Questions tagged [solar-power]
Electric energy produced from sunlight. This could be via semiconductors, in [photovoltaics]; or through the concentration of solar heat to drive a turbine, as in concentrating solar power [solar-thermal].
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Why is it easier to retrofit an AC-coupled than a DC-coupled battery to an existing domestic PV installation?
Not wishing ever to charge a (prospective) house-battery from the grid, naively, I think of a DC-coupled battery as a sort of capacitance between existing solar panels and their inverter.
Again, ...
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Sustainability and ethics of buying a domestic battery from a higher emissions country
I've been mulling over whether to have a domestic battery installed. I already have solar panels. I know that installing a battery will reduce my reliance on grid electricity, however I have ...
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Inexpensive way of permanently running a fridge with solar power?
I have about USD $3,000 that I can use to invest in solar-powered alternatives at my apartment. Since I live in Latin America, my small rooftop receives tons of sunlight 12 hours/day but is not big ...
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Does anyone know of a map of Solar PV Installers in Ireland?
Just checking if there's anyone else in Ireland out there ?
I'll be using the SolarMeitheal tag to group all questions about domestic Solar PV in Ireland.
The Meitheal idea is a workgroup or a peer-to-...
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Why does my max power produced differ depending on the resistance of the test load?
I have a pair of solar panels mounted on my roof. They are rated 90W each, but I want to know, given my latitude and installation, what amount of power they are actually able to generate. I have a ...
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How do modified square and sine wave inverters work and which to use?
Today there are two kinds of inverters sold: modified square wave (sometimes erroneously marketed as "modified sine wave") and true sine wave. These allow converting low voltage direct ...
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Is washing solar panels useful/needed/mandatory?
Washing solar panels is sometimes recommended by some third party companies but it involves monetary and environmental costs.
Is it beneficial? I compared the ratio production over insolation the week ...
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Understanding the irradiance on a panel or Plane of Array (POA) value from Python pvlib
I was trying to calculate POA value at a solar plant for my Data Science project. I need to get the foretasted POA value up to next two days. I just have seen that their is a python tool called pvlib; ...
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Smaller 800W Off-Grid Solar Panel System Arrangement
I'm planning to setup a smaller 800W off-grid solar panel system for my weekend cottage in Western Europe.
I already bought the necessary parts, cables, and accessories, here's my design sketch for ...
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Understanding Net Metering
I have some doubts on net metering and how my solar input flows within my electric connections.
I am using grid tied split phase 240V micro-inverters. They only have L1, L2 and Ground connections and ...
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Angle of solar panels on flat roof
We just had a solar panel install in the United Kingdom (latitude of 57 degrees). The contractor quoted us for panels installed at a standard 35 degree angle. However, the actual install was panels ...
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Can I use this "hydro" inverter with solar panels SMA hyroboy HB 1124
https://files.sma.de/downloads/HB1124-TEN093421.pdf
Im assuming the inverter does not know where the DC current is coming from as long as it is below the maximum current, or am I missing something ...
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How to connect 12v inverter to 24v two batteries system?
I have two 545 solar panels and 50 amps mppt charge controller feeding two 12v batteries and I have a 12v 1000 watt inverter, how do I connect the inverter to the batteries? Should I connect the ...
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LiFePO4 Overvolt concern
I have a small 12V solar system. The reported charge voltage to battery frequently exceeds 15V, reading ~15.5V as I write this.
I read 14.7V is the most one should charge these batteries at. Should ...
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How to express solar generator capacity in MWh if I have MW?
I have this dataset that is simply the nameplate capacity of different generators for a specific year in MW. I'm hoping to get a sum of all nameplate capacity for all solar generators for that year, ...
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Solar-powered shed-turned-office supporting air-conditioner
I have a 10'x12' (3 m × 3.6 m) shed, with a glass door and two windows, and 194 sqft (18 m²) of roof at a 2/12 slant (1:6, 16.67% or 9.462 degrees) - it's a bit bigger than the size of the shed.
