Dark, drizzly all day. Leeds


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[stevechorner]

Suntech Pluto 200s here X 20. 0.22Kwh generated. Drizzle all day really dark. Leicestershire. Same tomorrow too I guess :>(

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

Thanks for those - these are the figures you never hear about from anyone selling a system!

 

[stevechorner]

Well....I dunno I mean i got a whole 10p today....muscles and pockets bulging....lol

 

[moggy1968]

average it out over the year though and those panels in poole, you'll do well

 

[stevechorner]

Greetings all! I have read much about low light performance of various panels, would be interested your in actual results.
I have 15 x Sanyo HIT-N240 on 1 string, Fronius IG-TL 3.6 inverter, S facing in Poole, Dorset. Today the sun's position was invisible all day due to heavy cloud, I had less than 100W instantaneous output all day, not even 1kWh on the generation meter. 555V DC approx all the time, the inverter struggles on down to 25W before it quits.
I guess east/West facing would not matter today as the light was so diffuse?
Anyone's results appreciated.

Hey mate , you heard back from NPower yet.....I am still fearing the worst :>(

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

I know - I've had 14 kWh on a day, but it still surprises me how little is produced when skies are dull, and NO-ONE ever seems to mention this!

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

Hey mate , you heard back from NPower yet.....I am still fearing the worst :>(

After 3 weeks I FINALLY got the FIT department (today, Monday), they say my app received and "no note to show there's anything wrong". They are sending out a letter today (it's always in the post today!) of confirmation. Last Friday I looked at the Ofgem site (with a view to making a complaint), that pointed me to to the Energy Ombudsman, that to a govt. customer helpline (forget which it was), that to nPower's complaints dept. Guess what? They couldn't reach the FIT team either! After several calls to the complaints team (last Friday) I now have 2 of their cust. services also chasing my app - I'm not going to tell them what I found out today - best to have several strings going at once, maybe one will come through! Good luck - keep on at them!

 

[Frank Amey]

Suntech Pluto 200s here X 20. 0.22Kwh generated. Drizzle all day really dark. Leicestershire. Same tomorrow too I guess :>(

Same set up with Power one 3600 and 270W generated in Lincs. Bah

 

[series530]

My HIT250E01's when engaged are kicking out 14W instantaneous power per panel on a dull day. Overall yield : 0.9KW harvested between 9am and 2pm yesterday - sun never came out once.

 

[and]

3.92kW REC 245 PE + Power One 3600 - SE orientation

Near Bristol

System commissioned Thurs pm.

Thurs, Fri, Sat - 8.8kW - drizzle, cloud, the odd bit of sunshine

Sunday - 12kW - sunshine most of the day

Mon - 0.9kW - cloud and drizzle all day

Bottom line is the panels generate when the sun is shining, that is clear from the above figures.

Looking forward to seeing what the annual figures turn out to be (estimated at 3560kWh by PV SOL).

 

[Striker]

SolarEdge with 16 x Uubink Poly's West facing
Today .53Kwh

 

[SRE]

Sharp 180's ESE cloudy Cumbria - 0.99kwp

You feeling better now????

We always advise our clients that 10% of energy generated in Nov - Feb inclusive then it's a sunny bonanza!!!!

 

[zapthis]

system commissioned late evening on the 6th 20 bosch m48 195 panels 3.9kw with fronius 3.6tl inverter
yesterday 12.6kw today only 0.8kw lucky to get over 40w today before it switched itself of when it got below 10w

it can only get worse for the next 6 weeks i feel

 

[TrickyDicky101]

Hi Alan

I have had two poor days - 700Wh today and 500Wh yesterday. My voltage and power readings have been very similar to yours (no surprises due to the similarities between our systems). I find that unless there is some form of direct sunlight, the panels really don't generate much at all. This very much in contrast to what most of the salesmen claimed when they were quoting!

I'm waiting for some very clear sunny days to see if my generation meets my expectations.

Richard

 

[Solluva]

The salesmen can’t be accused of lying ‘They even produce electricity when the sun is not shining’ But they never tell you by what proportion output drops when the sun goes in.

16 x 240kWp REC. Lyme Regis.
Sunday 6th Dawn to Dusk Sunshine: 14.5kWh
Monday 7th Overcast : 0.8kWh
Tuesday 8th Overcast : 0.6kWh

It is very interesting that the weather forecasts on 6th and 7th were identical, cloud with sunny periods. 6th turned out to be sunny with no cloud and 7th cloud with no sun. What you may call an each way bet.

aquinas_quark1 you may like to try what I do to compare outputs of local installations. Go to Naturalwatt | Solar PV Installers, Wind Turbines & Solar Thermal and click on ‘Installation Map’. You will see that there are half a dozen sites from Bournemouth to Weymouth to Sherborne. To compare any of these with your array divide the outputs by the size of the installations.

 

[kate.harrison1]

Just to concur with all of your findings, my generation figure for today was 0.444Kw and yesterday, 0.560Kw. Mind you, it has been so dark and drizzly, you practically need a torch to venture out in the day. We mustn't forget that the days are still getting shorter too to add to the generaly dull/dark conditions so days like today are possibly close to as bad as it gets.

2 strings of 8 Sanyo 240HDE4 e/w plus SMA 4000TL

 

[Aquinas_Quark]

I'm thinking this shows that when you need the power, it ain't there. Definitely need some form of energy storage - but what? Over the years I have done the figures on warmed concrete heatstore under the house, car batteries charging, pumping water up to a height etc. etc. All are a big set-up problem.
What should we do with the 20kWh we get every day in summer - electrolyse water? (I've had a few small hydrogen/air explosions too)...!!