US Paid $1B to Green Climate Fund, Top Polluters Paid $0

ArcticGranite

Well-Known Member
They only got 6710kWh in a year with an 8kW array...?

Is it covered in shit or something?
There's 26, 315 W panels. Utility price for avoided cost is only $0.10 kWh and they haven't sold any back.

6710 kWh generated seems a paltry amount for that size array and cost!
 

SneekyNinja

Well-Known Member
There's 26, 315 W panels. Utility price for avoided cost is only $0.10 kWh and they haven't sold any back.

6710 kWh generated seems a paltry amount for that size array and cost!
That's what I'm saying, even conservately they should've produced alot more.
 

ArcticGranite

Well-Known Member
That's what I'm saying, even conservately they should've produced alot more.
Very inefficient panels? They're quite dissapointed about it. I was much more hopeful about kWh generated than actual results.I'm gonna try to dig into what they have going a little more.
 

Justin-case

Well-Known Member

ttystikk

Well-Known Member

Justin-case

Well-Known Member
The problem is where it's coming from; without sun tracking, you'll get much less than in AZ.

Then there's the whole winter thing. Not a lot of sun up there from October to February.

Yeah, trackers would be key, still a shit load of atmosphere between the sun and panels.
 

SneekyNinja

Well-Known Member
Yeah, trackers would be key, still a shit load of atmosphere between the sun and panels.
Id imagine a tracking system for an 8kW array would be prohibitively expensive so I didn't even mention it.

The steppers/servos with rigging alone would cost an arm and a leg.

I built one using a pseudo-gimble design (for 360 x 360 coverage) for a small panel as a novelty, was cool but not practical at all.
 

Justin-case

Well-Known Member
Id imagine a tracking system for an 8kW array would be prohibitively expensive so I didn't even mention it.

The steppers/servos with rigging alone would cost an arm and a leg.

I built one using a pseudo-gimble design (for 360 x 360 coverage) for a small panel as a novelty, was cool but not practical at all.

Yep, but they sure are cool. I haven't checked, but I imagine the gas ones aren't too expensive and really basic.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
Yeah, they look like a car strut, and are filled with a gas that expands as it warms in the sun. Pretty cool, but I think the rotation and timing is limited compared too a tracker.
There's no need for an active tracker to use much power, and the daily gains are substantial. The further north, the more they're necessary to make the returns worthwhile.
 
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