I ...
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How to use solar power with grid backup without net metering
So here is my situation. I am using a lot of electricity out of a couple specific outlets, 24/7. I want to install some solar panels, an inverter, and have these outlets (or possibly the whole house ...
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How would you go about daisy chaining a solar invertor/charger like the Renogy 3,500W
I've seen it mentioned that it could be possible to daisy chain the 3,500W Renogy charger/invertor output but I haven't seen exactly how you might do that or any mention in the manual.
How would you ...
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Power company consistently reports higher consumption than solar PV system
My power company has very consistently reported 45kWh ± 5% per month higher consumption than my grid-tied Enphase system data over the first 6 months of my installation. Why would that be?
Is my power ...
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Under what circumstances are concentrated solar power plants more feasible than conventional solar panels?
Tell me about concentrated solar power plants. Under what circumstances are they more feasible than conventional solar panels? It seems to me, a layman, that there are way too many energy transfers ...
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Do solar panels generate more electricity in hot or cold climate?
Do solar panels generate more electricity in hot or cold climate? Who is right (sorry for the messiness, I currently don't know how to take a long screenshot)?
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Solar panels - series vs parallel and microinverters
Problem:
I have six 100 W panels wired in series on the roof of my van. I can only get 180 W maximum out of my entire setup (with a Canadian winter, I'm expecting at least 300 W), and I think the ...
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What is the most economical and convenient house battery type?
I suppose a 5kWh storage would be more than enough for a minimalist house with solar energy system.
Lithium-Ion electric car batteries would do the job, but they are too expensive and I am not sure ...
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Can a solar inverter still work without batteries? (off-grid)
Consider the following setup:
Solar panel (0.5 m2 / 12V / 100W)
Solar inverter (12 volts DC → 120 volts AC)
LED TV (32" / 55 watts)
no batteries / no grid-tie
Assume the solar panel is ...
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Cost-effective way to solar charge proprietary LiPo tool packs having AC chargers
I'd like to go solar with a couple of our battery-powered tools without a) charging the batteries with DC directly, as they're expensive batteries with their own fancy AC chargers, or b) spending ...
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Do solar PV roofs make sense for semi trucks?
Today I read the news that Tesla is about to start production of electric semi trucks (aka tractor-trailers). Given the size of the trailer and its long, flat roof, I wonder if it would be feasible to ...
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What is the frequency of fires at solar power generation facilities?
https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2019/08/22/there-are-solar-power-fires-per-year/
This data implies (roughly) 1 in a million solar fire risk.
So say I have a 1gw solar farm with 1kw panels. Does this mean ...
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Renewables vs Fossil Fuel Cost Comparisons, without Subsidies
They said that Solar and Wind are now cheaper than fossil fuels. One of the primary reasons is subsidies and new technologies. Does anyone know the comparison research using No Subsidies. If we ...
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When does wind make more sense than solar for a home application?
Let's say I have a fixed amount of money that I can either spend on a complete solar PV system (panels, inverter, all the hardware and wiring) or a complete wind system (turbine, inverter, all the ...
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What type of solar panels to use for a house of 50 m2 and 3000 kW of consumption?
I am beginning to acquire knowledge to assemble my first self-consumption solar kit and I have been investigating what kind of solar panels I should use for a house of approximately 50 m2 with a ...
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What is the fair-market value of the Solar System installed by Solar City in 2013?
I live in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC. On December 31, 2012, I signed a lease deal with SolarCity (now Tesla) to install solar panels on the roof of my home + associated electrical ...
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Grid tied inverters that work during power outages
Is it possible to have a grid tied solar installation operate when power is out without a battery bank? All of the grid tied inverters I have found kick offline during power outages. This is a fine ...
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Why should I buy the brand solar panels when the cheaper ones offer a better power to price ratio?
Following this question, I'm trying to figure out what is the best option for me.
