decent performance from our north facing system

[infinity]

we installed 4KW Solar world 250W Mono Black system last month using solaredge on a nortj facing roof with a pitch of 45DEg, it faces north-west by 10Deg

So far it has produced 586KWh and has been regularly peaking at 18Kwh/ Day.

I think considering its orientation etc it is exceeding my expectations on what it would produce.

I know that winter will be a different story but t will be interesting to see how it actually performs over the whole year.

Im going to try and update the total KWh on this thread once a month from now on. install date was 6/6/2013

 

[FB.]

2+2 N/S split system (16x 250Wp Kinve KV250-60M with Aurora PVI-3600 indoor model) on 30 degree roof in Cambridgeshire.
It had SAP target around 2800kWh and generated about 3125kWh in its first year, from mid-May 2012 to mid-May 2013.
An "outperformance" of 12% even during a very dull/wet year.
Even at the current 14 pence (ish) FiT and 0.5x 4 pence (ish) export tariff that'd amount to payments just over £500/yr from a 2+2kWp N/S split system, plus bill savings probably £150 for total benefits of £650/yr and payback around ten years.

In the same period, my 3.75kWp (15x 250Wp same panels and inverter as above) which is also in Cambridgeshire had a SAP target around 3000 and actually generated around 3350kWh. A similar outperformance of 12% during a dull/wet year - including several "lost" days in both January and March where the panels were generating nothing or almost nothing due to being covered in snow - generated exactly zero; 0.00kWh on 21st January 2013.

 

[SolarCity]

Interesting to see how this gets on with the annual figures. Keep us updated?

 

[infinity]

Luckily it's solaredge so I can monitor it whenever I like. What's interesting is its only peaking at around 2kw at around 4pm, yet still producing those figures.
Il post on 1st of each month with updated figures.

 

[FB.]

Luckily it's solaredge so I can monitor it whenever I like. What's interesting is its only peaking at around 2kw at around 4pm, yet still producing those figures.
Il post on 1st of each month with updated figures.

The Climate-SAF-PVGIS seemed to accurately predict the annual generation of by my 3.75kWp 40degree-tilt ESE system and the 2+2kWp 30degree-tilt N/S split system.
So I would use it as a guide for what to expect.
Link here:
PV potential estimation utility

It suggests the following for a 4.0kWp WNW-facing system at 45-degrees IN MY AREA - JUST NORTH OF CAMBRIDGE:

Fixed system: inclination=45°, orientation=-100°
Month	E[SUB]d[/SUB]	E[SUB]m[/SUB]	H[SUB]d[/SUB]	H[SUB]m[/SUB]
Jan	1.74	54.1	0.62	19.3
Feb	3.68	103	1.22	34.0
Mar	6.87	213	2.19	68.0
Apr	11.20	335	3.60	108
May	13.40	415	4.38	136
Jun	13.90	416	4.61	138
Jul	13.00	402	4.33	134
Aug	10.70	331	3.56	110
Sep	8.16	245	2.68	80.5
Oct	4.71	146	1.56	48.5
Nov	2.36	70.7	0.82	24.6
Dec	1.41	43.6	0.52	16.0
Yearly average	7.60	231	2.51	76.5
Total for year	2770	917

E[SUB]d[/SUB]: Average daily electricity production from the given system (kWh)
E[SUB]m[/SUB]: Average monthly electricity production from the given system (kWh)
H[SUB]d[/SUB]: Average daily sum of global irradiation per square meter received by the modules of the given system (kWh/m[SUP]2[/SUP])
H[SUB]m[/SUB]: Average sum of global irradiation per square meter received by the modules of the given system (kWh/m[SUP]2[/SUP])

 

[FB.]

Estimates for each of the two 2.0kWp N/S arrays of the split system:

Fixed system: inclination=30°, orientation=180° (NORTH-FACING ARRAY)
Month	E[SUB]d[/SUB]	E[SUB]m[/SUB]	H[SUB]d[/SUB]	H[SUB]m[/SUB]
Jan	0.49	15.1	0.43	13.3
Feb	0.98	27.5	0.78	21.8
Mar	1.83	56.7	1.43	44.4
Apr	4.22	127	2.83	85.0
May	6.31	196	4.06	126
Jun	6.96	209	4.49	135
Jul	6.38	198	4.18	130
Aug	4.58	142	3.10	96.1
Sep	2.47	74.0	1.86	55.9
Oct	1.22	37.8	0.92	28.6
Nov	0.61	18.4	0.52	15.5
Dec	0.42	13.0	0.36	11.2
Yearly average	3.05	92.8	2.09	63.5
Total for year	1110	762

Fixed system: inclination=30°, orientation=0° (SOUTH-FACING ARRAY)
Month	E[SUB]d[/SUB]	E[SUB]m[/SUB]	H[SUB]d[/SUB]	H[SUB]m[/SUB]
Jan	2.16	67.1	1.31	40.5
Feb	3.53	98.8	2.16	60.5
Mar	5.26	163	3.29	102
Apr	7.40	222	4.78	143
May	8.00	248	5.27	163
Jun	7.96	239	5.34	160
Jul	7.61	236	5.13	159
Aug	6.82	212	4.57	142
Sep	6.04	181	3.94	118
Oct	4.26	132	2.70	83.7
Nov	2.81	84.2	1.72	51.6
Dec	1.99	61.8	1.20	37.2
Yearly average	5.33	162	3.46	105
Total for year	1940	1260

 

[infinity]

Ok,

so for the month of July the system produced 409Kw/H and at its highest point in one day peaked at 17.6Kw/Hrs in one Day!

Only 3Kw/Hrs behind my south-south east facing 3.5Kw system!

 

[whinmoor]

Did you undersize the inverter? Which one did you use?

 

[infinity]

No, it's a 3600 solar edge inverter!

 

[puddy]

The most I get for just off south roof with 12 panels and a Fronius ig30 inverter. My best day was just under 20kw since it was fitted in May 2012. I am based not far from Spalding

 

[The Solar King]

I think relative irradiance levels and physical topography will make quite a difference. In the flat south you will do far better with this kind of set up than in hilly Scotland. The only north facing system I had seen up here mysteriously disappeared from the roof some months ago!!

 

[FB.]

The most I get for just off south roof with 12 panels and a Fronius ig30 inverter. My best day was just under 20kw since it was fitted in May 2012. I am based not far from Spalding

The best day's generation in 2012 (June 14th) and 2013 (May 27th) from my 3.75kWp ESE-facing, 40-degree pitch-roof system in Cambs was just over 25kWh.

Day length and sun strength is dropping off considerably now we're two months past the longest day; 20kWh is a very good day for me at this time of year, and it looks like today will just about reach that.
The last time I exceeded 20kWh this year was on 01st August, with 21.6. The first day this year to exceed 20kWh was 02nd April.
Last year I first exceeded 20kWh on 30th April with 21.8. The last time in 2012 that I exceeded 20kWh was 31st August with 21.3.

Detailed system stats in my signature.