Looking at brand products, for example SunPower Maxeon 3 400/410 Wp and SunPower P3 Black 325 Wp, they offer a power ...
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Are optic fibre based daylighting solutions sufficient for solar panels?
Some daylighting solutions are available in the market that use collectors and large diameter optic fibre cables to transfer sunlight to interiors of residential or underground dwellings.
Below are ...
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Any way for microinverter PV array to power a house when the grid is down?
Suppose I'm already heavily invested in microinverter type solar panels -- with the inverter on the panel on the roof. These comply with UL 1741 and will stop supplying power the moment they see grid ...
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Excess solar power
I am wanting to hook up a solar system to my house but don't want to feed back into the grid (for a number of reasons, including legislative bureaucracy and having to change my electricity company). ...
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Simple solar light system
I've been looking for a simple solar powered lighting system for a carport I just built. I bought these without realizing how small they are: 2 Pack Solar Lights Outdoor. Unfortunately they look ...
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Callibrate a battery monitor for a ~5yr old 360Ah solar panel installation
I am looking to calibrate a new battery monitor for an off-grid battery bank that's ~5 years old, since the previous battery monitor stopped working recently. I'm not sure how to go about it given the ...
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What do the voltage and energy readings on this MPPT charger mean?
I've got a new EPEver 3210AN, 30 A MPPT solar charge controller, and single 320 W 40 V solar panel connected about 4 feet (1 meter) away with 12 AWG wire. It's a very simple van setup. My battery is ...
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How do solar panels degrade after 25 years of warranty?
This question is focused on high quality solar panels (certified Tier 1) which are more and more mainstream. The 25 years warranty is becoming standard, and producers describe degradation in 25 years ...
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Is using multiple MPPT controllers with a solar panels array, to mitigate effect of shadows a myth?
So my installation is for a sail boat. There's a lot things like rigging sails etc, that can create shadows on part of the array and this is constantly moving around. Some panels in the array will ...
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What's the current price of power to gas fuel?
I've been curious about power to gas technology.
I've read up on the immense energy losses as you split water to hydrogen and then using the Sabatier reaction to generate methane.
Do we know given the ...
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How to identify the rating of my electrical panel
Recently I got a bid from a solar company and they said I don't need to upgrade my electrical box since it is rated at 125 amps, and for that value, I can install a 7k system based on calculation here....
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Shading percentage to cause hot spots
I'm designing a solar plant over the roof or a huge building for my company. Now the roof has a lot of obstacles, Shafts, pillars, AC equipment etc. I have a couple of questions that I could really ...
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Renewable garden watering system - 12v battery system (solar recharged) to ensure there is 50l of water at 20ft twice a week
I have a load of water butt rainwater storage linked to my gutter downpipes for my garden water needs, but I can't stand around waiting to fill watering cans from taps on butts, so occasionally (once ...
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What is the most sustainable choice for a domestic hot water system in temperate, coastal Australia?
We currently have an ailing 14 yr old solar hot water installation. A few plumbers have given us the same story: due to the age and general condition of the system, it makes more sense to replace it ...
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Designing an electrical off grid system for winter
I'm currently planning the conversion of a panel van into an RV including heating, water, and electrical.
The part which I'm not confident about is the reliable supply of electrical power in the ...
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My solar inverter display volts but no amps and a few watts. What's wrong?
I have 150watts 7 solar panels of specs : max DC volts 20; max SC amps 8.02Amps.
Individually checked all 7 solar panels short circuit amps and they are in 6.54 - 7.84amps range.
Solar Inverter Specs
...
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Any electric vehicle that can be used as a home energy storage?
I have a house with a solar array on top currently tied to the grid. I would love to be able to use an EV as a battery for my house, and after it charges up in the day be nice to use it for the ...
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How much renewable energy is curtailed around the world?
CAISO, the California electric grid operator, provides daily and historical reports on wind and solar curtailment:
I started looking for similar data from MISO, the grid operator where I live, ...
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